Sustainability Remains Primary Driver for Packaging Industry Transformation in 2026

Sustainability remains the top driver for change in the global packaging industry this year. This comes from Esko's yearly Packaging Trends study. The research explains that besides environmental needs, smart packaging, digital product passports, and agentic AI are important trends for the business. A main media outlet suggests these things together are changing how businesses work, especially with new rules and changing customer wants.

Jan De Roeck, Marketing Director at Esko, said things are changing fast. He mentioned the quick adoption of new tech, like AI and digital packaging intelligence, as key reasons. The main focus on sustainability comes from both rules and customer demands for more clarity. These pressures are making companies rethink their materials, how they make things, and how they handle data to stay competitive and follow rules.

Sustainability and Rules Are Central

The report sees sustainability as a lasting, core reason for new ideas in packaging, not just a passing fad. This focus is mainly because of new rules worldwide, such as programs where producers are responsible for their products’ end-of-life and efforts to cut down on plastic. Companies now see sustainable actions not as optional, but as necessary for managing risks and getting into markets. This means truly re-evaluating packaging's whole life cycle, from where materials come from to what happens when they’re no longer needed.

Because of this, businesses are changing how they use materials, putting money into recycled content, and looking into compostable or reusable options. Customers and investors want more clarity, pushing companies to track things better across complicated supply chains. This push for more accountability means sustainability claims must be provable, going beyond just marketing to real actions. The need to manage and report this environmental data is becoming a key business task itself.

Key Support: Digital and Smart Solutions

Along with sustainability, several tech trends are helping create smarter and more efficient packaging systems. Digital product passports are expected to be used more in 2026, offering a good way to track things and connect with customers. These digital IDs, often seen through QR codes or NFC tags, provide detailed info about where a product came from, what it’s made of, and how to recycle it. For businesses, they give useful supply chain data and open new ways to talk directly with customers.

Another big trend is smart packaging, which includes tech that does more than just hold items. This means features that check freshness, prove something is real, or make it easier for users to interact. The report also points to agentic AI—AI that can make its own choices within certain limits—as a very important trend. While we're still figuring out its full use, agentic AI could make design better, predict problems in the supply chain, and make packaging personal for many people. These technologies all help with sustainability by making things more efficient and cutting down on waste.

Combining for Customer Value

Esko’s study emphasizes that managing these trends well means combining them in smart ways to give customers real value. The report suggests businesses avoid using new solutions on their own or just to follow rules. Instead, companies should carefully look at how each new idea, whether a new material or a digital tool, fits into and improves their current work. The main goal is to use these changes to build better brands, earn customer trust, and make operations more efficient.

This smart approach means understanding how these trends are connected. For example, using a digital product passport can meet a rule for tracking, give data on customer interaction, and send info back to AI systems for better predictions, all at once. De Roeck stressed that the industry needs to thoughtfully accept these changes to turn possible problems into chances to create value. The companies that do well will be those that see these trends as parts of a complete change plan, not just separate demands.

Industry Context and Future View

The packaging industry is at an important point, balancing old tasks with new roles as a data carrier and a sign of sustainability. The speed of change in the report shows a bigger shift across manufacturing and retail. Industry events and talks, like Esko's upcoming Packaging Trends Talk, are now focusing on real ways to adjust. The discussion has clearly moved from whether to use sustainable and smart methods to how to do them well.

Looking ahead, we expect sustainability and digital intelligence to become even more connected. AI and advanced data tools will get better at helping design packaging with less environmental impact from the start. As rules keep changing, consistent ways to use digital product passports and report on sustainability will likely appear. The industry’s ongoing adjustment to these biggest drivers of change will keep redefining packaging from a simple container to a complex, valuable part of today's product experience. This change will continue to shape company plans and customer interactions throughout 2026 and beyond.