Published date: May 2026
Baseline data year: 2024
The UK plastic packaging market continues to evolve as regulation, reporting requirements, and sustainability targets reshape the packaging sector. Valpak’s Plastic PackFlow 2025 – Methodology Review provides updated analysis of plastic packaging placed on the market (POM), helping Governments, industry, and stakeholders better understand UK packaging material flows.
This latest review strengthens the methodologies used to estimate plastic packaging POM, improving consistency, transparency, and data robustness across reporting. The report also updates the baseline year from 2022 to 2024, ensuring estimates better reflect current market conditions and regulatory developments.
The analysis supports Defra and wider Government packaging policy work by generating robust estimates for the UK plastic packaging market. It also provides valuable evidence for producers, compliance schemes, recyclers, and packaging stakeholders seeking clearer insights into packaging flows and material trends.
Robustness assessments are included throughout the report using a Red-Amber-Green classification system, helping readers understand confidence levels within the available datasets and methodologies. These assessments support more informed decision-making across the packaging value chain.
For further packaging insights, explore Valpak’s wider resources on packaging data, recycling policy, and material flow analysis. You may also be interested in related reports covering household packaging trends and plastic recycling performance.
Valpak partnered with Zero Waste Scotland to deliver the Textiles Flow Into and Within Scotland research, offering a clearer picture of national textile flows and future policy considerations. Download the full reports and explore how strong data supports effective stewardship.
Read MoreCommissioned by WRAP and delivered by Valpak Consulting with expert support, this report reviews the quantity of wood packaging placed on the UK market (POM) and recycled in 2014. It also projects future POM figures and recycling rates through to 2020.
Read MoreThis analysis highlights the dominance of plastic bottles in UK milk packaging, showing that bottle tonnage remains over five times higher than cartons. While cartons are increasingly used for UHT milk due to sterilisation benefits, fresh milk cartons are also on the rise as some suppliers shift from bottles to reduce plastic use.
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