China beverage carton recycling committee reports 41.6% recovery rate for 2025

An industry committee under the China Association of Resource Recycling has published its 2025 extended producer responsibility performance report for beverage carton (liquid paperboard) packaging, reporting a 41.6% resource utilisation rate against a 40% target. The report covers five years of pilot EPR work since 2020, when the rate stood at 31%, and sets out priorities for the next five years under China's new circular economy plan.

Why this mattersChina's beverage carton EPR pilot has beaten its 40% target, and the new five-year plan keeps carton recovery under producer responsibility for carton suppliers and brand owners.

• Beverage carton (liquid paperboard) packaging resource utilisation rate reached 41.6% in 2025, above the 40% target set in the national implementation plan
• The rate has risen from 31% in 2020 to 41.6% in 2025 over the five-year pilot period
• Recycling under the scheme's partner network cut an estimated 407,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions in 2025, an 84.8% reduction rate
• A school milk-carton recycling project in Shenzhen completed China's first carbon-inclusive trading transaction in the beverage carton packaging sector
• The committee published a group standard on recyclable design for food and beverage paper-based composite packaging, introducing a material compatibility grading principle
• China's newly issued 15th Five-Year circular economy plan calls for continued self-regulated recycling and extended producer responsibility in the beverage carton sector

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