📦 32.3 million tonnes a year. That’s around 88,000 tonnes a day.

In 2023, the EU generated 32.3 million tonnes of paper and cardboard packaging waste — making it the largest packaging waste stream, accounting for 40.4% of the total.

That puts the scale of the challenge into perspective.

The question is not only:

How can we recycle more?

It is also:

→ How can we keep packaging in use for longer?
→ Can a box be designed for another journey instead of becoming waste after one use?
→ What would make reuse work economically for businesses?
→ How can return systems be designed to work in practice?

These are exactly the kinds of questions we are exploring in BePacMan.

And this September, we are moving from discussion to practice.

During the BePacMan Business Model Innovation Sprint, SMEs will work with experts and other businesses on real packaging challenges, develop circular business model concepts and create practical prototypes using laser cutters and maker tools.

📍 Wismar, Germany
📅 29 September – 1 October 2026
💶 Participation is free of charge
✈️ Travel support is available

Do you produce, use, ship or depend on cardboard packaging?

Bring us your challenge — and let’s explore what a more circular solution could look like.

👉 Apply here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeenIvNxa2ul2113soxj_u19LNl3mkEgZtXmbd7CIxuC8HT7A/viewform

Source: Eurostat, Packaging waste statistics, 2023.
The daily figure is an average calculated from the annual total of 32.3 million tonnes.