Paper-based packaging is being positioned as one possible route to reducing the environmental impact of small-format flexible packaging, but a new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation makes clear that material substitution alone will not solve the plastic pollution crisis. The publication argues that paper could play a useful role in specific applications, particularly in markets where small plastic formats such as sachets and wrappers are frequently lost to the environment, but only if those paper alternatives are responsibly designed and supported by broader circular economy systems.

Flexible packaging remains one of the most difficult formats to address in global waste management. Small-format plastics are lightweight, often hard to collect, and in many countries they fall outside effective recycling systems. According to the report, flexibles account for a significant share of plastic packaging entering the oceans and continue to show some of the lowest recycling rates worldwide. In regions with limited waste infrastructure and high leakage rates, the challenge is even greater, especially where informal waste collection plays an important role in recovering value from discarded materials.

Against this backdrop, more than 45 businesses, NGOs, investors and academics are calling for faster innovation in paper-based flexible packaging. The idea is not to present paper as a universal replacement for plastic, but to identify where fibre-based alternatives might help reduce leakage and improve end-of-life outcomes. Paper formats could, under the right conditions, be recyclable and recycled in practice, and in worst-case scenarios may also offer biodegradability advantages if they escape waste systems and enter the environment.

The report is careful, however, to avoid simplistic claims. It stresses that paper is only one part of the solution and that the long-term objective should remain a full circular economy approach. That means reducing dependence on single-use small-format packaging in general by scaling reuse, refill and packaging-free models wherever feasible. It also means investing in collection and recycling systems that are inclusive and protect the livelihoods of informal waste pickers, who remain central to materials recovery in many high-leakage markets.

A key message from the research is that paper-based flexible packaging must be responsibly designed to avoid replacing one environmental problem with another. Without careful design, sourcing and end-of-life planning, paper alternatives may deliver little improvement over the plastic formats they are intended to replace. The report therefore sets out six critical criteria that should act as guardrails for the development and deployment of paper-based flexibles. These principles are intended to ensure that any shift toward fibre does not come at the expense of recyclability, responsible fibre sourcing or broader environmental performance.

At the same time, the report acknowledges that packaging solutions meeting all of these requirements do not yet exist at the scale, cost and technical performance needed for widespread adoption. That gap, however, is presented as a reason to accelerate research, investment and pilot programmes rather than delay them. Businesses and policymakers are being encouraged to support innovation now, while also building the safeguards that will determine when paper is genuinely a better option.

For the packaging industry, the significance of the report lies in its balanced message. It recognises the urgency of tackling flexible packaging pollution, especially in markets where leakage into the environment remains high, but it also rejects the idea that switching materials is enough on its own. The future direction, according to the Foundation, will require a combination of better packaging design, sustainable fibre supply chains, stronger collection and recycling systems, and the expansion of reuse models.

That makes paper an important area of innovation, but not a silver bullet. Its role will depend on how effectively the industry can align material development with real-world waste infrastructure and circular design principles. In that sense, the report adds to the growing conversation around flexible packaging by shifting the focus away from simple substitution and toward the more complex question of what a genuinely effective packaging transition should look like.