The hidden cost of packaging
The expensive decision is made at artwork stage, months before anyone asks about recyclability.
Packaging recyclability is usually reviewed after the pack exists. By then the material is specified, the print run is booked and the tooling is paid for. Changing a laminate at that point costs more than any compliance saving.
The review needs to move upstream by one step: before artwork is signed off, when the material spec is still a line in a document.
The check itself is simple. Layers in, kerbside acceptance out, plus the nearest substitute that would pass. It does not need to be clever. It needs to happen early enough that the answer can still change something.
Extended producer responsibility fees make this arithmetic sharper each year, because the cost of a bad material choice is now recurring rather than reputational.