Summer is the time of half-empty offices and long evenings – and therefore the opportunity to finally catch up on what was never quiet enough for in the daily business. For those who only caught glimpses of interpack in the spring between two appointments, or missed it entirely, now is the right moment to relax, put on headphones, and leisurely follow the discussions that are still resonating within the industry.
From seven days of interpack TV Live and over 70 talks, the editorial team has picked out the eight most-watched – conversations with lawyers, system operators, market researchers and mechanical engineers, whose topics will last throughout the summer. Because one thing is getting closer every day: On 12 August, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) comes into effect. Those who use the quiet weeks to catch up will be better prepared for the second half of the year. All videos remain available in full length at interpack.packaging-journal.de.
PPWR: The role first, then the duties
Anyone who doesn't know their role has a problem – that's how Dr. Markus W. Pauly, a lawyer at the Pauly law firm in Cologne, sums it up. From 12 August 2026, the PPWR will come into force, running in parallel with the German Packaging Law Implementation Act (VerpackDG), which was only recently passed at short notice. The regulation distinguishes between the manufacturer who first places packaging on the market and the producer who has a significant influence on its design. The latter bears the largest package of obligations – including a declaration of conformity.
Previously, the bottler was almost solely responsible, but now the pure packaging manufacturer can also be the addressee, and a company can be both. The situation is exacerbated by a German peculiarity: in the newly regulated B2B sector, companies must join a producer responsibility organisation, but the responsible body ZSVR can only take on this task once the Packaging Act (VerpackDG) comes into force. Paulys' advice: first define the role, then check the obligations under PPWR and VerpackDG. Those who are not ready by the deadline risk an administrative offence or a ban on placing goods on the market.
The different ways in which the industry is tackling this task are shown by Dr. Natalie Brandenburg, Managing Director of the German Packaging Institute (DVI). The Guidance Document on the PPWR, published on 25 January, has brought important clarity, especially regarding roles and the definition of packaging. The real problem lies elsewhere: in the heterogeneity of preparation. A current DVI survey shows an enormous range of data requests – from „Send me everything for 12.08.“ to fourteen-page Excel tables that are to be filled out manually.
Both are symptomatic of a dangerous knowledge gap in the value chain. Your answer: The industry must approach the declaration of conformity and technical documentation with a single voice. If 15 different variants land in Brussels, nothing can be solved; a consolidated industry response will create a willingness to engage in dialogue. The DVI rejects a postponement of the PPWR – anyone who softens the deadline loses credibility. Your advice: Work step by step and use existing networks.
When innovation pauses
There's a peculiar silence on the stands just before the deadline, observes Sonja Bähr, a packaging consultant at Berndt+Partner Creality and a columnist for packaging journal. Little is being said about the PPWR, but much more about the older Single Use Plastics Directive – and some manufacturers are advertising with „PPWR-compliant because compostable,“ which hardly holds water. The role-finding – am I a manufacturer, producer, or both? – leads to a master-and-servant game in complex supply chains: retailers and brand manufacturers pass on obligations to suppliers, who often don't even know what they're signing. The opposite is needed – more exchange, more data, more equal footing along the chain.
The regulation's greatest effect is also its most unintended: innovation is being neglected. Brands are focusing on basic compliance, and marketing-driven developments are disappearing. It will take two to three years for innovation to return – driven then by recyclability, recycled content, and minimisation. Their plea: the PPWR is fundamentally correct but must be clear and understandable, not a set of rules that absolutely requires consultants.
Raw material shock hits recycling reality
The speed at which geopolitical shocks reach the shelves is demonstrated by the talk given by Dr. Martin Engelmann, Chief Executive Officer of the German Association of the Plastics Packaging Industry (IK). Since the Strait of Hormuz was endangered and closed in early March, polymer prices have exploded worldwide: an IK member survey documents an increase of around 60 percent between February and April – the plastics processing industry has never seen a price shock of this magnitude before. Engelmann does not expect a normalisation before the end of the year, especially since price adjustment clauses often only come into effect after three months.
Nevertheless, the balance sheet is not entirely bleak: Germany has reached a new record in plastic recycling from the Yellow Bag, with 71 per cent going to recyclers, exceeding the target of 63 per cent for the third year in a row. He sees the trend towards paper critically: marketing departments are being driven by the narrative that plastic is bad, and in the end, composite materials of paper and plastic are created that no one can recycle anymore. His proposal: an eco-modulation of licensing fees, modelled on the French and Belgian systems, so that financial controllers also have a say in such decisions.
More fundamentally, Dr. Hermann Onusseit, a veteran of adhesives and packaging with over 40 years at Henkel, begins. He states that the PPWR demands a circular economy, but that it ignores the laws of physics. Nice recycling loops look like perpetual motion machines – but anyone who paid attention in school knows the second law of thermodynamics. Every process involves losses, and much of what is marketed as recycling is actually downcycling. He is particularly critical of the interaction between food law and PPWR recycled content quotas:
The EFSA is demanding extremely low contamination limits for food-contact packaging; for polyolefins such as PE and PP, there is currently no approved process that can reliably achieve this. PET only works because it is collected separately and returned through the deposit system – in the yellow sack, the material is effectively lost. Nevertheless, the PPWR will soon mandate ten percent regranulate in product-sensitive packaging. His advice to everyone reading „PPWR-compliant“ is to ask for certificates and measurement results, not colourful pictures. Real progress, he says, lies in AI-assisted sorting technology anyway.
Alexander Reitz from PreZero demonstrates that supply security can also be thought of differently. While the industry warns of a recyclate shortage in 2030, the Schwarz Group has long since built its own circular economy. PreZero, which once started as an internal Green Cycle service for stretch film and cardboard from its stores, is now the largest EPR system for packaging in Germany with a 25 percent market share, following the acquisitions of Tönsmeier, parts of Suez Europe and Cespa; its share grew from eleven to precisely that 25 percent. For Reitz, this represents supply sovereignty in an industry that will be battling for high-quality recyclates in five years' time. Where the market average achieves a 51 percent recycling rate in the Yellow Bin, PreZero achieves 55 percent; from this material base, 100 percent rPET bottles are produced at Schwarz Production and HDPE packaging for cosmetics.
However, the real change is mental: packaging has long been a mere accessory to the product, but it is now moving centre stage – with compliance obligations that must be incorporated into procurement decisions. He sees the greatest untapped potential in data: those who know in granular detail which materials they use can standardise and identify cost drivers. His advice to the industry: just do it, most of it is not rocket science.
What the consumer does (or doesn't) pay for
Dr. Daniel Bornemann, Senior Partner at the strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher, offers a sober assessment of the demand side. Willingness to pay for sustainable packaging has plummeted from 81 to 54 percent since 2021, with the accepted price premium standing at a meagre eight percent on the end product. He sees this not as a loss of importance, but as a shift: sustainability has become the norm, almost compliance – something that is taken for granted rather than perceived as a differentiator. Unclean packaging is simply no longer accepted on shelves without the consumer paying extra for it. The annual Simon-Kucher study also shows that 66 percent consider minimal packaging to be the most important sustainability feature – not the material, not recycled content, but reduction.
This finding is also addressed by the PPWR with its ban on excess air packaging. Operationally, the industry is stuck in a sandwich: raw material prices are rising due to the situation in Hormuz, but purchasing departments are refusing to pass on the increases. Those with long-term supply contracts and integrated recycling will fare better. Looking ahead to 2029, Bornemann does not expect a break, but rather a continuation: the hype will give way to normality, packaging will remain a system – and those who are not PPWR-ready by 2030 will have a problem.
Overengineering is out
On his eleventh and final interpack as VDMA Managing Director, Richard Clemens takes a self-critical look at the German manufacturers of packaging and food machinery. Order intake in the first quarter was weak, but the first days of the trade fair acted as a catalyst. More important to Clemens is a fundamental message: it is not a law of nature that German manufacturers remain technological leaders – competitors from China, India, and Italy are building good machines and gaining market share. His appeal: the industry must become more customer-centric, come to market faster, and abandon the pursuit of the "140 percent solution.".
Often, „good enough“ is sufficient, with a shorter time to market. Investors also no longer think in terms of twenty-year machine lifespans, but rather in three to five. Despite all self-criticism, Clemens remains optimistic: packaging is an attractive industry, people will always eat and drink, the world population is growing, and the demand for packaged food and pharmaceuticals is rising steadily. His main concern for the coming years: attracting young talent. Without new recruits with knowledge in mechatronics, automation, and packaging materials, the top position cannot be maintained.
