Traditionally, packaging design has focused on durability and usability. However, with global sustainability targets becoming increasingly urgent, factors such as recyclability, and circularity have taken centre stage. Waste & Recycling magazine spoke with leading packaging companies across the Middle East and India to explore how the industry is evolving and embedding circular design principles into their processes.

Defining Design for Circularity

Thomas Hofmann, Regional Product Development Manager AMET at ALPLA, and Walter Peixoto, Regional Product Design Manager AMET at ALPLA, explain the company’s approach to what it defines as ‘Design for Circularity’.

At ALPLA, Design for Circularity is a core principle, centred on recycling materials into the same type of product while preserving their value and integrity. “A prime example is the bottle-to-bottle recycling process, where used PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are collected, cleaned, and reprocessed into new, food-grade PET bottles. This closed-loop system avoids downcycling by ensuring polymers are kept at the highest possible level of recycling. In this concept, a bottle should ideally be recycled into another bottle—not fabric or industrial pipe, which represent downcycling and limit further recyclability,” explained Hofmann. 

Peixoto pointed out, “ALPLA aims to become the most sustainable packaging producer and drives its efforts through the 4Rs framework:  They include Reduction (Lightweighting), Reuse ( Development of refillable and reusable PET bottle solutions), Replace ( Using paper bottles, biodegradable and bio-based materials) and Recycle (Closing the loop with in-house and external recycling capabilities.)”  

The company prioritises recyclability in new product designs and actively raises flags when customer requests don’t align with recycling goals.

“If a customer specification does not comply with design-for-recycling principles, we propose alternatives that align better with circularity objectives,” Hofmann added. 

“We’re not just making bottles. We recycle them and turn them into new bottles again. That’s true circularity,” Hofmann said. ALPLA operates around 15 recycling plants worldwide.

One of the key goals of ALPLA is to ensure closed-loop recycling, especially for PET and HDPE bottles. “Our aim isn’t to turn a bottle into a T-shirt or a pipe. It’s to make new bottles from old ones,” Hofmann explained. This approach ensures high-quality recycled material returns to its original purpose—thereby maintaining material value and minimising waste.

When asked about the design considerations for packaging, Peixoto shared the importance of mono-material packaging. “Every component—be it the bottle, cap, or label—must be selected carefully to avoid contaminating the recycling stream ensuring a successful recycling process.”

Key considerations include using materials with the correct densities to enable easy separation through sink and float separation in the recycling facility. Avoiding strong adhesives that cannot be easily washed off; preferring water-soluble labels and minimal colouration for clear PET recyclability are the other aspects considered. 

An exciting innovation by ALPLA is the mono-material pump. Traditional pumps use metal springs, which contaminate the recycling stream. ALPLA has developed a pump with a spring made from the same polymer as the rest of the component—entirely polypropylene—making it fully recyclable in one stream. 

“It’s already in production,” shared Peixoto, noting the complexity behind achieving such technical advancements.

Challenges and opportunities

Despite developments in certain areas of circularity, circular packaging still faces infrastructural and regulatory hurdles in many places across the globe. 

“To promote circularity, adequate recycling infrastructure, mandate for minimum recycled content, legislative support and awareness among key stakeholders are necessary,” noted Theresia Gollner – Regional Operational Projects & Sustainability Manager AMET, ALPLA.  

Speaking of challenges, she highlighted that gaps in collection systems, local buy-back centres, and closed-loop recycling facilities persist in several countries across the globe. The lack of locally available recycled materials often forces companies to import them, often undermining the purpose of local circularity, she pointed out. Gollner is confident that systems such as the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) will drive circularity and ensure effective implementation. Partnerships with global FMCG brands who already have sustainability targets are also helping push the envelope. 

Highlighting the success story of South Africa, she said the country’s legislation, including a mandate on minimum recycled content (starting with 8% and increasing by 2% annually) has created demand and value in the recycling market. Such favourable legislation encouraged ALPLA to establish a state-of-the-art recycling plant in Ballito, capable of producing 35,000 tonnes of food-grade recycled PET annually. With an investment of €60 million, ALPLA is paving the way for further growth in South Africa.

At SIG, circular thinking is embedded in product development from the outset, says Abdelghany Eladib, President and General Manager – IMEA. Designing for circularity means reducing environmental impact across the entire lifecycle of packaging, moving beyond the traditional “take-make-dispose” model to keep materials in use through reuse, recycling, and renewable sourcing.

“We design with the end-of-life in mind so packaging can be collected, sorted, and transformed into new materials or products,” Eladib explains. “Circularity also means reducing carbon footprint, improving energy efficiency, and collaborating across the value chain to close the loop.” This involves using renewable, responsibly sourced materials to reduce reliance on finite resources, simplifying structures for better recyclability, and ensuring compatibility with existing and emerging recycling systems.

Material choices, Eladib adds, should deliver both high performance and sustainability: “With SIG Terra Alu-free + Full Barrier, we’ve shown barrier protection and efficiency can go hand in hand with lower carbon footprint and simpler recyclable structures.” Their priorities include infrastructure compatibility, renewable content like FSC™-certified paperboard and ISCC PLUS-certified plant-based polymers, carbon reduction, and design simplicity.

Packaging designers, he says, must eliminate hard-to-recycle components while maintaining food safety and performance. Since 2010, SIG has delivered over 4 billion aluminium-layer-free packs, demonstrating long-term commitment to circular design. Developers should choose renewable materials, design tethered, recyclable closures, and work with recyclers to align with recovery capabilities.

Challenges include the gap between packaging innovation and waste management infrastructure. Even technically recyclable packs face hurdles where collection and sorting systems lag. Cost is another factor—responsibly sourced materials can be more expensive, posing difficulties in cost-sensitive markets. Eladib stresses that no material is inherently sustainable; sourcing, design, use, and recovery determine environmental impact. Consumer participation is also vital—without proper disposal, the loop breaks.

For Manish Jain, Managing Director of Cilicant, a growing active packaging company, designing for circularity means ensuring packaging re-enters the system via recycling, reuse, or safe degradation. “With active packaging, our aim is to extend shelf life while keeping packaging easy to recycle and safe for the environment,” he says.

Cilicant works with mono-material and separable-layer formats, such as kraft paper-based sachets with natural clay desiccants that don’t disrupt recycling streams. Not all compostables break down in regular bins, so the company is strategic in their use. Shelf life extension, Jain notes, reduces spoilage and saves resources, making it part of circularity.

Their considerations include: Material renewability/recyclability: exploring PLA and post-consumer recycled content where feasible. Fit with local recycling infrastructure: avoiding complex laminates that are hard to process. Toxicity checks: ensuring inks, coatings, and adhesives don’t hinder recyclability. Lifecycle assessment: weighing benefits like food waste reduction against production and disposal costs.

Cilicant’s approach prioritises simplification—avoiding unnecessary material mixing—and modularity, enabling separation of active components from main packaging for easier recovery. They validate recyclability through third-party testing, as India lacks uniform standards. While they don’t brand all products as circular, they focus on reducing impacts on sorting, recovery, and waste generation.

Challenges in India include fragmented, informal waste collection systems prioritising high-value materials like PET and cardboard. Even recyclable formats may not reach the right channels without proper segregation. Bio-based or specialty compostable materials remain costly, making adoption harder in price-sensitive markets. Awareness gaps persist not just among consumers but across supply chains, with instructions often ignored—another reason Cilicant believes circularity must be embedded into design rather than relying on user action.

Opportunities are emerging as EPR rules tighten and export market demands grow. Jain sees major potential in reducing food waste—post-harvest losses remain high for perishables, and Cilicant’s ethylene scavengers help extend shelf life for exports like mangoes. Preventing spoilage at the source, he says, is circularity in action.

They are also exploring material innovations from local sources, such as using rice husk-derived silica to create moisture-control packaging, turning agricultural waste into value. In the booming e-commerce sector, demand is growing for lighter, effective, and sustainable packaging. With India’s manufacturing scale, the industry can adapt quickly. “We’ve started that journey at Cilicant,” Jain says, “and there’s a long way to go.”