Consumers and regulators want products with a smaller carbon footprint and a transition to a circular economy. Achieving these objectives often involves installing machines that consume fewer resources and adopting sustainable packaging. Tactics include transitioning materials, phasing out single-use plastics, specifying recyclable mono-materials, and working to eliminate volatile organic compounds and other hazardous substances such as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances).

Material transitions involve less plastic packaging and shifting away from foam and multi-material substrates to recyclable, source-reduced, reusable, and/or compostable or possess recycled, renewable, or bio-based content. The PMMI Material Transitioning Dashboard, curated by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, shows what materials are being used in 44 industry categories, the top 10 materials being phased out, and what replacements will be most in demand during the next three to five years. The customizable tool enables users to tailor the data to their industry and business.

‍