Case study
Scaling EPR reporting across diverse client profiles
RecycleMe, a leading sustainability and compliance consultancy, partnered with Unpac to streamline packaging EPR reporting for two of their brand clients ahead of California’s November 2025 deadline.
The challenge
Two clients. Two data realities. One deadline.
SKUs spanning branded and private label. Data scattered across multiple systems. Incomplete component mapping and unclear compliance scope.
Simpler packaging footprint, but data lived across disparate file types and systems that were laborious to reconcile without automation.
- Data fragmented across PDFs, ERPs, spreadsheets and supplier files.
- Missing relationships between finished goods and packaging components.
- Limited internal bandwidth to manually clean and reconcile data at scale.
The solution
End-to-end EPR reporting.
Unpac ingested raw data files across every available format: Excel workbooks, PDFs and ERP extracts. Everything was centralized into a structured system mapping finished goods, sales data and packaging components at scale.
RecycleMe and the clients worked directly with their data in the platform. Gaps became visible immediately. Issue resolution was swift.
Key deliverables
- Automated data ingestion.
- Data validation and gap surfacing.
- Dynamic dashboards for data completeness and fee exposure.
- Circular Action Alliance compliant final outputs.
“Direct client interaction with the data made gaps, inconsistencies and disorganization immediately visible. It helped clients understand the true level of effort required and how Unpac could streamline it.”
The results
Fast submissions. Accurate fees.
| Measure | Large client 30,000+ SKUs | Small brand Under 1,000 SKUs |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 10 daysReport finalized at scale | 48 hoursSubmission completed start to finish |
| Data integrity | All gaps flaggedData gaps surfaced and rectified | 100%Data auto-extracted from existing files |
| Accuracy | Accurate fee attribution replaced guessworkClear insight into which SKUs and components drove the highest fees. | |
“Manual data work isn’t scalable. Unpac is how we execute strategy, not just talk about it.”
The future
As the 2026 USA EPR reporting season approaches, Unpac and RecycleMe continue to partner on packaging EPR engagements. RecycleMe’s global consulting expertise, combined with Unpac’s automated packaging data platform, gives producers a scalable and proactive way to meet evolving EPR requirements while reducing manual effort, improving data quality and uncovering opportunities to lower fee obligations through accuracy.
A force multiplier for RecycleMe
Unpac took care of the monotonous, time-consuming data cleaning and synthesis, which let RecycleMe focus on supporting clients’ EPR strategy.
Ready for 2026 EPR reporting?
Get your packaging data in order before May. Bring one SKU and a supplier spreadsheet and we will show you the record, the gaps and the finished report.