Ahead of the official launch of the UK Packaging Pact in April 2026, WRAP has announced the names of the 55 founding organizations that have already signed up to the ten-year Pact to bring sweeping changes across all packaging materials.
“Supported by PackUK, UK Government, and led by global environmental action NGO WRAP, the UK Packaging Pact will transform how we design, use, and recover packaging to reduce waste and emissions, better protect nature and put citizens needs at the heart of packaging decisions,” WRAP said in a statement.
The successor to the UK Plastics Pact, the new voluntary agreement widens the focus to all materials commonly used in packaging and also widens the range of sectors involved. Now organizations producing products for food and drink, beauty care, pet products and household goods can join and transform packaging to optimize its use, expand reusability, and fully integrate packaging into the circular economy.
Catherine David, CEO, WRAP, said, “Collaboration works, and it’s delivering real change. Unrecyclable black plastic is gone, recycling is rising, and unnecessary packaging is disappearing. But the scale of the challenge demands more. Plastic pollution remains a global crisis, and with the failure to secure a global treaty, the need for bold, systemic action has never been greater. We must accelerate the step change to circular living, driving reuse, tackling plastic film, and enabling the impact of upcoming recycling reforms. This is collective action at its most ambitious and essential, and WRAP is proud to lead the charge toward a truly circular future.”
Ahead of its 2026 launch, 55 founding members have signed up, including household names such as ASDA, Arla, Haleon, Lidl, Ocado Retail, Tesco, and Yeo Valley, sustainability pioneers GoUnpackaged and PackUK, and major waste management companies Biffa, SUEZ Recycling Recovery UK Ltd, and Veolia.
With its whole value chain approach, the UK Packaging Pact will bring together academics, SMEs, innovators, leading retailers, FMCG brands, and recyclers for a whole system approach to revolutionize packaging in the UK and influence global markets. WRAP is in talks with many major brands, retailers, and manufacturers across multiple sectors ahead of April.
The new UK Packaging Pact builds on the success of the UK Plastics Pact, launched by WRAP in 2018 and which is nearing its end. The UK Packaging Pact will go beyond just plastics and food and drink packaging to address all packaging materials, accelerating the UK’s transition to a circular economy through four ambitious, interconnected goals, to:
- Optimize packaging
- Scale reuse and refill
- Support circular infrastructure investment
- Harmonize data to improve traceability for more impactful decision making
Following the sustainable model
Since 2018, the UK Plastics Pact has achieved market-wide transformation through voluntary action. Despite global disruption and policy delays, businesses stepped up and acted ahead of regulation. The UK Packaging Pact will continue and broaden this momentum, addressing unfinished plastics targets while expanding collaboration across all packaging material streams. It will tackle persistent challenges from flexible plastics to scaling reuse, and under-investment in infrastructure by convening business, government, and investors around shared solutions.
The latest UK Plastics Pact progress report was released on November 27 and is available here.
The UK Plastics Pact became the blueprint for 13 global Plastics Pacts now operating across 19 countries in the Global North and South.
