What does a sustainable future for packaging look like? This is the exact question everyone was asking at Sustainability in Packaging Europe. Brands like L’Oreal, companies like Searious Business, and some of the people behind packaging materials of the future gathered to see just what we can do to prioritize sustainability from here on out. Here are the big takeaways from the event.

A variety of people attended Sustainability in Packaging Europe, from suppliers to big brands to innovators in the industry, and they all agreed on one thing: recycling is confusing af. We like to think that little triangular symbol with the arrows means it will be repurposed, but that’s not always the case. Even something like aluminum, which is one of the most highly recycled objects, still often ends up in the landfill. There are different symbols for different materials, and if a facility isn’t able to process a certain type of substance, it becomes waste.