CNG cut emissions 23% and lifted PCR use by more than 30% in 2025

By Nathan Brooks

Charter Next Generation (CNG) cut scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 23% in 2025 compared with the prior year, according to its sustainability report released last week.

CNG’s strategy is less subtle: put more postconsumer recycled (PCR) content into its films. The company reported a rise of more than 30% in PCR use in 2025 compared with 2024.

CNG’s report adds waste data and two emissions targets:

• More than 23 million pounds of outbound waste diverted from landfills in 2025.
• A target of 42% lower scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
• A target of 90% lower scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050.

John Garnett, CNG’s senior vice president of technical, sustainability and innovation, tied that increase to the company’s materials strategy. Greater PCR use is “the big driver of circularity for our materials,” Garnett said in an interview after the Pack Expo educational session.

Food-grade PCR carries the harder burden

CNG used an Oct. 19 Pack Expo presentation to make the case for food-grade PCR in flexible materials. The company also plans to present its food-grade work at Pack Expo 2026, including a study with industry partners to assess the safety and performance of PCR in film for food applications.

Garnett framed the commercial logic plainly: “You can see in the really, really high-performing application the demonstration of what’s possible, and the demonstration that it’s a viable business,” he said. “And that then helps with momentum for the rest of the market.”

His explanation matters for PCR manufacturers. CNG’s public discussion of higher PCR content in its films helps create more demand and end markets for recycled content, Garnett said.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) packaging laws also are helping drive demand for PCR. “With the EPR incentives that are coming through, the interest from down in the value chain continues to increase,” Garnett said.

Why food-grade PCR is not a drop-in material

PCR formulation is not one-size-fits-all, Garnett said. He identified three common film applications:

• Overwrap for paper towels or tissue.
• Shrink bundling, such as for water bottles.
• Printed, laminated structures, including food-grade stand-up pouches.

For food, the regulatory test comes first. “Most importantly for food, we have to have regulatory compliance,” Garnett said. “We see food-grade PCR as one of the most challenging applications in the PCR space.”

CNG says PCR use in this application must comply with FDA requirements for food contact, food safety and chemicals of concern. Compliance has to extend through the supply chain, “ensuring that all of the facilities back to the PCR manufacturer are food-contact compliant,” Garnett said.

During audits, CNG found that 100% of high-density PCR sample results and 90% of low-density PCR sample results came within regulatory thresholds for chemicals of concern, the company said.

The audit numbers do not end the job. “As we do business with food-grade PCR, we are committing to do the ongoing testing of those materials to ensure there’s confidence in safety,” Garnett said. “We want to see the highest quality PCR, and we spend a lot of effort qualifying the right suppliers.”

The package must also survive handling. Producers must “make sure that the package can stand up to the supply chain as it moves through,” Garnett said. CNG identifies stiffness and toughness as important structural properties.

PCR manufacturers also create value by preventing odors or tastes from passing into food. Consistency is another requirement. Material can vary across batches, and inconsistent material can harm demand, according to Garnett.

CNG is conducting additional PCR study phases. It is working with flexible packaging converter Printpack on tests for finished packages.

What does this change for packaging buyers?

For packaging buyers, the change is a more visible pipeline of food-grade PCR development, not a free pass to swap any PCR into any food package. CNG’s planned Pack Expo 2026 presentation and additional Printpack tests keep the focus on evidence for converters and suppliers.

The conditions remain clear: regulatory compliance, ongoing testing, qualified suppliers, consistent batches and packages that can withstand the supply chain. Food-grade PCR has business potential, while Garnett still calls it one of the PCR space’s most challenging applications.

CNG’s next checkpoints are its additional study phases with Printpack and the Pack Expo 2026 presentation. Those results will test whether Garnett’s food-grade momentum argument holds across the market. The commercial pitch is strengthening. The qualification burden stays put.