REGENERATING THE SECTOR: DAY 2 OF ALLFORPACK EMBALLAGE PARIS 2026
Regenerating: beyond marginal optimisation
The diagnosis is shared across the sector: efficiency gains are no longer enough. To meet European targets for packaging reduction, reuse and recycling, scaling up is more necessary than ever. The second day of Paris Talks at ALLFORPACK EMBALLAGE PARIS 2026 takes stock of this shift. The programme puts into perspective the accelerating regulatory transformations, the new industrial infrastructures being deployed, and the circular models still seeking their economic balance. In this context, regenerating means closing loops, renewing practices and rebuilding a competitive circular economy at European scale.
Maud Fontenoy: the ocean as a mirror of the packaging sector
The choice of Maud Fontenoy to open this day resonates with the theme. The first woman to row across the North Atlantic from west to east in 2003, she went on to row across the South Pacific from east to west in 2005, without assistance. A UNESCO spokesperson for the oceans since 2009, she created the Maud Fontenoy Foundation in 2008, recognised as being of public interest and mandated by the French Ministry of National Education for sea education. A sailor turned environmental advocacy figure, she has been a respected voice on the preservation of marine ecosystems for more than fifteen years.
Why open a day dedicated to regenerating the packaging sector with a voice from the sea? Because the ocean is an unforgiving mirror of the sector. According to the European Parliament, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year, and estimates suggest that 80% of marine plastic waste comes from land-based activities and is carried to the sea by waterways. Every industrial decision has an environmental endpoint, sometimes far removed from the place of production. By opening Day 2, Maud Fontenoy recalls this extended responsibility and lays the foundations for the paradigm shift that the conferences will then explore in detail. Industrial regeneration begins with the awareness that the loop extends far beyond the factory and the retail shelf.
The European regulatory framework reaches its landing phase
The first major theme addressed during this second day concerns changes to the legislative framework at European level. The timing is decisive. European Regulation (EU) 2025/40, more commonly known as the PPWR, on packaging and packaging waste, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 January 2025 and will become applicable on 12 August 2026. The most structuring deadlines then follow: reduction requirements from 2027, recycled-content targets and the first reuse milestones from 2030. For packaging manufacturers, packers and companies placing products on the market, the investment decisions made today will shape the next five to ten years.
In France, the 2020 Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy remains highly relevant. Five years after its adoption, Citeo’s assessment highlights the gap between ambition and reality: while the recycling rate for household packaging reaches 86% for glass and 86% for steel, it remains at 27% for plastic and 37% for aluminium. These issues of nomenclature, harmonised definitions and extended producer responsibility have already been explored in the show’s newsroom through articles dedicated to Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and the evolution of packaging terminology and to EPR for professional packaging, and will be at the heart of the discussions during this second day of ALLFORPACK EMBALLAGE PARIS.
Reuse and new recycling streams: industrialisation underway
The second major focus of this second day of conferences concerns the industrial implementation of circular models. The ReUse initiative led by Citeo was launched on 12 June 2025 in Hauts-de-France, Brittany, Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire: 16 million consumers concerned, 750 stores expected, and 55 million returnable reusable packaging units planned. Six major retail chains are involved, with a single logistics provider selected for a two-year period. The objective: to reach 10% reused packaging by 2027.
At the same time, new recycling streams are gaining momentum. For plastic films, pots and trays, contracts have been awarded to industrial operators for cumulative volumes exceeding 80,000 tonnes recycled per year, with the objective of having four additional sorting centres operational by the end of 2026, capable of processing 100,000 tonnes per year. This shift in industrial architecture is of direct interest to ALLFORPACK EMBALLAGE PARIS exhibitors, from manufacturers of sorting and washing machines to suppliers of recycled materials. For brands using packaging that is not recyclable today, the issue is also strategic: a material without an operational recycling stream by 2030 is, in effect, a material out of play. This dynamic has already been explored through bio-based plastics as an industrial response to tensions on fossil-based materials.
See you at Paris Nord Villepinte from 24 to 26 November 2026
With Maud Fontenoy opening the day, Day 2 “Regenerating” offers a coherent narrative arc: starting from the open sea and returning to the industrial loops that need to be built. CSR directors, R&D managers, packaging manufacturers, eco-organisations, reuse and recycling players: every profile will find in this day the material needed to anticipate PPWR deadlines and accelerate the scaling up of circular projects. Book your visitor badge for ALLFORPACK EMBALLAGE PARIS 2026 now and join professionals from the sector at Paris Nord Villepinte from 24 to 26 November 2026, for three days of discussions, demonstrations and conferences at the heart of all the sector’s transformations.