BITMORE
Cabin Pressure
Travel Retail Intelligence
Edition 01
Environmental
15 July 2026
Environmental
15 July 2026
The number that matters this month
59%
of buyers would switch suppliers within three years if sustainability criteria aren't met.
Source: Bain & Company Global Consumer Survey, 2026
Heinemann Future Friendly Programme, Gebr. Heinemann, 2025
Heinemann Future Friendly Programme, Gebr. Heinemann, 2025
Environmental · Sustainable Packaging
Your packaging is either an asset or a liability. There's less middle ground every year.
Most suppliers in travel retail have made some noise about sustainability. Fewer have the paperwork to back it up. And a smaller number still have actually changed what their packaging is made of. The gap between those three groups is about to become commercially significant.
What's driving this
Heinemann's Future Friendly concept already requires brands to meet at least one of four criteria to qualify for listing: recyclable, recycled, refillable, or plastic-free. This isn't a future aspiration — it's a current listing requirement at one of the world's largest travel retail operators. Airport bans on single-use plastics are accelerating across the EU. The buyers who haven't started asking their suppliers about this yet will be asking very soon.
Source: Heinemann Future Friendly Programme, Gebr. Heinemann, 2025 · European Environment Agency, Single-Use Plastics Directive, 2021
The honest picture, from where I sit, is that most suppliers are responding to packaging regulation rather than getting ahead of it. Compliance is happening top-down — driven by government mandate rather than commercial conviction. That's understandable. But it means that when the next wave of regulation lands, the same suppliers will be scrambling again.
EU Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) — Key Dates
2025
EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation enters force. Recyclability requirements begin phasing in across member states.
Source: European Commission, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Official Journal of the EU
2027
Mandatory recycled content thresholds begin applying to plastic packaging categories across the EU market.
Source: European Commission PPWR, Article 7 — Recycled Content Requirements
2030
Shrink wrap and single-use plastic packaging must contain 20–30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. For many suppliers, this will require significant changes to existing product lines.
Source: European Commission PPWR, Article 7(1) — Minimum Recycled Content Targets
The 2030 PCR requirement is the one most suppliers aren't focused on yet. Four years sounds comfortable — until you factor in product development lead times, materials supplier qualification, and the cost of switching at scale. For travel retail specifically, where product runs are often shorter and MOQs tighter, the window to act is shorter than it looks.
Heinemann's Future Friendly programme makes this commercial rather than theoretical. A buyer who can't evidence sustainable sourcing to their operator is a buyer exposed at their next contract review. That conversation is worth having now.
Where Bitmore stands
Our packaging is already FSC certified — the fibre sourcing piece is covered and independently audited. We're not yet at the 20–30% PCR plastic threshold the 2030 regulation will require, and we won't pretend otherwise. But we're actively working toward it. Every Bitmore product is carbon neutral, verified through the United Nations carbon credits scheme. Our materials carry GRS certified recycled content. We hold EcoVadis Platinum — placing us in the top 1% of companies assessed globally for sustainability performance.
The suppliers worth working with long term are the ones who tell you the truth about their supply chain — and can prove it.
FSC Packaging
GRS Certified Materials
B Corp Certified
EcoVadis Platinum
UN Carbon Credits
Carbon Neutral
Worth a conversation?
If you're starting to think about how your supplier base holds up against the 2030 requirements — or you'd just like to understand what certified sustainable packaging actually means in practice — I'm happy to talk it through. No agenda, just a straightforward conversation.
That's it for this edition. Short, I hope — and worth the few minutes.
A bit more info, as always.
Adam
Commercial Director · Bitmore · adam@bitmore.co.uk
A bit more info, as always.