Method

Sourcing hierarchy

Every factual claim in this library is sourced, and sources are ranked. The order of preference is: the official gazette or the regulator's own page; the national implementing body or scheme owner's own page; legal and technical analysis by identifiable professionals; trade press. Where sources conflict, the conflict is stated rather than silently resolved.

Every article carries a last verified date. Facts are current to that date, not to the date you are reading.

Citation practice

Articles use author–date citations with a full reference list. Standards documents are cited to the edition consulted. Where a standard's full text was not purchased and a claim rests on a publicly posted preview, the article's verification note says so.

Two rules are absolute. No reference appears unless it was actually retrieved and checked during preparation. And where a widely repeated claim could not be verified against a primary source, the article says that explicitly rather than citing the claim into existence.

Evidence grading

In the evidence theme, every finding carries the study, the method, the sample, the effect size and a strength grade. Strong means randomised trials, large field experiments, pre-registered meta-analyses or physical waste audits. Weak means self-report, undisclosed samples, or inference from an adjacent finding. Both are labelled — including where the weak evidence supports a congenial conclusion.

Independence

The library describes what regimes require, what schemes certify, and what the evidence shows. It does not advise on compliance strategy and does not advocate for or against labeling mandates. Independence is not neutrality between well-evidenced and poorly-evidenced claims: findings are stated plainly with the evidence attached, and neutrality is reserved for questions of policy preference rather than questions of fact.

Updates

Quarterly full review, with immediate updates on litigation, implementing acts and in-force dates.

Compiled August 2026.

How to cite this atlas

The Atlas is created by the Circular Innovation Hub. Correspondence: Dr Calvin Lakhan, lakhanc@yorku.ca.

A suggested citation, in Harvard style:

Lakhan, C. (2026) Packaging Label Atlas. Circular Innovation Hub. Available at: [URL of this site] (Accessed: [date]).

Where a specific article is cited, add the article title after the atlas title, as you would a chapter in an edited work. Example: Lakhan, C. (2026) ‘What does California SB 343 actually prohibit?’, in Packaging Label Atlas. Circular Innovation Hub.