Five Minutes With Jenny Stanley and Alice Rackley

March 2026

In regular a Q&A session, Jenny Stanley, Managing Director at Appetite Creative explores the key trends, around sustainability and regulation, facing experts from across the advertising and packaging industry.

This conversation is with Alice Rackley, Chief Executive Officer at Polytag.

1. How are brands currently trying to tell the full sustainability story when they’re constrained by packaging real estate and increasingly strict green claims rules?

Brands are under growing pressure to communicate a credible, end-to-end sustainability story, just as the space to do so on-pack is shrinking and the rules governing what they can say are tightening. In response, most are adopting a layered approach that balances compliance, clarity and depth.

On physical packaging, brands are increasingly stripping claims back to the essentials. Short, carefully worded statements, supported by recognised certification marks or material icons, are used to signal sustainability credentials without over-promising. This reflects a shift away from broad, emotive claims toward more specific, defensible language that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and consumer scepticism.

To go beyond those constraints, brands are leaning heavily on digital extensions. QR codes, smart labels and digital watermarks are now common entry points to richer content hosted off-pack. These experiences allow brands to explain material choices, sourcing decisions, recycling instructions and impact data in far greater detail than packaging ever could, while keeping claims contextual, evidence-based and updatable over time.

Polytag is a leading platform provider offering tag and trace solutions to brands that want to present transparency and circularity to customers. We are proud to be supporting many of our clients with this agenda.

In short, constrained packaging and stricter green claims rules are pushing brands toward more precise language, digital storytelling and data-backed transparency. Those that succeed are treating sustainability not as a slogan on-pack, but as a connected, verifiable story that unfolds across the entire product journey.

2. Can you share a real example of a brand using connected packaging to communicate sustainability credentials they couldn’t effectively communicate before?

Ocado Retail is a standout example of a brand using connected packaging to communicate sustainability credentials that were previously hard to evidence. By partnering with Polytag, Ocado has embedded QR codes and invisible UV tags across its packaging, enabling customers to instantly access transparent recycling and reuse information. This technology doesn’t just inform shoppers – it also provides Ocado with verified, item-level proof of recycling, creating a fully validated sustainability loop.

As a result, Ocado can now confidently share accurate, data-backed claims that were impossible to communicate effectively before, strengthening their position as a leading sustainability-focused retailer.

3. In five years, will ‘green claims’ have moved from the back-of-pack to a behind-the-pack digital ecosystem?

Yes – and ecosystem is exactly the right word. In five years, green claims will shift from static back-of-pack statements to dynamic, behind-the-pack digital ecosystems powered by interoperable data. The only way to achieve this at scale is through GS1 global open standards, which allow every actor in the supply chain to “speak the same language.” This shared data infrastructure is essential for true circular economies, where transparency, traceability and collaboration must flow seamlessly between manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and technology partners.

Brands working with Polytag are already benefiting from this future-ready ecosystem. Our network spans printers such as Domino and Xact Control, through to scanning hardware providers including Data Logic and Zebra – all proven, integrated, and connected to enable real circularity.

If brands want to get ahead with the data, standards and tools that will define the next generation of sustainability reporting, they need to talk to Polytag and plug into our ecosystem now.

Alice Rackley – CEO, Polytag

Source: Appetite Creative

  Agency, Alice Rackley, Appetite Creative, Jenny Stanley, Packaging, Polytag, Sustainability