Educating Communities About the RENEWABILITY of Sustainable Packaging

Graphic Packaging launches new program to teach students and communities why packaging made from renewable resources and recyclable materials matters - and how to support sustainability locally

Growing up today means being aware of key environmental issues. Over half of 13-year-olds worry about the effects of climate change at least sometimes, according to a 2024 survey by Springtide Research Institute.

Younger generations aren't just talking about #climatechange on social media. They want to act. About 2 in 5 people from Gen Alpha and Gen Z are very willing to change their daily lives to be more sustainable, including by recycling, EY and JA Worldwide found in a 2023 survey.

The challenge isn't motivation - it's clarity. Too many young people want to act sustainably but aren't confident they're doing it right. And only around half of Gen Alpha and Gen Z were satisfied with the sustainability education they received in school, the survey also found.

In the spirit of this Earth Day - Our Power, Our Planet - we believe our power is in sharing how to recycle fiber-based packaging and why it matters. So, we're empowering kids and communities through our new RENEWABILITY program with the knowledge they need to collectively turn recyclable packaging into real-world outcomes.

What Is RENEWABILITY?

RENEWABILITY is Graphic Packaging's educational outreach program for educating schools and communities on the sustainability of paperboard packaging.

The program builds on our legacy and learnings from an industry-wide program - Trees Into Cartons, Cartons Into Trees (TICCIT) - created by the Paperboard Packaging Council. Since 2008, employees at Graphic Packaging International have engaged approximately 130,000 students in North and South America and Europe through TICCIT. This industry program teaches students that, unlike many of the resources extracted from the earth, trees are inherently renewable, and we responsibly use them to make our recyclable packaging.

TICCIT remains an important industry program. Through its interactive discussions and hands-on tree planting, students connect everyday packaging to its environmental impact.

Years of engagement have shown us that early, hands-on learning leaves a lasting impression, and that education is most powerful when it connects theory to action. We also know that we have unique information to share about the sustainability of our consumer packaging and issues important to our local communities.

Building on our work with TICCIT, we're proud to reveal our new signature outreach program for renewing the environment: RENEWABILITY.

We're broadening our education for schools and community groups with:

• Recycling advocacy materials from the Foodservice Packaging Institute
• U.S. seedlings sourced through our Arbor Day Foundation partnership
• Information on Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus K-12 - a recognition program for schools that meet four core goals for bringing trees on campus and into curricula

This global program supports our focus on renewing the environment under our social impact program, called RENEW. RENEW aligns our company's purpose - packaging life's everyday moments for a renewable future - with our community work, including restoring nature and promoting recycling.

Why Is Recycling So Confusing?

At its core, recycling is about giving materials a second life. Keeping materials in use longer means fewer new resources pulled from the planet, less waste piling up, and potentially fewer greenhouse gases released in the process.

But recycling can be surprisingly confusing. In the U.S., thousands of local recycling programs result in widely-varying rules by city; in Europe, recycling rules and performance differ significantly by country. This makes it hard to know what "recycling right" looks like.

Plus, items accepted for community recycling can change over time, and many myths persist about what's recyclable. (For example, are paper cups recyclable? The answer might surprise you.) Most people failed basic questions about what can be recycled in a 2025 U.S. survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Keep America Beautiful.

Without recycling awareness and education, people either don't recycle or they contaminate recycling streams with the wrong items. According to The Recycling Partnership in 2024, only 59% of households with access to recycling use their recycling service, and of those that do, only 57% of recyclable material is put in recycling containers. The Recycling Partnership also estimated that only 21% of all recyclable material produced is being recycled.

We can do better.

Closing the Gap Between Recyclable and Recycled

Graphic Packaging is known for sustainable consumer packaging made using recycled materials or renewable resources sourced responsibly from trees that can be replanted. In 2025, 96% of our packaging products sold were designed to be recycled.

Our aim is that RENEWABILITY helps bridge the gap between recyclable packaging use and real-world recycling rates. Closing this gap means recyclable packaging is not only designed responsibly, but also recognized and recycled correctly in millions of everyday moments.

For many kids, conversations about the environment start early: in the classroom, on a tablet or when deciding where a juice carton belongs. These everyday moments shape how recyclability and caring for the planet becomes a habit - or a missed opportunity.

By shaping habits early, we're empowering the next generation to make real progress. Because progress doesn't come from a single action, but from millions of informed choices, made better every day.

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