I help brands, producers and recyclers navigate packaging sustainability - from recycling systems and recycled content to market strategy. Right now, that means getting you PPWR-ready and EPR-compliant across European markets.
Backed by nearly 15 years across packaging value chains and plastics circularity - waste system design, recycled content strategy, recycling technology assessment, market research, and Design for Recycling.
Work with me Explore my work →Trusted across the packaging value chain
Cross-value-chain initiatives and standards bodies
FMCG, food & beverage, industrial packaging
Mechanical and chemical recycling value chains
Strategy consultancies and development bodies
About
I help brands, producers, recyclers and industry platforms make sense of a fast-moving packaging landscape - and turn it into strategy they can act on. My experience runs the full length of the packaging value chain, from how a pack is designed through to how recycled material is brought back into production.
Nearly 15 years advising on plastic waste flows, systems infrastructure, recycling economics, Design for Recycling and recycled content - across the EU, North America and the Global South.
That systems knowledge is what I now bring to the frontline of compliance: PPWR readiness and EPR obligations across European markets.
A foundation in chemical and petroleum engineering and hands-on commercialisation at Huhtamaki - so guidance is operational and grounded, not abstract.
Expertise
Readiness and gap assessment, compliance roadmapping and transition planning against recyclability, recycled content, reuse and labelling requirements.
Multi-market producer-obligation assessment, AR and PRO selection and contracting, registration guidance and reporting methodology.
D4R guideline development, recyclability assessment and harmonisation of packaging design with PPWR and national EPR obligations.
PCR target-setting, material qualification, supplier development and market assessments to integrate post-consumer recycled content.
Collection, sorting and reprocessing analysis, plus techno-economic assessment of mechanical and chemical recycling pathways.
Policy interpretation, stakeholder engagement and market strategy to anchor packaging and circularity decisions in wider commercial context.
Key Projects
A producer facing PPWR and EPR obligations across dozens of European markets, with no clear picture of where registration was genuinely required. As advisory lead, I set the country-by-country obligation strategy, prioritised markets by regulatory risk, steered AR and PRO appointments, and built the reporting methodology the team now runs on its own.
Food-sector exporters selling into the EU needed to grasp what PPWR meant for their market access - fast. Commissioned by Expertise France under the EU-funded CIRCULAR programme, I designed and led a readiness seminar that turned recyclability, reduction, labelling and EPR requirements into concrete business implications, compliance gaps and a path forward.
Recyclability guidelines were fragmenting across EU markets, leaving brand owners, recyclers and producers working to different rules. My role was to help harmonise the Design for Recycling criteria - reconciling the technical requirements with commercial reality and regulatory timelines so recyclability claims could finally line up.
Brand owners were making recyclability and recycled-content decisions without a clear view of whether the systems could actually deliver. I mapped the reality of EU PET and flexible packaging infrastructure - collection, sorting, mechanical and chemical recycling - and set that technical picture against the regulatory and market context shaping their roadmaps.
Circularity ambitions in emerging markets often ignore how the waste economy really works on the ground. I examined the economics of plastic recycling and waste infrastructure across the Global South - including the pivotal role of the informal sector - and the models that could genuinely connect producers to collection systems.
A national recycled-content target meant little without a way to actually source and qualify the material. Working on the programme, I turned the targets and market requirements into practical supplier qualification criteria and procurement guidance that end markets could put to use.
Investors and policymakers needed a clear-eyed read on whether chemical recycling could deliver for hard-to-recycle plastics. I weighed the pathways on technology readiness, feedstock availability and market outlook - separating genuine potential from hype to inform where capital and policy should point.
FMCG brands wanted recyclable packaging without sacrificing the performance their products depend on. Leading the commercial push across the EU and Americas, I brought R&D, procurement and sales together to move flexible formats from non-recyclable to mono-material recyclable - and proved the market for them.
Services
Gap assessments, compliance roadmaps and transition planning across recyclability thresholds, recycled content, EPR fee modulation and labelling.
Producer-obligation assessment, AR/PRO selection and contracting, registration guidance and ongoing reporting methodology.
D4R guideline development, recyclability assessment, and aligning packaging design with regulatory and national EPR requirements.
PCR target-setting, supplier qualification, material certification and integration roadmaps aligning targets with commercial reality.
Multi-region assessment of collection, sorting and reprocessing, and techno-economic analysis of recycling pathways.
Tailored programmes translating PPWR, EPR and circular economy policy into operational guidance for teams and stakeholder audiences.
Engagements range from focused advisory sessions and readiness assessments to multi-market compliance programmes - scoped to what you actually need.
Approach
Understand your products, markets and current position - and pinpoint exactly where the regulatory or circularity gaps sit.
Translate the gaps into a clear, sequenced plan - what matters most, what can wait, and where the real risks and costs are.
Turn the plan into decision-ready outputs and, where needed, support execution through to a result your team can run independently.
Contact
Whether you're facing a PPWR deadline, mapping EPR obligations across markets, or building a longer-term circularity strategy - tell me a little about where you are and I'll get back to you.
Prefer email? Reach me directly at sjagannath28@gmail.com · Connect on LinkedIn