Sustainable Packaging News, August 2026 | Sargam & Kumar

Sustainable packaging news from August 2026 — the innovations and the regulations, from a seaweed coating for paper cups to India banning plastic in tobacco packs. In this Good Garbage episode of “Around the World of Packaging”, Sargam Krishna and Kumar Niketan round up the month: Sargam covers the new materials, Kumar covers policy — the UN Plastics Treaty, the EU’s PPWR, an Oregon court ruling, and two big changes in India. 🎧 Full episode on Spotify & Apple: https://linktr.ee/goodgarbagepodcast In this episode with Sargam & Kumar: • Five materials stories: Zerocircle’s seaweed heat-seal coating (stable to 90°C, repulpable), Starbucks’ $100,000 compostable cup challenge (deadline 15 Sep 2026), a coconut-cellulose food film, Polymateria’s plastic that breaks down in 2 years, and Cirkla’s first US molded-fibre meat-tray plant • Why the UN Global Plastics Treaty still has no deal — INC-5.4 slips to March 2027 — while the EU’s PPWR (in force 12 Aug 2026) brings the world’s strictest PFAS limits to food packaging • India’s two under-reported shifts: paper & paperboard enter the EPR framework for the first time, and FSSAI bans multi-layer plastic for tobacco and pan masala packs — a barrier-paper opportunity — plus Korea, Japan and Taiwan mandating 10% recycled content, rising to 30% by 2030 Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:41 Zerocircle’s seaweed heat-seal coating for paper cups 1:31 Starbucks’ $100,000 compostable cup challenge 2:33 Coconut-cellulose film & Polymateria’s 2-year plastic 4:28 Cirkla’s first US molded-fibre meat-tray plant 5:12 UN Global Plastics Treaty: still no deal 6:47 EU PPWR in force: the strictest PFAS limits anywhere 7:29 Oregon court upholds the state EPR law 8:12 India brings paper & paperboard into EPR 8:58 FSSAI bans plastic in tobacco & pan masala packs 10:30 Korea, Japan, Taiwan mandate recycled content Good Garbage is a podcast about sustainable materials, packaging and regeneration, hosted by Ved Krishna — conversations with the innovators, scientists and founders building a cleaner planet. The question behind every episode: what is good garbage? ▶ Subscribe:    / @goodgarbage   🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://linktr.ee/goodgarbagepodcast 🔗 More: https://linktr.ee/goodgarbagepodcast Instagram:   / goodgarbagepodcast   Pakka podcast page: https://pakka.com/podcast/?utm_source... 💌 Contact us: sargam.krishna@goodgarbage.info Powered by Pakka