Maybe a solution is the same with cigarettes in the UK. Any packaging which is non-recyclable must be a standard color (i.e. red), and may not contain any creative branding on it. If advertisers want to market their products and make them look attractive on the shelves, they'll find creative solutions to using recyclable packaging.
I have been thinking that it could also work to force all material which is not in direct contact with food to be single-process recyclable.
No layers, made from a select number of materials, and no extra labels.
Just drop the package in the recycle and it can be re-used as-is.
I wonder whether a standardized product container could gain market share. One option, make containers that consumers can purchase and then refill with standard disbursement containers at stores. Maybe the disbursement container would label the container with the usual store label. Another would be to strictly enforce containment options for different form factors ala the other comments here.
>If advertisers want to market their products and make them look attractive on the shelves, they'll find creative solutions to using recyclable packaging.
The real problem is recycling is itself a charade. Most of what is "recycled" just ends up in landfills in the developing world.
The idea however is nice: I'd say let's make all packaging of any product a standard color (we could also allow a picture of the product as is). Less crap to falsely differentiate a product from another, less visual clutter, less messing with our brains to consume! Products would have to be attractive for what they are!
