From recommended design standards to circular material solutions at scale
Packaging design decisions are now directly linked to regulatory compliance, cost performance, and access to recycled materials. Yet today’s landscape remains highly fragmented, with diverging recyclability standards, inconsistent infrastructure, and increasing pressure on recycled content supply. For global businesses, this creates unnecessary complexity, higher costs, and slower progress.
The Coalition’s Design and Materials pillar helps address this challenge by promoting recommended globally aligned design rules that enable packaging to be recyclable in practice, not only in theory. At the centre of this effort are the Golden Design Rules (GDR), a set of industry-recommended guidelines developed and voluntarily implemented by members over the past five years. The value of the GDR lies in turning circularity principles into clear, practical packaging decisions that can be applied across portfolios, helping businesses simplify design choices, reduce fragmentation, and accelerate scalable change.
In the European Union, the introduction of the PPWR is creating a more harmonised regulatory framework, meaning the GDR’s role in Europe will naturally evolve. As a result, the priority is increasingly to bring the value of the GDR to other regions where regulation is still developing and where common guidance can help avoid future fragmentation, unnecessary redesign costs, and other complex barriers.
This global pivot is already delivering results. Markets such as China, Canada, and South Africa are demonstrating how the GDR can be adapted locally to support national ambitions while voluntarily maintaining consistency with recommended global best practice. These examples show how shared design frameworks can accelerate action, build industry consistency, and strengthen packaging systems in diverse markets.
To remain relevant and effective, the GDR are also continuously reviewed and benchmarked each year against emerging regulations, external guidelines, and industry standards. This ensures they stay up to date, credible, and practical for businesses operating in a fast-changing policy environment.
In parallel, the pillar supports members in navigating key material trade-offs, between recyclability, recycled content, cost, and performance. By aligning design with real-world collection and recycling systems, companies can reduce EPR fees, improve material recovery, and secure access to high-quality recycled content.
Members benefit from shared technical guidance, peer benchmarks, and alignment with evolving regulatory standards. The outcome is faster, lower-risk design decisions and a clear pathway to packaging systems that are both compliant and economically viable.
Increasing the value of PET recycling. PET is polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly used plastic materials, and this Golden Design Rule applies to all PET bottles in food and non-food applications.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 1 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Amcor, Barilla, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Ferrero, Grupo AlEn, Haleon, Henkel, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Kraft Heinz, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, NTUC, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 1, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
Removing these problematic elements from packaging because they decrease the recyclability of plastic packaging: undetectable carbon black; PVC or PVDC; EPS or PS; PETG in rigid plastic packaging; and no oxo-degradable.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 2 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Amcor, Barilla, Beiersdorf, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Essity, Ferrero, Grupo AlEn, Grupo Bimbo, Haleon, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Kraft Heinz, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, SC Johnson, SIG Combibloc Group, Tetra Pak, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 2, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
This rule focuses on eliminating excess headspace for all flexible pack types, such that the maximum headspace is 30% or less across the product categories outlined in the rule.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 3 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Barilla, Bel Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Grupo AlEn, Henkel, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, McCain Foods, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 3, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
Reducing plastic overwraps, by only using them when “necessary”. It relates to food and non-food categories, including confectionary, crisps and snacks, canned and tinned food, beverages, as well as home care, personal care, and baby care.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 4 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Barilla, Beiersdorf, Bel Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Essity, Grupo AlEn, Jerónimo Martins, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 4, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
This rule focuses on increasing the recycling value for PET hermoformed trays and other PET thermoformed packaging. This rule would provide a boost to emerging recycling infrastructure and increase the quantity and availability of rPET which is necessary to meet targets around recycled content.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 5 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Amcor, Barilla, Beiersdorf, Bel Group, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Henkel, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Kraft Heinz, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, McCain Foods, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 5, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
Increasing the recycling value for flexible consumer products, likely to end up in the household waste stream or disposed of by consumers during consumption outside the home. “Flexible” packaging is packaging that does not keep its shape when moved or emptied.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 6 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Amcor, Barilla, Bel Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Essity, Ferrero, Grupo Bimbo, Henkel, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Kraft Heinz, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Reckitt, SC Johnson, SIG Combibloc Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 6, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
Increasing the recycling value in all rigid HDPE and PP, including bottles and squeeze tubes. Rigid HDPE and PP packaging is recycled in practice and at scale in many markets, but there is significant scope for increasing value in recycling and increasing availability and quantity of recycled material.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 7 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Amcor, Barilla, Bel Group, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Essity, Ferrero, Haleon, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Kraft Heinz, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 7, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
Reducing virgin plastic use in business-to-business plastic packaging, covering all plastic packaging which does not reach the consumer.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 8 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Barilla, Bel Group, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Essity, Grupo AlEn, Grupo Bimbo, Henkel, Jerónimo Martins, Land O’Lakes, Loblaw Companies Limited, L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, SIS, Tetra Pak, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 8, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
This rule focuses on on-pack recycling or reuse instructions on all consumer plastic packaging. Consumers have a key role to play in ensuring packaging is sorted for the appropriate end-of-life solution; clear and accurate on-pack recycling instructions can increase the chances that this role is fulfilled.
Committing to a Golden Design Rule is a voluntary, independent decision made by individual companies. Golden Design Rule 9 has been endorsed by the following members of the Plastic Waste Coalition of Action: Barilla, Bel Group, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, DFI Retail Group, Essity, Grupo AlEn, ICA / ICA Gruppen, Jerónimo Martins, Land O’Lakes, L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McCain Foods, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Reckitt, SC Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, and Walmart.
More details about CGF Golden Design Rule 9, including applications and exceptions, are available here.
