# Four of five food giants have restated, moved or paused a packaging target since 2020, and no two measure virgin plastic from the same year

> Nestlé, Danone, Mondelēz International and Kraft Heinz have each restated, moved or paused at least one packaging target since 2020, General Mills has kept its single 2030 goal, and the four virgin plastic goals run from four different baseline years, so the companies can be compared on structure and exposure but not ranked on progress.

Publisher: Strategic Packaging Insights  
Published: 2026-10-26  
Last updated: 2026-10-26  
Page: https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/fmcg-packaging-pledges-compared/

**Nestlé, Danone, Mondelēz International and Kraft Heinz have each restated, moved or paused at least one packaging target since 2020, General Mills has kept its single 2030 goal, and the four virgin plastic goals run from four different baseline years, so the companies can be compared on structure and exposure but not ranked on progress.**

Plastic is about a quarter of Nestlé's 3.3 million tonnes of packaging, about half of Danone's 1.39 million tons and about a fifth of Kraft Heinz's 1.07 million tonnes, while Mondelēz and General Mills publish no plastic tonnage. That mix, together with where each company sells, decides how hard the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), US state EPR fees and the UK and Spanish plastic taxes bite on the suppliers who make their packs.

## Executive summary

The five largest packaged food makers in the [SPI Packaging Buyers Database](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-buyers-database/) all publish packaging pledges, but they measure them in ways that resist a league table. Four have virgin plastic goals, and those goals start from 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Recyclability is counted as "reusable, recyclable or compostable" at Nestlé and Kraft Heinz, "designed for recycling" against the PPWR definition at Danone, "designed to be recyclable" at Mondelēz and "recyclable or reusable by weight" at General Mills. This piece compares structure and exposure instead. The 2025 outcomes are scored in the [2025 targets scorecard](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/2025-packaging-targets-scorecard/) and recycled content against legal floors in [the pledge gap](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/recycled-content-pledge-gap/).

The portfolios differ more than the pledges do. Danone's packaging is 48.9% plastic by weight, against 26.1% at Nestlé and 20.8% at Kraft Heinz (company figures, Exhibit 1). Nestlé has halved its plastic packaging since 2018, from 1.7 million tonnes to 0.86 million, while its virgin plastic fell 28.0%, short of the one-third goal it set on 16 January 2020.

Targets have moved, and the dates matter to suppliers. Danone replaced a 2030 goal of 30% less virgin fossil-based packaging against 2020 with 17% less virgin plastic against 2019, in an update dated 5 March 2026. Mondelēz cut its recyclability goal from all packaging to about 98% in September 2024 and now shows that goal, its rigid plastic goal and its recycled-content goal at 2030. Nestlé set a 12% to 17% virgin plastic aim for 2030 in September 2026 on a baseline that excludes its waters business. Kraft Heinz said in its 2025 ESG Report that it was not introducing new time-bound targets as planned, and had published no 2026 report by 20 October 2026.

Reuse is a large bet at one company and a small one at the rest. Danone sells over 45% of its water volumes in reusable packaging; the others report pilots, refill packs or dispensers without a reuse figure.

Exposure follows sales. Danone and Mondelēz earn 36% and 39% of sales in Europe, where the PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026; Nestlé, Kraft Heinz and General Mills sell more in North America, where Oregon, Colorado and California charge EPR fees. Suppliers should map each customer to its quadrant in Exhibit 9 and prepare the evidence those rules and targets now require.

## Key findings

1. Four of the five companies set or measure a virgin plastic goal against a different year: Nestlé 2018, Danone 2019, Mondelēz 2020 and Kraft Heinz 2021; General Mills has no virgin plastic goal (company reports, consulted 20 October 2026).
2. Plastic is 48.9% of Danone's packaging weight in 2025, 26.1% of Nestlé's and 20.8% of Kraft Heinz's in 2024 (SPI calculation from company tonnages); Mondelēz reports 908,200 tonnes of packaging for 2025 without a plastic figure.
3. Since 2020, Nestlé, Danone, Mondelēz and Kraft Heinz have each restated, moved or paused at least one packaging target, with the latest changes dated 5 March 2026 (Danone) and September 2026 (Nestlé).
4. **SPI calculation:**  Mondelēz needs about 3.3 points a year of rigid virgin plastic reduction to reach 25% by 2030, against 1.7 a year since 2020; Kraft Heinz needs 3.0 points a year to reach 20%, against about 0.7 a year to 2024.
5. Danone reports over 45% of water volumes in reusable packaging (5 March 2026); none of the other four publishes a reuse share or a numeric reuse target.
6. **SPI analysis:**  Danone is the one company that is both plastic-heavy and Europe-weighted, while Nestlé, Kraft Heinz and General Mills carry lower plastic shares and sell mainly in North America (Exhibit 9).
7. **SPI calculation:**  at PackUK's Year 2 illustrative rates, 1,000 tonnes of UK plastic packaging below the 30% recycled-content line costs GBP 683,820 in EPR fee and tax at amber, against GBP 415,000 at green with 30% or more recycled plastic.

## Five portfolios, three published plastic tonnages

A pledge is only as large as the packaging it covers, so the first comparison is tonnage. Exhibit 2 sets out what each company reports in its latest own document, in its own units and year.

The trends inside each company tell a sharper story than the levels. Nestlé's plastic packaging fell from 1.7 million tonnes in 2018 to 0.86 million in 2025 (Ask Nestlé, consulted 20 October 2026). SPI calculation: that is a 49.4% fall in plastic tonnage, while virgin plastic fell 28.0% over the same years, so recycled plastic and lower volumes both play a part. Danone reports plastic packaging use down 10.1% and virgin fossil-based plastic down 17.7% between 2019 and 2025 (2025 URD, page 23). Kraft Heinz's plastic packaging fell from 293,000 tonnes in 2022 to 222,000 in 2024, a 24.2% fall in two years, and total packaging from 1,207,000 to 1,067,000 tonnes (2025 ESG Report, page 11).

Material mix shapes which rules matter. Kraft Heinz reports 349,000 tonnes of renewable materials for primary products in 2024 against 718,000 tonnes of non-renewable ones, so SPI calculates that about a third of its packaging weight is renewable. General Mills describes its packaging as mainly fibre without a percentage, and its fiscal 2026 Form 10-K, filed on 1 July 2026, lists carton board, corrugated, plastic and metal among the materials it buys in substantial quantities (SPI Buyers Database). Mondelēz reports 908,200 tonnes of packaging for calendar 2025, after moving that metric to calendar-year reporting (Non-Financial Datasheet, footnote 9).

SPI analysis

For a converter, the gap in disclosure is itself a data point. Three of the five publish plastic tonnage that a supplier can set against its own share of wallet; Mondelēz and General Mills do not, so their suppliers have to work from the company's percentages and their own volumes.

## Virgin plastic: four goals, four baselines

Virgin plastic reduction is the one metric four of the five share, and it is the one most often misread. Each goal is a percentage cut against a different year, and Nestlé's new goal also uses a narrower scope (Exhibit 3).

Read the table one row at a time. Nestlé's 28.0% cut is against its full 2018 baseline, which still included Nestlé Waters; its 2030 aim of 12% to 17% is against an adjusted 2018 baseline of 611 kilotonnes that excludes Nestlé Waters and Premium Beverages, and the strategy says that target "is subject to change once the divestment is concluded" (Packaging Sustainability Strategy, page 10). Nestlé has not published progress against the adjusted baseline. SPI calculation: the aim implies 2030 virgin plastic of about 507 to 538 kilotonnes for the businesses Nestlé keeps.

Danone's 17% reduction between 2019 and 2025 already equals its 17% goal for 2030, and its packaging page gives the baseline as "aligned with the Ellen MacArthur Global Commitment". The goal stays open to 2030, so the level has to hold as volumes change. Mondelēz reports an 11.5% cut in overall virgin plastic against 2020 for 2025, beating its 5% goal for that year, and 8.4% on rigid plastic against a 25% goal for 2030 (Goals and progress, consulted 20 October 2026). Its datasheet marks earlier years where virgin rigid plastic rose against 2020 with a plus sign.

Kraft Heinz reports a 2% cut against 2021 by 2024, against 20% by 2030 (2025 ESG Report, page 5). Its largest named project, moving Kraft Mayo, Miracle Whip and NotMayo bottles to 100% recycled PET, is expected to remove about 14 million pounds of virgin plastic (page 7). SPI calculation: about 6,350 tonnes, or 2.9% of its 222,000-tonne plastic footprint in 2024.

SPI analysis

A supplier should never read one company's percentage against another's. A 17% cut against 2019 and a 20% cut against 2021 describe different quantities. What each row does tell a supplier is how much each customer still needs from its packaging base: nothing more on Danone's current goal, 16.6 points on Mondelēz's rigid packs and 18 points at Kraft Heinz.

## Targets and status, company by company

Exhibit 4 brings every current packaging target of the five companies together with the latest figure each reports, its date and its source. Status is the company's own where it gives one; otherwise it is the status recorded in the SPI Packaging Buyers Database, which holds 148 targets from 42 companies.

The definitions behind the recyclability rows are not the same. Nestlé counts packaging that meets reusable, recyclable or compostable criteria, and defines a recyclable component by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation test of a 30% recycling rate in regions covering more than 400 million people (Ask Nestlé). Danone measures design for recycling against the PPWR definition. Kraft Heinz's measure includes materials labelled recyclable, widely recyclable or "check locally", plus packaging collected through programmes such as TerraCycle (2025 ESG Report, page 11). General Mills measures by weight across all brands.

SPI analysis

The pace each open goal needs varies widely by company. General Mills needs 1 point a year to close 5 points by 2030; Danone 1.6 points a year to close 8 points on design for recycling; Mondelēz about 0.4 a year on recyclability, after reporting 96% at the end of 2023, in 2024 and in 2025 (2023 report release, 19 September 2024; Datasheet). These are paces on each company's own measure, not a ranking.

## What changed since 2020, and when

Every company in this group except General Mills has changed the shape of a packaging pledge since 2020. Exhibit 5 puts the changes on one line; Exhibit 6 sets the earlier and current wording side by side.

The Danone sequence shows why dates matter. Its October 2018 release set 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025 and a 50% average of recycled PET in water and other beverage bottles by 2025. In its answers to shareholders of 25 April 2024 the recyclability goal read 2030, and the virgin plastic goal read 30% less virgin packaging derived from fossil resources by 2030 against 2020, with half by 2040. The same goals appear in its answers of 24 April 2025. The 5 March 2026 release then says Danone is updating its targets, and the packaging page now shows 17% against 2019 and 95% designed for recycling by 2030. SPI has not yet confirmed the date on which the recyclability deadline first moved from 2025 to 2030.

Mondelēz's changes came in two steps. Its 2023 report release of 19 September 2024 updated the recyclability goal to about 98% or more by 2025, citing "various strategic and operational factors" including acquisitions, growth and evolving regulation (CSRwire, 19 September 2024). Its goals page now gives about 98% or more by 2030, 25% less rigid virgin plastic by 2030 and 5% recycled plastic content by 2030, while the 5% overall virgin plastic goal keeps its 2025 date and is beaten.

In practice: Nestlé.

Nestlé's 2030 aim excludes Nestlé Waters and Premium Beverages "in light of the announced future divestment" (Packaging Sustainability Strategy, page 10). On 23 July 2026 Nestlé announced Peranel, a 50:50 joint venture with Platinum Equity for S.Pellegrino, Perrier, Acqua Panna and Nestlé Pure Life, expected to close in H1 2027. The waters business made CHF 3,548 million of Nestlé's CHF 89,490 million of 2025 sales (Annual Review 2025, as given in the SPI Buyers Database). For a bottle or closure supplier, the group's 12% to 17% aim may no longer be the target that governs its specification.

In practice: Danone.

Danone's 5 March 2026 release sets recyclability as the priority from 2026, reports 17% less virgin plastic since 2019 and over 45% of its waters in reusable packaging, and adds a USD 20 million commitment to Circulate Capital in South and Southeast Asia. Its 2025 URD reports 1.39 million tons of packaging, 0.68 million tons of it plastic, and says evian and Volvic used 100% rPET in 2025 (pages 11 and 23). Its packaging page says Danone played "a key role" in launching Poland's deposit return system in October 2025.

## Reuse and refill: one large bet, four small ones

Reuse is where the five companies differ most, and where the PPWR adds its own targets. From 1 January 2030, operators using transport packaging must ensure at least 40% of it is reusable within a re-use system, grouped packaging carries a 10% target, and final distributors of beverages face 10% ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/)). Exhibit 7 shows what each company reports.

Danone's water figures come from two statements a year apart: "about 50% of volumes" sold in reusable packaging in 2024 (answers of 24 April 2025) and "over 45%" in the 5 March 2026 release. SPI has not yet confirmed whether the two use the same scope, so no trend is drawn. Nestlé's strategy commits to "support government policies that would create the conditions to scale reuse and refill systems" and the Ask Nestlé page says reuse models are being tested and scaled where practical.

SPI analysis

The PPWR reuse targets fall on transport and grouped packaging used by economic operators, not only on consumer packs. For corrugated, pallet wrap and crate suppliers, that makes the reuse question as much about each customer's logistics as its brands. Counting rules are still to come: Article 30(4) calculation rules are due by 30 June 2027 ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/)).

## Where the rules bite: EPR fees and PPWR

Regulatory exposure follows where each company sells. Exhibit 8 sets out the regional split each company reports, in its own currency; shares are within each company, so no currency is compared.

In Europe the PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026 as a directly applicable regulation ([PR-EU-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-001/)). All packaging placed on the market must be recyclable, with the design-for-recycling test from 1 January 2030 or 24 months after the delegated acts, whichever is later ([PR-EU-010](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-010/)). Recycled-content minimums start in 2030 ([PR-EU-004](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-004/)), the Annex V format restrictions apply from 1 January 2030 ([PR-EU-008](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-008/)), and food-contact packs face PFAS limits ([PR-EU-002](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-002/)). The [PPWR piece](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/ppwr-after-august-2026/) covers the detail.

In North America the cost is fees. Oregon's programme lets the producer responsibility organisation charge fees from 1 July 2025 ([PR-US-002](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-states/pr-us-002/)), Colorado's dues apply from January 2026 ([PR-US-003](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-states/pr-us-003/)), and California's SB 54 regulations took effect on 1 May 2026, with producers given until 1 June 2026 to choose a compliance path ([PR-US-004](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-states/pr-us-004/)). Mondelēz is a founding member of Circular Action Alliance and says it is "supporting the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility in Colorado, Oregon, California" (positions page). Kraft Heinz's EPR position of 24 April 2024 supports programmes with "a shared responsibility funding model". The [EPR fees piece](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/epr-fees-per-tonne-2026/) prices those schedules per tonne.

None of the five publishes a group total for EPR fees paid. Danone says it pays EPR fees "in markets where EPR is legislated", and Nestlé's 2025 report says it wants to "strengthen Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems" (Creating Shared Value 2025, page 32). SPI has not yet confirmed any company's EPR fee bill.

## An exposure framework: plastic share against regulatory centre of gravity

Put the plastic share of packaging (Exhibit 1) against the region that carries more of each company's sales (Exhibit 8), and the five fall into a simple 2x2. SPI uses two tests: plastic at one third or more of packaging weight, and Europe sales above or below North America sales. Each quadrant tells a supplier which rules will drive the customer's next specification (Exhibit 9).

**Quadrant A, Danone.**  With half its packaging weight in plastic and more sales in Europe than North America, Danone meets the PPWR on its heaviest material. Its choice to measure design for recycling against the PPWR definition and its reported 87% for 2025 make the EU test the company's own yardstick. Its water bottles also sit under the tethered caps and bottle recycled-content rules of the Single-Use Plastics Directive ([PR-EU-015](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-015/), [PR-EU-016](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-016/)) and the Polish deposit system, which charges PLN 0.50 on plastic bottles up to 3 litres ([PR-PL-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/poland/pr-pl-001/)).

**Quadrant B, Mondelēz.**  Mondelēz cannot be placed on plastic intensity from its own published figures, but 39.0% of its 2025 net revenue came from Europe, against 27.7% from North America. Its 96% recyclable figure and 3.7% recycled plastic content set the gap that PPWR recycled-content rules and the UK Plastic Packaging Tax act on, and its Cadbury mass balance wrappers sit on the UK rule change that recognises chemically recycled plastic allocated by certified mass balance ([PR-GB-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-001/)).

**Quadrant D, Nestlé, Kraft Heinz and General Mills.**  All three sell more in North America than Europe and carry plastic at a fifth to a quarter of packaging weight, or a fibre-led mix at General Mills. For them the near-term cost is US state fees on every covered material, including the cartons and corrugated that dominate General Mills' weight. Nestlé's Europe exposure is larger than its zone figure suggests, because Nespresso's CHF 6,481 million of 2025 sales is reported outside the zones; SPI has not yet confirmed its regional split.

SPI analysis

Quadrant C is empty, and that is a finding in itself. None of the three companies that publish plastic tonnage combines a plastic-heavy portfolio with a US-weighted business, so the toughest US plastic modulation, such as Oregon's acceptance-list pricing, meets these companies on a minority of their packaging weight.

## Scenarios: what the open targets and the rules imply

SPI ran three sets of numbers, each in one unit or currency, using only published inputs. The first asks where each open virgin plastic or recyclability goal lands in 2030 at three paces (Exhibit 11).

**SPI calculation:**  Mondelēz's rigid row runs 8.4 + (8.4 / 5 x 5) = 16.8% by 2030 at its 2020 to 2025 pace, 8.2 points short of 25%. Kraft Heinz's runs 2 + (2 / 3 x 6) = 6.0%, 14 points short of 20%. Danone's base case of 31.2% is arithmetic only: its plastic use fell 10.1% over the same six years, so the virgin cut has come with recycled content and volume changes that may not repeat. For suppliers, the gap between base and high is the volume of rigid virgin resin that each customer has said it will replace with recycled content, new materials or reuse.

The second and third sets price what the regulatory floor costs on a fixed tonnage. Exhibit 12 takes 1,000 tonnes of plastic packaging placed on the UK market and applies PackUK's Year 2 illustrative disposal fees, published on 16 December 2025 and updated on 19 December 2025, and the Plastic Packaging Tax at GBP 228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026 (Finance Act 2021, section 45, as substituted by the Finance Act 2026; [PR-GB-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-001/)).

**SPI calculation:**  the base case is 1,000 x GBP 455 + 1,000 x GBP 228.82 = GBP 683,820. The tax is a cliff: a component at 29% recycled plastic pays on its full weight, one at 30% pays nothing. Nestlé reports 20.6% recycled content in plastic globally and Mondelēz 3.7%, but the tax is assessed component by component, so group averages say nothing about any one UK pack. The [pledge gap piece](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/insights/recycled-content-pledge-gap/) covers how the 30% line is counted.

Exhibit 13 does the same for Spain, where the tax base is only the non-recycled plastic in non-reusable packaging, at EUR 0.45 per kilogram (Agencia Tributaria, consulted 20 October 2026). Every kilogram of certified recycled plastic lowers the bill.

In practice: Mondelēz.

On 16 May 2025 Mondelēz UK said Cadbury sharing bars made and sold in the UK and Ireland would use wrappers with 80% certified recycled plastic, allocated by mass balance from advanced recycling, covering about 300 million bars and about 600 tonnes of recycled plastic a year; Amcor described making the wrapper with its AmPrima and AmFiniti technologies on 25 June 2025 (as given in the SPI Buyers Database). The positions page says this supports an aim of up to 50% recycled plastic in Cadbury blocks, bars and pieces wrappers. Group-wide, recycled plastic was 3.7% in 2025 against a 5% goal for 2030.

In practice: Kraft Heinz.

Kraft Heinz's 2025 ESG Report gives packaging tonnage for three years, 86% recyclable, reusable or compostable in 2024 and a 2% virgin plastic cut against 2021, and names projects: 100% recycled PET for Kraft Mayo, Miracle Whip and NotMayo, a redesigned Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh lid expected to cut virgin plastic by 1.8 million pounds, and a mono-material lid for the Heinz dippot (pages 7 and 11). The report covers the fiscal year to 28 December 2024. Its reports page listed no 2026 ESG report on 20 October 2026, so the 2025 recyclability result and the US PET goal have no published outcome.

## Industry reaction

> "By 2030, we aim to achieve 12%-17% virgin plastic reduction from the 2018 baseline."

***Nestlé** , brand owner, [Packaging Sustainability Strategy](https://www.nestle.com/sites/default/files/2026-09/nestle-packaging-sustainability-strategy-en.pdf), September 2026*

The same strategy says that "individual company action alone is insufficient to address global packaging sustainability challenges", and footnotes that the baseline excludes the waters business.

> « Danone actualise ses objectifs pour rester à la fois ambitieux et pragmatique »

In English: "Danone is updating its targets to remain both ambitious and pragmatic"

***Danone** , brand owner, [press release on phase two of the Impact Journey](https://www.danone.com/content/dam/corp/global/danonecom/medias/medias-fr/2026/cpdanone05032026.pdf.coredownload.pdf), 5 March 2026*

The release sets the update « Dans un contexte où les infrastructures de recyclage restent limitées », that is, where recycling infrastructure remains limited.

> "we are not introducing new, science-based and time-bound targets in key areas as originally planned"
>
>
>
> **Kraft Heinz** , brand owner, [2025 ESG Report](https://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/sustainability/pdf/KraftHeinz-2025-ESG-Report.pdf), letter on page 4
>
>
>
> "We support the implementation of effective policy and optimal Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)"

***Mondelēz International** , brand owner, [Packaging and plastic waste position](https://www.mondelezinternational.com/snacking-made-right/our-positions/packaging-and-plastic-waste/), consulted 20 October 2026*

## What leaders should do now

1. **Account leads at converters, by 31 December 2026:**  map each of these customers to its quadrant in Exhibit 9 and to the baseline year of its virgin plastic goal, so every proposal quotes savings in the customer's own unit and against its own base.
2. **Rigid packaging suppliers to Mondelēz and Kraft Heinz, before 2027 contracts are signed:**  size the resin each customer still needs to switch to meet its 2030 goal (16.6 and 18 points respectively) and offer recycled or redesigned options with the tonnage they remove, as Kraft Heinz does for its mayonnaise bottles.
3. **Bottle and closure suppliers to Nestlé Waters, by H1 2027:**  confirm which targets will govern specifications once Peranel closes, since the group's 2030 aim excludes the waters business and may change after the divestment.
4. **Flexible packaging converters, by 1 April 2027:**  prepare recycled-content evidence that meets the UK's mass balance certification route and the end of pre-consumer scrap counting ([PR-GB-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-001/)), and price each pack at both sides of the 30% line using Exhibit 12.
5. **Transport packaging and logistics suppliers, by 30 June 2027:**  model what 40% reusable transport packaging and 10% reusable grouped packaging from 2030 ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/)) would mean for each customer's European flows, ahead of the calculation rules due that day.
6. **Sustainability and data teams at suppliers, at each customer's next reporting cycle:**  supply recyclability, recycled-content and weight data in the customer's own definition (PPWR design for recycling at Danone, weight-based at General Mills, "check locally" included at Kraft Heinz), because the customer reports on that basis.
7. **Commercial leads selling into North America, before the 2027 fee schedules:**  quote Oregon, Colorado and California fee effects for each format change, since three of the five customers earn most of their sales there.

## Questions for your board

- Which of these five customers' current packaging targets does our product line help meet, and in which unit does each customer count it?
- How much of our revenue with each customer is tied to a target that was restated, moved or paused since 2020?
- If Nestlé's waters business moves to Peranel in 2027, which of our specifications and targets change?
- What share of our UK and Spanish plastic volumes sits below 30% recycled content, and what would Exhibits 12 and 13 cost us at our own tonnage?
- Are we ready to supply reusable transport or grouped packaging for 2030 in the EU, and to whom?
- Do we hold the data each customer needs for its next report in that customer's own definition?

## What to watch

- **30 Nov 2026:**  PackUK plans to calculate confirmed Year 2 fees and issue the notice of liability by the end of November, replacing the illustrative rates in Exhibit 12 ([PR-GB-003](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-003/)).
- **31 Dec 2026:**  the PPWR implementing and delegated acts on recycled-content calculation and third-country equivalence were due and listed as in preparation ([PR-EU-004](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-004/)).
- **12 Feb 2027:**  guidelines on the beverages covered by the PPWR final distributor reuse target are due ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/)).
- **1 Apr 2027:**  UK Plastic Packaging Tax stops counting pre-consumer scrap, and the PackUK red multiplier rises to 1.6 ([PR-GB-001](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-001/), [PR-GB-003](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/united-kingdom/pr-gb-003/)).
- **H1 2027:**  Nestlé expects the Peranel waters joint venture to close, after which its 2030 baseline "is subject to change".
- **30 Jun 2027:**  PPWR re-use calculation rules are due under Article 30(4) ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/)).
- **1 Jan 2030:**  PPWR reuse targets and Annex V restrictions apply, and the 2030 targets of Danone, Mondelēz, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and General Mills fall due ([PR-EU-006](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-006/), [PR-EU-008](https://www.strategicpackaginginsights.com/data/packaging-regulation-tracker/european-union/pr-eu-008/)).

## Methodology

- **Data used:**  SPI Packaging Buyers Database profiles for Nestlé, Danone, Mondelēz International, Kraft Heinz and General Mills (written 14 October 2026), updated from each company's own reports, releases and pages, consulted 20 October 2026; SPI Regulation Tracker rule notes; GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk and Agencia Tributaria pages for the UK and Spanish rates.
- **Counting rules:**  company figures stay in each company's own units, years and definitions. Shares and paces are SPI calculations inside one company. Sales are shown in each company's currency and never added or compared across currencies. Scenario tables use one unit or one currency each.
- **Framework:**  the plastic test (one third of packaging weight) and the regional test (Europe sales against North America sales) are SPI choices. Region definitions differ by company, as Exhibit 8 notes.
- **Restatements:**  a target counts as restated, moved or paused when the company published a new level, deadline, baseline, scope or definition, or said it would not set new targets. SPI records the change and its date, not whether it is stronger or weaker.
- **Cut-off:**  20 October 2026.
- **Limitations:**  Kraft Heinz's latest figures are for 2024; Mondelēz and General Mills publish no plastic tonnage; Nestlé publishes no progress on its adjusted baseline; no company publishes EPR fees paid. UK fees are illustrative. Nothing here is legal or tax advice; check with counsel where it applies.

## Sources

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