As packaging rules evolve, a promising material needs more than a sustainability story. It needs technical evidence that manufacturers can use.

Flexible and rigid sheet-material samples developed from organic by-products. Image: Ecosphere Organics.

Choosing a new packaging material used to focus mainly on cost, appearance and performance. Those questions still matter. But as extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs spread across the United States, brands are also being asked to pay closer attention to what their packaging contains, how it is classified and what happens after use.

What packaging EPR changes

Packaging EPR shifts more responsibility for packaging after use to the companies that place it on the market. The details vary by state, but the direction is clear. Oregon’s modernized recycling program began major changes in July 2025, with producers helping fund improvements to the recycling system.^[1]California’s SB 54 also places new responsibilities on producers of covered packaging and single-use plastic food-service ware; permanent regulations took effect in May 2026.^[2]

A material being bio-based does not automatically make it recyclable, compostable or suitable under every state program. Those outcomes depend on the full material, its additives or coatings, the product design and the recovery system available where it is sold.

What “material data” actually means

Manufacturers evaluating a novel material increasingly need practical answers:

What is the material made from, including binders, coatings and additives?
Where did the feedstock come from, and how was it processed?
How consistent is the material from one batch to the next?
What conditions can it tolerate during manufacturing and use?
What end-of-life pathway is intended, and what evidence supports that claim?
What limitations still need to be tested or qualified?

Collecting this information early helps a company compare options, identify testing gaps and avoid redesigning a material after a product is already close to launch.

Digital Product Passports point in the same direction

Digital Product Passports are a separate European policy tool, not another name for U.S. packaging EPR. Still, they show where product information is heading. In July 2026, the European Commission launched the Digital Product Passport Registry, an important step toward more structured and interoperable product information across supply chains.^[3]

Standards are moving in the same direction. ISO 59040:2025 provides a method for exchanging product circularity information while protecting confidential business information.^[4] Not every product will face the same requirements at the same time, but manufacturers should expect material documentation to become more important, not less.

Why technical development partners matter

A promising organic by-product is not automatically a manufacturing-ready feedstock. It may require separation, contamination controls, drying, particle sizing, formulation, testing and repeated trials before it can perform consistently in a real application.

That is where a technical materials-development partner can add value. The goal is not simply to generate more data. It is to develop a material and the evidence around it together, so that composition, performance, sourcing and scale-up questions are addressed before a manufacturer makes a larger commitment.

Ecosphere Organics transforms pre-consumer food and agricultural by-products into manufacturing inputs such as powders, pigments, fibers, fillers, and flexible or rigid sheet materials. Our current technical services include material-stream assessment, feedstock characterization, feasibility evaluation, formulation and prototype support, application mapping and pilot planning.

Exploring a novel feedstock or material application? Ecosphere Organics can help evaluate the material pathway and identify a practical first development step. Lets schedule a call.