PET and Packaging Industry – Data Sovereignty, PPWR & AI

How good is your product data, really?

The PET and packaging industry is under growing pressure: sustainability requirements, the PPWR Directive, the digital product passport, an increasing variety of product variants, and ever-shorter innovation cycles are increasing complexity throughout the entire value chain.

Many companies are therefore investing in new machinery, materials, and production processes. However, the real challenge often lies elsewhere: in fragmented product data, a lack of data sovereignty, and insufficiently integrated system landscapes.

+Pluswerk helps manufacturers turn their product data into a strategic resource—from analyzing existing data structures and regulatory requirements to concrete AI use cases.

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Filled PET bottles pass through an automated production line. The illustration symbolises the integration of production, product data, sustainability information and digital processes in the PET industry.

The Challenge of Product Data

While production processes are becoming increasingly efficient, the data structures of many companies have grown in an ad hoc and uncoordinated manner due to historical factors. Typical symptoms include:

• Product information is stored in multiple systems,
• Variants are modeled differently,
• Sustainability and compliance data are merged manually,
• Sales, production, and development teams work with different data versions,
• New regulatory requirements create additional work.

The result is data discontinuities, inconsistencies, and rising costs for coordination and maintenance.

PPWR and the Digital Product Passport Increase the Need for Action

With the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), requirements for transparency, traceability, and data quality are increasing significantly.

In the future, companies must be able to provide and verify significantly more information about the materials, recyclability, origin, and sustainability of their products. These requirements can only be met cost-effectively with a consistent data architecture.

AI Requires Structured Data

Many companies are currently discussing the use of AI. However, the actual success of AI projects rarely depends on the models used. What matters most is the quality, consistency, and availability of the underlying data.

Structured product data not only forms the foundation for compliance, sustainability reporting, and AI projects; it also increasingly influences the visibility and marketing of products.

More and more purchasing decisions are being prepared digitally, for example through search engines, customer portals, and AI-powered assistants.

A digital illustration of a PET bottle at the centre of complex data flows: around it, several people are working with floating product data, ESG reports, certificates, spreadsheets and approval processes.

B2B Sales with AI

Shoppers are increasingly researching products online. As a result, the focus of their searches is shifting from traditional search engines to AI-powered assistants, intelligent search functions, and automated procurement processes.

In the future, the key question will no longer be:

| “Will my product be found?”

but rather:

| “Can my product information be understood and recommended by AI systems?”

Companies with structured, consistent, and enriched product data lay the foundation for ensuring that their products remain visible in digital sales channels.

Discussing sales metrics and business data on a tablet. The image illustrates the use of artificial intelligence in B2B sales to analyse customer, product and market data.

Product Data as a Sales Channel

In the past, product data was primarily internal master data. Today, it serves in a variety of ways as a channel for marketing and sales. The quality of product data is therefore a decisive factor for digital sales and the visibility of a company’s offerings on the Internet.

In the past

Product Data as Internal Master Data

• Management
• Documentation
• Internal processes
• Manual maintenance
• Individual systems

Today

Product data as a sales channel

• Selling point
• Basis for consultation
• Proof of compliance
• Marketing content
• AI knowledge base

Where Structured Product Data Makes a Difference

B2B stores Customer portals Marketplaces Configurators AI search systems Digital product passports

AI Search: Rethinking Visibility

More and more technical buyers are starting their research not with search engines, but with AI systems. This is fundamentally changing the requirements for product information.

With the rise of generative AI, digital discoverability is undergoing a fundamental shift. Instead of lists of search results, systems are increasingly providing direct answers. For products to appear in these answers, companies need:

• consistent product attributes,
• clear classifications,
• structured metadata,
• up-to-date technical information,
• machine-readable content.

Establishing these fundamentals not only improves internal efficiency but also increases visibility among customers, partners, and AI systems.

Our Approach:
From Data Analysis to Innovation

Many companies start out facing different challenges. Some struggle with unclear data structures, others with regulatory requirements or initial AI initiatives. Our approach therefore follows a simple principle:

1. Understand: How is product data organized today?
2. Regulate: What requirements arise from PPWR, DPP, and future business models?
3. Activate: How can data be made usable for AI, sales, and innovation?

Workshop A · 1 day · starting at €3,500 net

Understanding Data

We analyse your organisation's existing data models, data flows and responsibilities. The goal is to identify weaknesses and opportunities in the existing data landscape to implement meaningful changes.

Workshop B · 2 days · starting at €8,500 net

Navigating Regulations

Together, we’ll assess the impact of PPWR, sustainability requirements, and future data obligations on your company. This will result in a robust roadmap rather than reactive, piecemeal measures.

Workshop C · 1 day · starting at €5,500 net

Enabling Innovation

Only with a consistent data architecture can robust AI applications, automated processes, and new digital business models be developed. This will help you understand how to best leverage AI.

PETnology 2026: Slides to Take Home

The slides from the presentation “You’re Optimizing Your Production—But Not Your Data” from PETnology 2026 are available for download as a PDF here.

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Better Data, Greater Success

Take advantage of our free initial consultation! Together, we’ll analyze your current data landscape, identify potential vulnerabilities, and outline initial approaches for structured and integrated product data in your PET company.

Book a free initial consultation