A circular packaging system only works as well as its weakest link — design, collection and reprocessing capacity all have to line up.
loop_retention = design_score * sorting_efficiency
leakage = 1 - retention
- Packaging units — packaging items flowing through the collection-to-remanufacture system.
- Recycling sites — sorting and reprocessing facilities the material must pass through.
- Design recyclability — how mono-material/easily-sorted the packaging design is (single polymer beats laminate).
- Sorting/remanufacture rate — throughput capacity of the recycling sites turning collected material back into new packaging.
Brands redesigning packaging for mono-material recyclability can lift real-world recycling rates from under 20% to over 60% in the same collection system.