Sustainable packaging in practice: six trends from Billerud’s 2026 report

Sustainable packaging is no longer a marketing slogan but a business necessity, with regulation, costs and consumer expectations all pushing in the same direction. In September, Swedish company Billerud, one of the world’s largest producers of fibre-based packaging materials, published its Packaging Tomorrow 2026 trend report, which identifies six developments shaping the industry. Built on interviews with industry experts, Billerud’s own specialists and international surveys, its core message fits in one sentence: the time for setting targets is over, and the time for delivery has begun.

In short: According to Billerud’s report, the future of sustainable packaging is shaped by six trends, from real-world circularity and smart lightweighting to the rise of fibre-based materials and digital, accessible and experience-driven packaging. The common thread is that solutions must work not in theory, but in the actual collection, transport and recycling systems they move through.

Why this report matters right now

The timing is no coincidence. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has generally applied since 12 August 2026. It requires packaging placed on the EU market to be designed for recycling from 2030 and to be recyclable at scale from 2035. We covered the details in our article on the official PPWR implementation guidance.

According to Anna Jonhed, Billerud’s VP of Global Innovation, many brand owners underestimate how little time is left. Developing and rolling out a new packaging solution across the value chain typically takes around two years, so companies starting in 2028 will already be late. In the accompanying press release, Jonhed said the focus is now moving from ambition to execution.

McKinsey research backs this up: many FMCG companies, retailers, private-label producers and co-packers still lack the knowledge and operational readiness needed to scale sustainable solutions. Several major brands have already revised or scaled back earlier plastic and recyclability commitments.

1. Circularity in reality, not just on paper

The first trend may be the most important: a package being technically recyclable means little if nobody collects, sorts and processes it. Ron Sasine, former Senior Director of Packaging at Walmart, warns in the report that circularity is too often reduced to a single yes-or-no question about recyclability, while the real environmental balance also includes emissions, energy use, sourcing and toxicity.

One striking point is that recycled fibre is not always the lowest-emission option once transport and processing are included. Fibres also shorten and weaken with every cycle and must be replenished with fresh fibre, so fresh and recycled fibre are complementary rather than competing. The same logic applies to compostable packaging: without industrial composting infrastructure, these materials end up incinerated, landfilled or contaminating recycling streams.

Our readers will recognise this problem: our analysis of the “recycling for nothing” paradox showed how circular investments can be cancelled out by misalignments across the system.

Consumers need help too. A WRAP survey found that only 9% of UK consumers feel very confident about which materials can and cannot be recycled, down from 23% in 2014. A UK retail audit found that more than a third of the packaging components assessed were only partly recyclable or not recyclable at all, and that many labels wrongly told shoppers not to recycle items that could in fact be recycled. In our article on harmonised EU pictograms, we explained how the EU plans to address this confusion with common labelling.

2. Less material, but not at any cost

The second trend is packaging minimisation. Under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, producers pay fees based on the amount and type of packaging they place on the market – in Hungary, MOHU has operated this system since July 2023 – so every gram saved has a price tag. The PPWR also restricts unnecessary empty space and superfluous layers, which hits online retailers particularly hard.

Consumers want this as well. In a US survey, 61% of respondents named minimal packaging as the most valued feature of sustainable brands, and Pro Carton’s European research found unnecessary packaging to be the second most common reason for switching brands. According to the report, the global minimalist packaging market was worth USD 62.6 billion in 2024 and could grow by 6.7% a year until 2034.

The report’s key warning, however, is that lightweighting can backfire. Billerud’s package performance specialist Mikael Nygårds points out that if packaging fails to protect the product, the resulting food and product waste can far outweigh the material saved. That is why he prefers rightweighting – using the right amount of material – over lightweighting. Our piece on the packaging paradox explored the same dilemma.

Sasine illustrates the point with simple arithmetic: a 30% plastic reduction still leaves 70% of plastic that may never have been needed in the first place. Real progress is not about trimming percentages but about deciding which materials are necessary at all.

3. Welcome to the “paperization” era

The third trend is the material shift, which the industry increasingly calls “paperization”. Packaging is the largest use of plastic globally, and according to the report, around 66 million tonnes of plastic leak into the environment every year. Analysis by The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ suggests that packaging-related plastic pollution could be cut by up to 97% by 2040 by eliminating unnecessary plastic, scaling reuse systems and improving collection, sorting and recycling.

British consultant Paul Foulkes-Arellano believes paper and board are starting to win back categories that plastic took decades ago: dry foods, snacks, confectionery, beauty, fresh produce and multipacks. In his words, “recycling will not save the world, moving to fibre will.” The report also cites rapeseed oil sold in a paper bottle and a paper-based can developed for moisture-sensitive products.

Alternative materials – seaweed-based lidding film, biopolymers made from brewery by-products – are exciting, but the report identifies scalability as their biggest weakness: they perform well in the lab, but struggle with industrial speed and consistency. Anna Jonhed argues that moving away from plastic should be practical rather than ideological, using plastic where it genuinely adds value. For the toughest category, multilayer flexible packaging, see our article on the future of crisp packets.

4. When the box carries data

The fourth trend is the digitalisation of packaging. According to GS1 US, 79% of American consumers are more likely to buy products with QR codes that provide additional information. Retail is meanwhile preparing, through the GS1 Sunrise 2027 initiative, to replace traditional barcodes with data-rich 2D codes that can deliver real-time information on origin, recycling, expiry dates and even product recalls.

The report’s examples include Danone, which uses QR codes for location-based recycling guidance, and a South African dairy whose interactive packaging contributed to a 30% increase in sales. Regulation points the same way: the EU Deforestation Regulation and the upcoming Digital Product Passport both demand verifiable sourcing and traceability.

Foulkes-Arellano compares today’s smart packaging to the “early Nokia” stage. Timothy Nordin, Billerud’s Director of Brand and Product Management, highlights an often-forgotten issue: codes are only valuable if they scan reliably in every condition, so printability has become a functional question, not just an aesthetic one. We have also published a detailed analysis of paper-based smart packaging and its limits.

5. Packaging everyone can open

The fifth trend is accessibility, an area that has so far received little attention. Around 1.3 billion people worldwide live with significant disabilities, and by 2030 one in six people will be aged 60 or over. The number of people over 80 is expected to triple to 426 million by 2050. In a UK study, 90% of disabled consumers said packaging design or information affected their purchasing decisions, while only 22% of visually impaired adults think packaging is designed with accessibility in mind.

Since June 2025, the European Accessibility Act has required product information to be understandable and perceivable through more than one sense. Packaging expert Zhanar Baishakova argues that the real challenge is function rather than graphics: easy tear strips, ergonomic handles, stronger contrast. Her idea can be summed up like this: sustainability made the industry rethink materials, and accessibility will make it rethink structures.

Examples in the report include a tactile freshness indicator that shows the product’s actual condition instead of a fixed expiry date – which also reduces food waste – and glow-in-the-dark prescription labels that help patients during power outages.

6. A better experience with less material

The sixth trend reflects the influence of e-commerce and social media. Packaging now competes on screens as well as shelves: by June 2026, #unboxing had generated more than 18.2 million posts on TikTok, and a US survey found that 18% of shoppers are encouraged to share an unboxing specifically by eco-friendly packaging.

According to the report, the “kraft brown and muted green” eco aesthetic is fading: sustainable packaging can be loud, playful and surprising, as long as recyclable, lightweighted materials sit behind it. There is a flip side, though: a crushed, damaged delivery can go just as viral. Baishakova believes the future winners will achieve a premium feel not by adding layers, coatings and inserts, but through smarter structures and better materials.

What sustainable packaging means for everyday shoppers

The report is aimed mainly at packaging professionals, but its lessons are useful in daily life too. Shoppers who want to make better choices can keep a few simple points in mind:

• Mono-material packaging is your friend. Packaging made purely of paper or a single type of plastic is far more likely to be recycled than inseparable multilayer materials.
• “Compostable” does not mean garden compost. Without industrial composting, these materials rarely reach their intended end.
• Less is not always better. If thinner packaging leads to a spoiled or broken product, the environmental balance gets worse.
• QR codes reveal more and more. It is worth scanning them: many producers now explain there which bin the packaging belongs in.

According to Pro Carton, 37% of European consumers have switched brands because of packaging concerns, and more than half of them cited non-recyclable packaging as the main reason. Across all consumers, that is roughly one shopper in five – we presented the detailed results in our article on packaging and brand loyalty. Our choices really do matter.

Editor’s note: whose lens is this?

It is worth remembering that this report was published by a fibre-based packaging producer, so it naturally emphasises the advantages of paper and board, and each chapter closes with a presentation of the company’s own products. That does not make its claims false – much of the cited data comes from independent surveys – but messages such as “moving to fibre will save the world” deserve a healthy dose of professional scepticism.

Paper is a resource too: it takes wood, water and energy, and protection against moisture, grease or oxygen often requires coatings that can reduce recyclability. Where possible, the best packaging is still the one that is reusable, or the one that is never created at all. The report’s most valuable insight is exactly what its own experts stress: there is no universal miracle material, only well-designed solutions adapted to local systems.

---

FAQ about sustainable packaging

What is Billerud’s Packaging Tomorrow 2026 report?

Packaging Tomorrow 2026 is a trend report by Swedish packaging materials producer Billerud that outlines six developments shaping the future of sustainable packaging. It is based on interviews with industry experts and Billerud specialists, as well as international consumer surveys. Its main message is that companies must now shift their focus from setting targets to practical implementation.

Which six trends does the report identify?

The report’s six trends are real-world circularity, packaging minimisation, the rise of fibre-based materials, packaging as a digital platform, accessibility and experience-driven packaging. Each of them starts from the same principle: solutions must work within the actual collection, transport and recycling systems they move through, not just in theory or in laboratory conditions.

What is the difference between lightweighting and rightweighting?

Lightweighting means reducing the amount of packaging material, while rightweighting means finding the right amount. According to Billerud’s expert, if packaging is thinned so much that it fails to protect the product, the resulting food and product waste can cause more environmental harm than the material savings achieved. The goal is therefore to balance performance with material efficiency.

Why is it not enough for packaging to be recyclable?

Because theoretical recyclability is worthless without the infrastructure to collect and process the material. The report’s experts argue that packaging must be designed for the real systems it passes through. The same applies to compostable materials: without industrial composting, they end up incinerated, landfilled or contaminating separate collection streams.

What does the PPWR mean for packaging?

The PPWR is the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which has generally applied since 12 August 2026. It requires packaging to be designed for recycling from 2030 and to be recyclable at scale from 2035. It also introduces requirements on recycled content, packaging minimisation and reuse, making packaging design a compliance issue for every company.

What should shoppers look for in sustainable packaging?

Shoppers should favour mono-material packaging, such as pure paper, because it is far more likely to be recycled. A “compostable” label does not mean the item belongs in a garden compost heap. Thinner packaging is not always better if the product gets damaged, and QR codes increasingly explain which bin the packaging should go in.

---

Sources:

Billerud – Packaging Tomorrow 2026 trend report; Billerud press release, 17 September 2026