The use of sustainable and recycled packaging is something many companies are interested in, but some will be curious enough to ask a few questions about the future.

It may be a wise and progressive step for your company to use recycled boxes, biodegradable filler and other green elements in your packaging, not least because it is a selling point for customers as well as being a major part of your corporate social responsibility commitments.

However, some may ask whether this commitment may go in new direction in the future, with new kinds of innovation such as biodegradable forms of plastic, as well as developing and existing legal and regulatory issues that might have an impact on the packaging used for the transit of goods, both here and when exporting overseas.

Packaging Summit To Highlight Industry Issues

The last of these considerations will be among the issues highlighted at the 2025 Sustainable Packaging Summit, Packaging Europe recently revealed.

Held in the Dutch city of Utrecht from November 10th-12th, the event will feature an array of major speakers in the industry from around Europe, discussing the various issues facing and opportunities for sustainable packaging.

There will be discussions and Q&A sessions on questions of regulation in Europe, which may be of particular interest in helping British firms who export into the EU understand the latest details of packaging regulation in the 27-member bloc.

Other elements include round tables where businesses can share tips on issues such as environmental data reporting.

Understanding regulation is important and useful, although some of this will not be applicable in the UK, as regulations may differ from those in the EU.

Innovation And The Future

However, that is far from the only issue, as a significant focus will be on innovation, scaling and the development of ‘infinite materials’.

Key topics for round table discussions will include the ‘2045 Roadmap’, which aims to explore the end stage of the sustainability journey, as well as the ‘Single Market(s) for Recycling’, which takes an international view of questions of market dynamics for recycled packaging.

This won’t be an event that will provide a set of easy answers and absolute certainty, of course; after all, between now and 2045, a lot could change both in the areas of regulation and in the development of new materials.

However, that very fact could be an exciting one; while there are many ways now in which you can use more eco-friendly, sustainable, recycled and recyclable materials, new developments could offer even more options while still fulfilling the core objective of ensuring every item sent by parcel is well protected and remains intact and secure through its journey.

Major Growth In Sustainable Packaging Projected   

What is not in doubt is the direction of travel. In an increasingly eco-conscious world, questions of packaging, whether in parcels or simply the food and other goods that can be bought in supermarkets, have been asked with increasing frequency and volume.

As Food Navigator notes, in such a situation, the combination of consumer pressure and the response from decision makers to create tighter regulation has made it certain that the use of sustainable packaging will continue to grow.

The article noted that a recent projection from Grand View Research indicated that globally, the sustainable packaging sector is set to be worth almost US$354 billion (£260 billion) by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 per cent over the next five years.

This, the article notes, is even though in some areas there has been an indication of decline in interest in the subject of sustainable packaging.

Moreover, this figure may actually be on the low side, according to the innovation director at EIT Food, Adam Adamek, who said the prediction is “entirely achievable - if not conservative.”

Reflecting on his own firm’s experience, he noted that since 2020, there has been “not only a surge in capital from private investors and corporate, but a wholesale pivot across the industry as sustainability has moved from the margins to the mainstream.”

The Obvious Choice For Packaging

It should be noted that when it comes to food and drink packaging, this is not just about items one might pick up off a store shelf; it also includes non-perishable items that may be sent in the post.

This means that if you are thinking about switching to recycled and sustainable packaging, you will not only be in good company, but in time you could find that not going down this road would put you in a minority.

For that reason, now is the time to make the change, with the promise that the future could bring more technological innovations to make a big commitment to packaging sustainability an even more obvious way to go.