Europe’s supermarkets are brimming with brands claiming their plastic packaging is sustainable, but the recycled content is often no more than a few percent of the material, the rest being petroleum-derived. Saudi Aramco’s petrochemical arm Sabic supplies the plastic, which is produced in the Netherlands using pyrolysis oil that can make up at most five percent of the feedstock. To make the packaging appear greener, the industry relies on mass‑balance bookkeeping and avoided‑emissions accounting, tricks that effectively label virgin‑derived plastic as 100 % recycled. EU and UK regulators are preparing to enforce stricter rules in 2026 and 2027 to curb this greenwashing, a move that experts say is essential to address both climate change and the global plastic crisis. Former European Commission environmental expert Helmut Maurer and NGO policy officer Lauriane Veillard have warned that the practice misleads consumers and expands fossil fuel use.

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