Circular economy for packaging waste: Bridging technological, behavioral, and policy gaps

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the circular economy for packaging waste, focusing on recent literature from 2020 to 2025. A systematic methodology was employed to analyze advancements in mechanical and chemical recycling, socio-economic drivers, and life cycle assessments (LCA). Key findings highlight the transformative role of artificial intelligence and sensor-based technologies, which now achieve sorting accuracies frequently around 90–95% for various polymers, with high-purity material recovery reaching above 98%. In the realm of chemical recycling, novel catalytic processes are shown to convert non-recyclable fractions into high-value outputs, such as syngas with hydrogen content surpassing 70% and upcycled composites with tensile strength improvements exceeding 50%. Concurrently, behavioral research reveals that consumer engagement is highly sensitive to policy design; specifically, deposit-refund systems elicit a willingness to pay two to three times higher than traditional fee-based models. Environmental assessments via LCA and material flow analysis demonstrate that while mechanical recycling typically offers the lowest global warming potential, potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions around 350 kg CO 2 -eq per tonne of waste, chemical pathways offer superior resource conservation in specific scenarios. The review identifies critical research gaps, including the need for real-time integrated waste management systems and a global, harmonized framework for impact assessment. By bridging these technological and behavioral pillars, future research can accelerate the transition toward a resilient circular economy where packaging is treated as a high-value resource.