Greyparrot & Kenvue track packaging recovery in recycling

Greyparrot has partnered with Kenvue to analyse how the company's packaging performs in recycling systems, with work covering facilities in the UK and US.

The project will use Greyparrot's Deepnest platform to track how Kenvue packaging is identified, sorted and recovered in commercial-scale facilities, rather than relying on designs classed as recyclable in theory.

Kenvue, whose brands include Tylenol, Listerine and Neutrogena, said the collaboration is intended to help assess whether packaging is actually recovered after consumers discard it. The focus is the gap between design assumptions and the way sorting systems handle packs made from different materials or containing different components.

The issue has become more important as packaging producers face tighter rules and higher costs linked to waste and recycling performance. Companies have increasingly promoted packs as recyclable, but actual recovery rates can vary widely depending on local infrastructure, material processing and whether features such as pumps, labels or translucency affect sorting.

Real-world tracking

Greyparrot said Deepnest creates a digital model of recycling operations using AI-based recognition of materials moving through facilities. For Kenvue, that means gathering data on sortation and processability in operating plants, identifying which design elements reduce recovery, and testing possible design changes before producing physical prototypes.

The work will also be used to model the financial effects of extended producer responsibility schemes on packaging changes. Those schemes, now shaping packaging decisions in multiple markets, place more of the cost of waste collection and treatment on producers.

Greyparrot is positioning its technology as a source of operational data for brands, waste companies and regulators. Kenvue joins a roster of consumer goods groups using its systems, including L'Oréal Groupe, Unilever and McDonald's.

For Kenvue, the collaboration is tied to its broader packaging agenda across a global portfolio of health and personal care products. Evidence from recycling facilities could help it move from internal design standards to measurements based on what happens after disposal.

David Lickstein, Global Head of Packaging Innovation, Sustainability, and Experience at Kenvue, described the rationale for the partnership in operational terms.

"To help achieve our circular packaging goals, we must move beyond aspirational guidelines and embrace real-world evidence. Our partnership with Greyparrot and the integration of Deepnest represents a fundamental shift in how we approach sustainable packaging. AI-driven waste intelligence allows us to go beyond simple tracking and into advanced scenario modeling, helping us identify the most impactful design changes and implement innovative solutions across our global portfolio faster and more cost-effectively than ever before," Lickstein said.

Regulatory pressure

The backdrop to the collaboration includes new packaging regulation and reporting demands, particularly in Europe, where the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is tightening expectations around recyclability, recycled content and waste reduction. Extended producer responsibility regimes are also prompting companies to examine whether packaging that appears compliant on paper is recovered at scale in practice.

That creates a commercial incentive to understand not just material selection but the performance of whole packs as they move through sorting lines. Small changes in labels, closures, colouring and material combinations can affect whether an item is recognised and separated into a stream that can be reprocessed.

Greyparrot said this type of visibility has historically been limited in waste and recycling operations. AI tools are now being applied to physical infrastructure systems where brands previously had little direct information on what happened to products once they entered the waste stream.

Ambarish Mitra, Co-founder of Greyparrot, said the collaboration reflected a wider shift in packaging design and measurement.

"Circular packaging is no longer an aspiration, it is fast becoming the standard. We're proud to partner with Kenvue to turn design intent into measurable impact, helping set a new benchmark for how the industry designs, measures and delivers circularity," Mitra said.

Yaseed Chaumoo, Managing Director of Deepnest by Greyparrot, said the work is intended to go beyond monitoring waste flows by testing how design choices affect likely recovery outcomes in the real world.

"Data is the ultimate catalyst for change in the sustainable packaging landscape, and AI has provided the means to deliver those insights at a truly global scale. This collaboration with Kenvue represents a significant step beyond waste tracking; it's about utilizing Deepnest's predictive capabilities to model real-world recovery scenarios. By doing so, we are empowering Kenvue to make actionable, data-led design changes quicker and more cost-effectively than ever before, accelerating the transition to a truly circular economy," Chaumoo said.