Lynn Dyer, President, AMERIPENAMERIPEN
That is the perspective Congress needs now.
In July, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing that included the Packaging and Claims Knowledge Act, or PACK Act (H.R. 6832). The bill would establish federal rules for recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims on consumer packaging. It would not require companies to make those claims. Voluntary claims would need to meet consistent federal requirements, including accredited third-party certification, which helps to reduce greenwashing. States and local governments would be preempted from enforcing different requirements.
The hearing was important, but it will take more to advance the bill. Businesses, organizations, and individuals must now explain what inconsistent labeling requirements mean in practice.
A label change is rarely just a label change
The Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides,” as they are often referred to, help companies understand how environmental claims may be used. But the guides do not preempt federal, state, or local laws and are not independently enforceable. As states pursue different approaches, companies selling products nationally may face different laws for the same package.
For packaging professionals, the consequences are operational and financial. Changing a claim can require legal review, new artwork, updated specifications, revised printing plates or cylinders, new molds, supplier coordination, and inventory planning. A company may need state-specific packaging, separate inventory by destination, smaller and less efficient production runs, or the removal of a useful claim nationwide.
Each of those changes carries costs, including legal and design fees, new tooling and production expenses, added warehousing and distribution, obsolete packaging inventory, and staff time across multiple departments. The financial impact can extend far beyond redesigning a label, affecting material selection, production planning, distribution, and consumer communication.
Consumers also have a stake in this debate. A national survey by The Recycling Partnership found that 78% of U.S. consumers look at recycling information on a product or its label to help ensure an item ends up in the right place. When they’re unsure whether an item is recyclable, 53% check the label before throwing it away or recycling it. Eighty-two percent trust that the recycling information on a product label is accurate.
If conflicting requirements lead companies to limit or remove on-packaging claims, consumers could lose guidance they use and trust. A claim such as “recyclable” should convey the same fundamental information wherever a packaged product is purchased. Differing requirements can send inconsistent signals about how packaging should be managed after use, undermining confidence in both the claim and the recovery system.
National advocacy needs local evidence
Associations and coalitions can explain the structure and intent of legislation. Companies and their employees make its impact tangible.
A constituent can show a lawmaker what a policy decision means in that lawmaker’s district. A plant manager can explain how multiple rules affect production. A packaging engineer can describe the time required to change a specification. Employees can speak to the investments and jobs supported by their facility.
Plant tours allow policymakers to see the packaging value chain in action. Select one package and walk the policymaker through its journey, from material sourcing and design to production, distribution, use, and recovery. Explain where an environmental claim enters the process, what supports it, and what must happen when a requirement changes.
Then connect that example to a clear request: Support the PACK Act and a consistent national framework for recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims.
National organizations can open the conversation. Constituent voices give lawmakers a reason to act.
The value chain must engage collectively
No environmental claim is created or implemented by one department, or even one company. Material suppliers provide technical data. Converters translate specifications into packaging. Brands determine which claims appear on packaging. Retailers manage products across markets. Recyclers, composters, haulers, and municipalities understand whether materials can be collected and processed in practice.
A credible claim depends on coordination across that entire system. The PACK Act reflects this reality by directing the FTC to consult with the Environmental Protection Agency and establish an advisory council that includes packaging material suppliers, consumer product manufacturers, and entities involved in collecting and managing discarded consumer packaging.
That collaborative approach must also guide advocacy. Policymakers should hear from businesses of different sizes, material sectors, and positions across the value chain. They need examples that demonstrate shared challenges while recognizing differences among packaging formats and recovery pathways.
This is the time to engage
The PACK Act offers an opportunity to provide consumers with clearer information while giving businesses a consistent framework for communicating across state lines. It would also establish enforceable expectations for companies that voluntarily make recyclable, compostable, or reusable claims.
But legislation does not advance on broad support alone. Lawmakers need to understand how the issue affects the people, employers, and communities they represent.
Contact your members of Congress. Invite them and their district staff into your facilities. Share how differing requirements affect your operations and customers. Coordinate with suppliers and partners. Prepare your internal teams for the packaging policies taking shape.
Consumers need clarity. Businesses need consistency. Lawmakers need evidence. The packaging industry is uniquely positioned to provide all three.
Turn awareness into action. Visit ameripen.org/pack-act to learn more, contact your members of Congress, and add your organization’s voice to the coalition supporting a national framework for recyclable, compostable, and reusable packaging claims. PW
AMERIPEN represents the U.S. packaging value chain by providing policymakers with fact-based, material-neutral, scientific information.
