中文For decades, a label was judged on two things: did it look good, and did it stick? Those days are over. As the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) comes into force, the humble label has been dragged into the middle of the circular-economy conversation — and CCL Label has just handed brands a tool to navigate the mess.
The company has launched a new website featuring a Sustainability Configurator, designed to help brands explore label options tailored to their specific packaging requirements. The timing is no coincidence. PPWR puts fresh weight on recyclability, material efficiency and circularity, which means packaging decisions — including the choice of label — increasingly need to be made at the very start of the design process, not bolted on at the end.
Here is the part many brands still underestimate: the label is not a separate object. It is an integral part of the overall packaging system. Its material, adhesive, density, separation behaviour and interaction with the substrate all influence what happens to the package during recycling. A beautiful, well-stuck label can quietly sabotage an otherwise recyclable bottle.
Reinhard Streit, group vice president food & beverage global at CCL Label, puts it bluntly: “The role of the label has fundamentally changed. It is no longer enough to ask whether a label looks good or performs well on the shelf. We have to consider how it behaves as part of the complete packaging system and what happens to it after use.” The new configurator, he says, exists to make that thinking easier for brands and designers — a practical starting point for exploring label technologies with circularity in mind.
CCL has built a broad portfolio to draw from. Its Sustainable Product Family includes technologies such as EcoFloat, EcoStream, WashOff, EcoSource, EcoStretch and EcoShear, covering everything from improved label separation and wash-off performance to recycled and renewable material options. The key message is that there is no single correct answer. The right choice depends on the packaging substrate, the recycling stream, the application and the performance requirements.
That is where the configurator earns its keep. By entering their base container material — rigid packaging, for instance — users can explore the relevant CCL technologies and identify options that balance aesthetics, functionality and sustainability. It turns what used to be a cryptic materials-science problem into a guided digital experience.
Marika Knorr, head of sustainability and communication at CCL Label, frames the bigger shift: “PPWR and other global packaging regulations are changing the way brands have to think about packaging. The focus is moving from individual components to the packaging system as a whole.” A label may be a small part of the package, she notes, but it can play an important role in how that package performs in recycling. The configurator helps brands explore those choices early, “when there is still an opportunity to design the packaging system accordingly.”
Crucially, Streit is keen to debunk a myth: “Design for recycling does not mean giving up creativity or premium brand presentation. The challenge, and the opportunity, is to design packaging where aesthetics, performance and circularity work together.”
For brand owners staring down PPWR compliance deadlines, that is the reassuring part. The regulation is not a creativity tax. With the right tools — and the right label partner — a pack can still look premium and still stand a chance of a second life. CCL’s bet is that the brands who plan for that second life from day one will be the ones still on the shelf tomorrow.
Source: Labels & Labeling — “CCL Label launches sustainability tool” (19 August 2026)
