PPWR is Changing the Profile of Packaging Leadership

Europe’s packaging manufacturers are now working through what implementation means in practice.

The impact extends across paper and fibre, glass, flexible and rigid plastics, steel and aluminium. Requirements covering recyclability, recycled content, packaging minimisation and collection are bringing sustainability decisions much closer to product development, manufacturing, capital investment and commercial strategy, which has implications for the experience packaging companies need around the leadership table.

PPWR is moving regulation is closer to the production line

PPWR requires all packaging placed on the EU market to be recyclable from 2030, while plastics will also face recycled-content targets across rigid and flexible applications.

For manufacturers, the challenge is increasingly practical:

• Flexible packaging companies are developing mono-material structures and new barrier solutions.
• Rigid plastics producers are balancing recycled-content availability with processing and food-contact requirements.
• Paper, glass and metal manufacturers face their own material, efficiency and recycling considerations.

These pressures are changing the profile of senior talent packaging businesses need, and regulatory knowledge is becoming more valuable when combined with experience across product development, manufacturing, procurement and commercial functions.

This is likely to increase demand for leaders who can assess how regulatory requirements affect production, customer specifications, capital investment and material choices. It may also broaden search strategies, with manufacturers looking beyond traditional competitor sets to recycling, materials, FMCG and adjacent packaging sectors.

For succession planning and external hiring, the priority will increasingly be on leaders who can turn regulatory requirements into commercially viable products and reliable industrial performance.

Material competition is becoming more significant

PPWR is taking effect as brands reassess their packaging mix, increasing competition between paper, plastics, glass and metals.

The European Commission recorded 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste in the EU in 2023:

• Paper and cardboard accounted for 40.4%
• Plastics 19.8%
• Glass 18.8%
• Metals 4.9%

Customer specifications can quickly shift demand between packaging materials. Aluminium beverage cans are one example, having gained share from glass and PET in parts of the beverage market.

This has created different pressures across the sector. Glass and PET producers face stronger competition, while can manufacturers need to support higher volumes without compromising efficiency, recycled content or manufacturing performance.

The talent implications are significant. Packaging businesses increasingly need leaders who understand how shifts in customer demand affect capacity, investment, product strategy and operations.

For manufacturers gaining share, executives who can scale production effectively are in higher demand. For those under pressure, greater value is being placed on leaders who can strengthen innovation and improve competitiveness.

It may also broaden executive search strategies, as experience from other packaging materials, recycling, raw materials or FMCG can be valuable where companies need leaders who understand both customer requirements and industrial delivery.

As packaging preferences continue to shift, succession planning and external hiring will need to reflect where future growth is likely to come from and whether leadership teams have the experience to respond.

PPWR is increasing demand for leaders with circularity experience

PPWR requires EU member states to achieve separate collection of at least 90% by weight for single-use plastic beverage bottles and single-use metal beverage containers of up to three litres by 2029, with deposit return systems expected to play a central role.

For aluminium beverage cans, current recycling performance shows how much collection infrastructure can affect outcomes. Recycling rates across the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland reached 76.3% in 2023, while countries introducing deposit return systems have seen marked increases in collection.

For leadership teams, this brings collection and recycling closer to core commercial and operational strategy. Packaging businesses increasingly need executives who understand how infrastructure, regulation and material flows affect demand, supply, customer decisions and investment.

That places greater value on leaders with experience across recycling, operations, sustainability and external stakeholder management, particularly where manufacturers need to work closely with governments, scheme operators, customers and recyclers. As PPWR implementation progresses, this broader experience is likely to become increasingly important in senior appointments across packaging businesses.

Sustainability delivery requires a broader leadership profile

These changes are also affecting hiring. Packaging companies have traditionally divided expertise between sustainability, regulatory affairs, R&D, manufacturing and commercial teams, however, PPWR is creating more overlap between those functions.

PPWR is also increasing the need for leaders who can connect technical decisions with operational and commercial outcomes.

Across packaging materials, regulatory requirements have to work in practice. Flexible structures need to perform on high-speed filling lines as well as meet recyclability expectations. Higher recycled content in rigid plastics depends on material availability and processing capability. Glass lightweighting has to balance efficiency, breakage and customer requirements, while greater use of recycled aluminium in beverage cans affects sourcing, alloy development, manufacturing and closed-loop recycling.

The leaders responsible for these programmes therefore need experience of delivering change at industrial scale, working across operations, R&D, procurement, sustainability and commercial teams.

For some organisations this may mean looking beyond traditional competitor sets when hiring, as experience from recycling, materials production, filling operations, FMCG packaging development or adjacent packaging sectors can bring valuable perspective. Commercial leaders also need to understand how PPWR may influence customer material choices and reflect that in account planning, product strategy and investment decisions.

The talent challenge behind PPWR delivery

PPWR is likely to change the profile of leadership teams across the packaging sector. As regulatory requirements move further into operations, product development, investment and customer strategy, companies will need senior leaders who can work effectively across functions and turn regulation into practical business decisions.

That will place greater value on executives who combine technical understanding with commercial judgement and experience of delivering change at scale. Leaders will increasingly need to understand how material choices, manufacturing performance, customer requirements and regulatory obligations interact.

For hiring teams, this means placing greater emphasis on cross-functional capability, operational delivery, regulatory awareness and customer insight when assessing senior candidates. Succession planning will also need to reflect how quickly these capabilities are becoming more important under PPWR.

As demand for this experience grows, packaging businesses will need a clearer view of the leadership capabilities they already have, where the gaps sit and which profiles will be critical to future performance.

Proco Group works with packaging manufacturers across EMEA to identify and secure senior talent across operations, engineering, commercial, sustainability and general management.

To discuss how PPWR is shaping your organisation’s leadership requirements, or the availability of relevant talent across the market, get in touch with our team.