The Hidden Cost of “Double Packaging” in the Paper Shift

The EU is coming for total packaging volume, not materials. When a paper switch starts leaking, what specs should printers lock down first?

Packaging can increase even after you “switch to paper.” That reversal is easy to trigger in foodservice and retail. The EU is setting goals to cut packaging waste regardless of material—so paper is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. Failures don’t come from “good” or “bad” materials; they happen when barrier performance, dimensions, and collection assumptions don’t line up.

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BPJ WIRE: stories selected and drafted by the BPJ desk from world news, fact-checked against the source ledger — published alongside the editor's own picks.

Translated from Japanese by AI. The Japanese original is authoritative.

The Hidden Cost of “Double Packaging” in the Paper Shift

Starbucks says its new cold-drink cup uses “up to 20% less plastic,” and that it can reduce around 6,100 tons of plastic sent to landfills each year.

But what the company put at the center of development was this: “How much plastic can we remove while still keeping the rigidity when it’s held in the hand?”…

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