A broad development portfolio. No shared view of what survives PPWR. One day to build it.
The Opportunity
A global specialty materials company producing paper-based packaging substrates had invested heavily in R&D. Their development portfolio spanned a wide range of material and coating combinations — different substrates, barrier technologies, weight classes, and functional properties.
The challenge was not a lack of innovation. The challenge was strategic clarity. PPWR was redefining what counts as recyclable, how coatings affect material classification, and how EPR fee structures reward or penalise different packaging formats. Different teams inside the organisation held different assumptions about which materials were commercially defensible and which were at risk.
Regulatory, R&D, and product functions needed to be in the same room, working from the same facts, before any strategic decisions could be made. PSL was asked to design and facilitate that conversation.
The Solution
PSL designed and facilitated a full-day strategy co-creation workshop in Paris, titled "Possibility to Priority." The workshop was structured as a convergent decision-making process — moving from broad strategic inputs to specific, owned action plans in a single day.
The morning session built shared context. PSL delivered sessions on PPWR and EU regulatory developments, EPR as a strategic pricing lever for paper-based materials, and the voice of the customer — what brands and retailers actually expect from packaging material suppliers today. Insights were captured live and clustered into themes across regulation, EPR economics, and market expectations.
The afternoon turned those insights into decisions. Through a structured co-creation process, the team mapped every material in the development portfolio onto a Material Readiness Matrix — plotting internal technical readiness against market and regulatory defensibility. Materials were assessed one by one. Disagreements were kept visible, not smoothed over.
From there, the workshop moved into a Regulatory Assessment. Each material was evaluated across key regulatory dimensions — recyclability thresholds, material minimisation requirements, recycled content obligations, and EPR cost exposure across multiple European markets. Every material received a clear status: Allow, Pivot, or Block.
The final exercise grouped materials into six Focus Areas, each with a defined rationale, key constraints, a named owner, and a concrete next step.
The Impact
The company left the workshop with a shared, fact-based view of its material portfolio — something that had not existed before the session. Instead of parallel assumptions held by different functions, the team had a single Material Readiness Map, a completed Regulatory Assessment, and six Focus Areas with clear ownership.
The workshop replaced months of circular internal discussion with one day of structured, facilitated decision-making. Each focus area had a clear mandate: move now, develop next, or monitor for change. No ambiguity on who owns what or what happens after the workshop ends.