Corporate plastics disclosure is rising sharply as companies face growing pressure to understand, measure and reduce their exposure to plastic-related risks. According to new reporting from CDP, more businesses are now publishing data on plastic packaging, polymers and plastic products, reflecting the growing importance of plastics within sustainability, compliance and investor risk management.

CDP, the global nonprofit operating an independent environmental reporting system, said more than 22,000 companies reported environmental data through its platform in 2025, including 4,400 first-time reporters. Packaging-related companies such as Ardagh, Ball and Graphic Packaging International are among the businesses participating in the disclosure process.

The organisation’s plastics questionnaire asks companies to report on areas including plastic polymers, durable goods and components, and plastic packaging. This broader scope is important because plastic impact is not limited to consumer-facing packs; it extends across raw materials, manufacturing, logistics, products and end-of-life systems.

Plastics disclosure is moving from a voluntary sustainability exercise to a business risk tool shaped by regulation, investor scrutiny and consumer expectations.

The first major insight is the scale of disclosure growth. CDP reported that corporate plastics disclosures increased by 44% between 2023 and 2025, reaching 4,262 companies. This signals that more organisations now view plastics as a material business issue, especially in markets where Extended Producer Responsibility policies and mandatory reporting requirements are becoming more mature.

Risk awareness is also increasing. CDP said 44% of organisations identified plastics-related risks in 2025, compared with only 13% in 2023. These risks can include regulatory costs, packaging redesign requirements, reputational pressure, restricted market access, waste management exposure and changing customer expectations.

For packaging companies, this trend is highly relevant. Converters, material suppliers and brand owners are increasingly being asked to provide detailed data on polymer use, recyclability, recycled content and end-of-life performance. Without credible data, companies may find it harder to support customer sustainability claims or comply with future policy requirements.

The second insight is that plastics targets are becoming more common. CDP recorded 3,762 plastic packaging targets in 2025, averaging 0.9 targets per disclosing company. More than half of respondents already had plastics targets in place, while a further 25% said they planned to set them within two years.

Packaging remains the most common area for target-setting, followed by plastic products, end-of-life management, polymers, EPR and microplastics. This shows that companies are starting with the most visible and regulated part of the plastics value chain, but are gradually expanding attention to broader material systems.

• More disclosure: plastics reporting increased significantly between 2023 and 2025.
• More risk awareness: companies are increasingly identifying plastics as a business exposure.
• More targets: packaging targets remain the leading focus for corporate plastics strategies.

The third insight is that progress remains uneven across sectors. CDP reported a 22% year-on-year decline in 2025 in packaging targets among food, beverage and agriculture businesses. Reasons included inadequate recycling infrastructure, limited technology to ensure recyclability in practice and difficulty adapting to global headwinds such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

This highlights a central challenge for the packaging sector. Setting targets is easier than delivering them at scale. Companies may commit to recyclable packaging, recycled content or plastic reduction, but progress depends on collection systems, sorting capacity, material availability, food-contact approvals and consumer participation.

Extended Producer Responsibility is likely to accelerate disclosure further. As EPR fees increasingly reflect packaging design and recyclability, companies will need more accurate data to manage costs and demonstrate compliance. In this environment, plastics reporting becomes directly linked to financial planning.

CDP’s findings suggest that the next phase of plastics management will be data-driven. Companies will need to map their value chains, quantify plastic use, identify high-risk formats and set targets that reflect real recycling infrastructure. For packaging suppliers, the opportunity lies in helping customers move from broad sustainability claims to measurable, verifiable progress.

As regulation tightens and market expectations rise, plastics disclosure will become a key part of packaging strategy. The companies that build reliable data systems now will be better positioned to reduce risk, support circular design and compete in a market where transparency is becoming essential.

Image concept: a corporate sustainability dashboard showing plastic packaging data, polymer flows, recycling targets, EPR indicators and branded packaging samples arranged around a circular economy value chain.