SPS Pouches is pleased to be supporting the Packaging News Sustainability & Impact Summit & Awards 2026 as an Agenda Partner.
As part of the summit agenda, SPS Pouches Director, Elliot Hyams, will contribute to the Recycling Infrastructure, Waste Systems & Local Authority Alignment panel alongside representatives from OPRL, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK and Biffa. The session will focus on UK capacity gaps and investment priorities, consistent collections, public behaviour change, contamination, difficult formats and the challenge of aligning brand ambition with council realities.
For SPS Pouches, this is an important conversation. Flexible packaging is entering a more serious phase, where brand owners are no longer only asking whether a pouch looks sustainable or whether it can carry a recycling claim. They are having to think about Extended Producer Responsibility, PPWR, RAM, collection systems, sortability, material choices and whether their packaging will still be commercially viable as regulation continues to develop.
That is where SPS Pouches is increasingly focused.
The move towards recyclable mono-material pouch structures is one of the most important developments in flexible packaging. PE and PP-based pouch laminates can reduce material complexity and improve the chances of packaging being identified, sorted and reprocessed through mechanical recycling systems.
However, mono-material packaging is not a magic answer on its own. The whole pack has to be considered, including barrier requirements, print finish, windows, zippers, valves, spouts and the way the pouch will behave in actual recycling infrastructure.
This is why SPS Pouches has been looking beyond simple claims and testing how pouch structures perform in practice.
Our MRF study at Sherbourne Recycling showed that a mono-PE pouch structure was correctly identified and sorted into the films and flexibles stream, while heavy metallisation and certain fitments created more obvious challenges. For brands, that distinction matters. It shows that recyclable pouch packaging is not simply about choosing a material that sounds better. It is about designing packaging around the systems that actually exist.
Packaging decisions are now becoming business decisions.
Under EPR, brands will increasingly have to understand the cost and impact of the packaging they place on the market. PPWR is also expected to reshape packaging expectations across Europe, particularly around recyclability, waste reduction and material choice. In the UK, RAM and developing recycling infrastructure will place more emphasis on whether packaging can be correctly collected, identified and sorted.
For SMEs and growing brands, this can be difficult to navigate. Large businesses often have compliance teams, sustainability managers and long development timelines. Smaller brands usually need practical support much earlier, before they commit to a pouch format, material structure or print route that may become harder to justify later.
That is why SPS Pouches works with customers on the practical trade-offs behind packaging decisions:
These questions are becoming increasingly important for food, drink, supplements, pet food and personal care brands that want packaging which performs commercially while moving in the right direction environmentally.
One of the risks with flexible plastics is assuming that collection automatically means recycling. It does not.
A recent Foundation for Science and Technology article, Why Extended Producer Responsibility must not become another missed opportunity for flexible plastics recycling, argues that pEPR needs to support the difficult parts of the system, not simply raise money from producers. That includes collection, optical sorting, film capture, washing, pelletising and the development of end markets for recycled flexible PE and PP.
This distinction matters because flexible packaging is lightweight, variable and often lower value than more established rigid plastic streams. If producer fees are raised but not directed towards the parts of the system that flexibles actually need, there is a risk that collection improves on paper without creating a genuinely circular route for the material.
This is why the conversation has to move beyond whether a pouch can technically be designed for recyclability. The next question is whether that design can pass through real UK infrastructure and become part of a recycling system that works commercially.
SPS Pouches agrees with that practical view. Better packaging outcomes will not come from material changes alone. They will depend on better design, better infrastructure, clearer regulation and more joined-up decision-making across the value chain.
As a custom printed flexible packaging supplier, our role is to help brands make informed choices before problems become expensive. That means supporting customers with recyclable pouch structures where appropriate, being honest about where high-barrier materials are still needed, and helping businesses plan for the packaging expectations that are already starting to arrive.
SPS Pouches is looking forward to contributing to this discussion at the Packaging News Sustainability & Impact Summit & Awards 2026, and to continuing the work of helping brands prepare for the next phase of flexible packaging.
Let our team guide you through your customisation options and deliver the perfect pouch for your products.
If you have any enquiries concerning our pouch packaging, or would simply like to get in touch with our team, you can use the contact form or details below.
