Dow and Amcor announced a strategic collaboration on 17 September 2026 to support wider adoption of lower-carbon packaging by brands and retailers seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their value chains. The announcement was issued from Midland, Michigan, and Zurich.
The companies said the initiative combines Dow’s lower-carbon polyethylene, materials science and carbon-footprint expertise with Amcor’s packaging development, manufacturing capabilities and global market reach. The work will focus on packaging applications that can meet existing performance, quality and functional requirements while supporting customers’ Scope 3 emissions targets.
Under the agreement, Dow and Amcor will identify technically and commercially viable applications, involve value-chain partners early in the adoption process and provide carbon-footprint information to customers assessing packaging options. The companies said brands could use the materials without major packaging redesigns or new infrastructure investments.
“One of the biggest barriers to decarbonization is the gap between consumer interest and commercial commitment,” said Keith Cleason, business president, Packaging & Specialty Plastics at Dow. He said the companies would test a commercial model using market-based mechanisms intended to reduce adoption risk, clarify demand and support commercialisation.
David Clark, chief sustainability officer at Amcor, said Scope 3 emissions occur upstream and downstream, making them difficult to reduce. “Bringing low carbon polyethylene to market in packaging that meets the same technical and design standards is one of the simplest ways to help shrink a product’s carbon footprint,” he said.
The collaboration will use Dow’s Carbon Footprint Ledger methodology, based on mass-balance precedents in greenhouse-gas accounting. Dow said the system provides independently assured product carbon-footprint information aligned with ISO 14067 and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard, enabling customers to compare the emissions implications of packaging choices.