Catherine David
CEO, WRAP
Imagine a future where packaging is designed to be part of something bigger. A future where fruit and veg are sold loose, and the laundry liquid bottle is used multiple times.
Behind it all, imagine a connected system of government, businesses, recyclers and local authorities powered by effective policy and innovation, building a truly circular packaging system.
UK Packaging Pact
The UK Packaging Pact will help create a world where packaging is better for people and planet.
April 2026 saw environmental action NGO, WRAP, start an important chapter in UK packaging. When the UK Plastics Pact launched in 2018, it broke new ground, becoming the first of now 13 Pacts spanning 19 countries. Its blueprint has shown what’s possible when businesses, governments and NGOs work together.
The Pact helped remove 700 million problematic items from supermarket shelves, and recycled content tripled — driving a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from virgin plastic removal and increased recycled content.1 Businesses are prepared for incoming policy thanks to the Pact.
Packaging touches every home, every day;
getting it right is both a business challenge
and a social and environmental imperative.
The packaging system has been challenged recently — a global pandemic, delays in policy implementation and gaps in recycling infrastructure slowing delivery against some of 2018’s original objectives. Yet the Plastics Pact held firm, proving that progress is possible even in the toughest conditions.
In April 2026, environmental action NGO, WRAP, turned the page on an important chapter in UK packaging, with the UK Plastics Pact evolving into the UK Packaging Pact. Packaging touches every home, every day; getting it right is both a business challenge and a social and environmental imperative.
New wave of reform on the horizon
Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR, a policy that requires businesses to pay for the entire lifecycle of the packaging they put on the market, from collection to recycling), Simpler Recycling, and the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will reshape the landscape.
The UK Packaging Pact will ensure the benefits of the recycling reforms are realised, helping people and businesses work through challenges together, drawing on the sector’s expertise and creating alignment.
1. WRAP. (2025). The UK plastics pact progress report 2024/25. https://tinyurl.com/3jswnyj4.
