Pack Declare vs. Recyda: Enterprise FMCG or SMB E-commerce?

Recyda is one of the most recognisable names in EU packaging sustainability software. They raised a €6.3M Series A in October 2024 (led by Cusp Capital) on the back of a customer roster that includes KAO, Beiersdorf, DMK, Trolli, and adapa. Their platform is built around recyclability assessment across 20+ country-specific rulesets, with EPR fee calculation layered on top.

Pack Declare is a different product for a different customer. We serve e-commerce SMBs selling on Shopify, WooCommerce, and Amazon who need PPWR declarations across 11 EU countries without the price tag or implementation cost of an enterprise tool.

This article lays out who fits where — honestly, because funnelling the wrong customer into either product wastes months.

The 30-second verdict

• Recyda wins when your organisation is a mid-to-large FMCG brand (or their supplier) that needs recyclability grading at packaging-portfolio scale, with ERP / PLM integration and a sustainability team. Pricing is custom and typically lands in five-figure-EUR territory.
• Pack Declare wins when you're an e-commerce brand selling to the EU on Shopify / WooCommerce / Amazon, with 1–20 people and no dedicated compliance function. Pricing is €0 free, or from €120/year with every market included.

Side-by-side

Where Recyda is genuinely better

Let's not dance around it: Recyda has been the market leader in recyclability scoring for several years, and the product shows it. Specific things they do better than Pack Declare:

• Country-specific recyclability rulesets at depth. Recyda works directly with the APR Design Guide and country-level design-for-recyclability guides. Our grades are directionally correct; theirs are industry-referenced.
• Packaging portfolio analytics at scale. When you're KAO with 5,000+ SKUs and 30 countries, Recyda's portfolio dashboard becomes essential. Pack Declare's UI is designed for 50–2,000 SKUs, not 50,000.
• ERP / PLM integration out of the box. Recyda plugs into SAP and PLM systems as a first-class input. Pack Declare supports API + CSV import but we aren't an enterprise-integration tool.
• Sustainability consultation. Recyda's team includes packaging scientists who can advise on material swaps. We're pure SaaS — no consultation service.

Where Pack Declare is a better fit

Different customer, different product. We win when you:

• Sell on Shopify, WooCommerce, or Amazon. We have native OAuth connectors for all three. Recyda has none — you'd be uploading CSVs.
• Need declaration packs, not just reports. Recyda produces beautiful analytics; Pack Declare produces the exact CSV that ECOEMBES, CITEO, LUCID, CONAI, SPV, Afvalfonds, Fost Plus, and ARA accept for upload. You upload, you're done.
• Start for free. Recyda has no free tier. Pack Declare's Free plan includes one declaration pack per calendar year — enough to run a full cycle without paying anything.
• Have < €10M revenue. Recyda's pricing is calibrated for mid-market and enterprise. Pack Declare at €120/year is a credit-card purchase.
• Want to ship in days, not months. Pack Declare is 30 minutes from signup to first pack. Recyda implementation is typically a multi-week project.

What about the 20+ countries thing?

Recyda rightly boasts recyclability rulesets across 20+ countries. Pack Declare currently generates declaration packs for 11 EU countries (with Poland, Sweden, Denmark in development for Q3 2026). For most e-commerce SMBs, 8 covers 90%+ of real EU volume — those are the countries with mature PRO systems and strict enforcement.

If you sell to 15+ EU countries today, Pack Declare isn't the right tool yet. Consider Recyda, or PCX Markets for their 49-market global coverage.

Recyda is coming downmarket. Here's what to watch.

The €6.3M Series A (led by Cusp Capital, with Speedinvest continuing) is almost certainly funding international expansion and a move into mid-market SMB. Recyda's founders have said publicly that customer expansion is a priority. Over the next 12–24 months it's plausible that Recyda launches a lower-cost tier aimed at brands smaller than their current FMCG base.

What we'd tell you if you're evaluating both today:

• If Recyda currently requires an annual contract in the 5-figures and you're an SMB, that's not a good fit regardless of where they're headed. Start with Pack Declare; revisit Recyda when you outgrow us.
• If Recyda releases a €500-1,000/month tier in the next year, that puts them into competitive range with Pack Declare. Worth reassessing at that point.
• Either way, don't wait for Recyda's SMB tier to start preparing for PPWR. August 12, 2026 is a hard deadline. Pack Declare Free is available today.

Who shouldn't use either

If you're a packaging manufacturer (producing packaging for other brands to use), you want Packa instead — they're built for that workflow, with SAP integration and procurement-cost optimisation. Neither Recyda nor Pack Declare is designed around that buyer.

If you're a small brand on one country and one channel, Pack Declare’s free Passport is probably enough — you may not even need a paid plan yet. Recyda would be overkill.

If you're an importer / distributor with heavy DoC-collection workflow, consider Coolset or Osapiens — they're built around that workflow.

The bottom line

Recyda is a great product for FMCG brands with thousands of SKUs and a sustainability team. Pack Declare is a great product for Shopify merchants with hundreds of SKUs and a part-time compliance person. Both are earnest tools, just built for different shapes of company.

Pick the one whose ICP description matches your company shape today — not the one that sounds more impressive.

Run the free PPWR Compliance Check →

Or start free with Pack Declare →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Recyda and Pack Declare?

Recyda is a recyclability-grading platform aimed at packaging portfolios at scale, with ERP and PLM integration. Pack Declare is an EPR declaration platform for e-commerce sellers, computing country-specific figures from Shopify, WooCommerce and Amazon sales. They solve adjacent problems, not the same one.

Who is Recyda best suited to?

Mid-to-large FMCG brands and their packaging suppliers that need recyclability grading across a large portfolio, have ERP or PLM systems to integrate with, and employ a dedicated sustainability team. Its published customers include Kao, Beiersdorf, DMK, Trolli and adapa.

Who is Pack Declare best suited to?

E-commerce brands selling into the EU through Shopify, WooCommerce or Amazon, typically one to twenty people with no dedicated compliance function. The starting point is sales data rather than a packaging portfolio, and the output is a declaration rather than a grade.

How do Recyda and Pack Declare compare on price?

Recyda’s pricing is custom and typically lands in five-figure euro territory, consistent with an enterprise sustainability tool. Pack Declare publishes its pricing: a free Passport and paid plans from €120 per year, with all covered countries included rather than priced per country.

Which is better for recyclability assessment?

Recyda, clearly. It leads on recyclability depth with rulesets spanning more than twenty countries. Pack Declare grades recyclability A to E per country, which is adequate for eco-modulation but is not a substitute for portfolio-scale assessment.

Does Recyda produce declaration files for producer responsibility schemes?

It produces reports rather than scheme-specific declaration formats. That distinction matters if your immediate problem is filing: a report tells you what your packaging is, while a declaration pack gives you the figures in the shape a particular scheme’s form asks for.

Does Recyda connect to e-commerce platforms?

No. Recyda has no e-commerce connectors, which is coherent with its buyer — an FMCG brand feeds it packaging specifications from a PLM system, not orders from a storefront. If your packaging data effectively lives in your sales data, that gap is the deciding factor.

Could Recyda move into the SMB segment?

It is worth watching. Recyda raised a €6.3M Series A in October 2024, and downmarket expansion is a common use of that capital. The signal to monitor is the launch of a self-serve or starter tier, which would change the comparison materially.