Cryovac recyclable shrink bags protect packaged meat products, featuring beef cuts alongside Cryovac and Sealed Air branding.
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Dow and Oji target East Asia’s demand for convenient food packaging

Driven by East Asia’s convenience store and street-food culture, the packaging industry is tapping into eco-friendly snack packaging technologies to meet regional demand for ready-to-eat and hot processed foods.  At the Highly-Functional Material Week Tokyo 2026 in Japan, Dow showcased its Syl-Off Em 7978 Coating, a platinum-catalyzed silicone release solution tailored for food and bakery packaging. The water-based release coating system is said to provide “strong performance.” 
Person places a label
Packaging labels evolve amid regulatory and recycling demands
Just like other components of packaging, labels are undergoing significant changes as evolving regulations, recycling requirements, and digital technologies reshape their design and functionality.  Packaging Insights explores the latest trends and developments in labeling alongside On Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) and Securikett, which discuss the impact of regulations, as well as with Wyda Packaging USA, which highlights the importance of communicating sustainability factors, such as recyclability, to consumers and brands.
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FSSC warns packaging reduction can drive food waste if protection fails
Material reduction innovations are growing across the F&B industry as regulations and sustainability targets attempt to reduce packaging waste. However, Antoinette Maake, technical officer at Foundation FSSC, warns that only when essential food-protection and usability functions remain “fully effective,” can material reduction contribute to environmental benefits.  Foundation FSSC (Food Safety System Certification) is an independent non-profit organization based in the Netherlands that manages the FSSC 22000 Scheme for food safety certification.
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Freezer-friendly formats
Innova Market Insights data indicates that packaging for frozen F&B launches is evolving across materials, formats, and sustainability claims. Europe leads frozen launches at 36%, followed by Asia at 27%. Plastic remains the leading material at 69%, while paper is gaining momentum with a 4% CAGR from October 2021 to September 2026.
ATS-Tanner banding machine applying a paper band to a product
Rethinking packaging: How banding can reduce materials, improve processes and prepare businesses for PPWR.
Discover how banding can reduce packaging material, simplify processes and support your PPWR strategy. This practical ATS-Tanner technical paper explores applications, material selection, automation and total costs. Use its practical questions and evaluation checklist to assess whether banding suits your products and helps you achieve your packaging and long-term business goals.This Technical Paper is brought to you by ATS-Tanner.
Man holding a printed food container at the Engineered Printing Solutions trade show booth, showcasing XD-AQ inkjet printing technology.
Pack Expo 2026: Engineered Printing Solutions launches ink for molded fiber packaging

Engineered Printing Solutions (EPS) unveiled a high-viscosity water-based inkjet ink for molded fiber packaging at Pack Expo 2026. It is designed to deliver high-quality printing at production speeds, according to executive chairman Ken Stack.  He discusses the shift toward digital printing amid regulatory changes.

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Yangi advances fiber-based packaging with snap-fit closure technology
hand holding coffee cup in cafe
Yangi has introduced an undercut feature for its Cellera industrial dry-forming range of quick-service restaurant (QSR) applications that aims to ease use and handling for consumers.   Undercuts are commonly used for snap-fit connections and secure closures to connect containers and lids. They have historically been hard to incorporate into fiber-based solutions due to material properties. 
Nivea, ExxonMobil and partners develop 22% PCR PE shrink film
Hands hold two shower gel bottles
ExxonMobil Signature Polymers, Nivea, Green Worms, and Vardhaman Polypacks have developed a 22% post-consumer recycled (PCR) PE collation shrink film for Nivea skin care packs, such as body lotion bottles and tubs. The solution is said to balance machine direction and transverse direction shrinkage, compared to a reference film where transverse direction was “very high.” 
Sonoco invests $40M to modernize US recycled paperboard facility
Sonoco's paper mill
Sonoco Products Company has set out to invest US$40 million over the next two years in the modernization and expansion of its uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) facility in Richmond, Virginia, US.  The company, which describes itself as the largest producer of URB in North America, says the move reinforces its commitment to “operational excellence, product innovation, and long-term growth.”  
CalRecycle lowers SB 54 plastic baseline as researchers flag reduction risks
Asian American woman buying sliced ​​fruit on the street. side view lady shopping in the supermarket. authentic lifestyle.
CalRecycle has published the source reduction baseline number under SB 54, which determines the amount of single-use plastic packaging that producers will have to cut under EPR rules in California, US. The figure has previously divided industry, government, and researchers, who have each suggested different approaches to calculate the number. Packaging Insights speaks to researchers at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), US, to find out more about the updated figures and their implications for the state's plastic reduction targets.
Pack Expo 2026: US EPR patchwork pushes packaging industry toward redesign
Packaging experts design for EPR
The US packaging industry is entering a period of significant regulatory change, highlighted industry experts at Pack Expo 2026 in Chicago. More states are expected to introduce packaging EPR legislation in the coming year, but the lack of a unified federal framework means the industry will continue to navigate different requirements and approaches.  At the event, LyondellBasell (LYB), Mondi, Plastic Ingenuity, Pregis, and Shurtape told Packaging Insights that this uncertainty is making long-term investment decisions more difficult for packagers and brand owners. The experts also point to packaging EPRs as a source of innovation in materials, lightweighting, and design. 
Reformulated but still “ultra-processed”? Inside the UPF classification dilemma
Pregnant woman carefully checking the nutrition label on a packaged food product while grocery shopping in a supermarket.

Food Ingredients First

F&B manufacturers are reducing sugar or sodium levels in products to improve their nutritional profiles, but that does not necessarily mean the process of reformulation will lead to a change in classification. Reformulating out of the “ultra-processed” (UPF) category is complicated, partly because there is no universally accepted understanding of what “ultra-processed” actually means. Moreover, different frameworks can classify the same food differently.
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Packaging experts design for EPR
Packaging & Technology News
Pack Expo 2026: US EPR patchwork pushes packaging industry...
The US packaging industry is entering a period of significant regulatory change, highlighted industry experts at Pack Expo 2026 in Chicago. More states are expected to introduce packaging EPR legislation in the coming year, but the lack of a unified federal framework means the industry will continue to navigate different requirements and approaches.  At the event, LyondellBasell (LYB), Mondi, Plastic Ingenuity, Pregis, and Shurtape told Packaging Insights that this uncertainty is making long-term investment decisions more difficult for packagers and brand owners. The experts also point to packaging EPRs as a source of innovation in materials, lightweighting, and design. 
ATS-Tanner banding machine applying a paper band to a product
Technical paper
Rethinking packaging: How banding can reduce materials,...
Discover how banding can reduce packaging material, simplify processes and support your PPWR strategy. This practical ATS-Tanner technical paper explores applications, material selection, automation and total costs. Use its practical questions and evaluation checklist to assess whether banding suits your products and helps you achieve your packaging and long-term business goals.This Technical Paper is brought to you by ATS-Tanner.
October in review
Packaging & Technology News
October in review: Pack Expo & Material Week Tokyo reflect...
This month, Packaging Insights attended two major industry trade shows: Pack Expo 2026 in Chicago, US (Oct 18–21), and Highly-Functional Material Week Tokyo 2026 in Japan (Sep 30–Oct 2). While automation and convenient formats emerged as significant topics at Pack Expo 2026, and plastic innovation stood out as a key development at Material Week Tokyo 2026, both events highlighted how global packaging regulations are impacting the industry and driving material optimization. 

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Trends in AI use for packaging manufacturingOct2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates that more manufacturers are launching products in new packaging formats. The growing number of formats, materials, and sustainability requirements is creating mor...

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Sustainable label trends Nov 2026

According to Innova Market Insights data, 70% of consumers globally believe sustainability challenges require immediate action, and 36% think it is very important to address these issues in F&B product packaging. Brands are responding with a wider range of packaging claims, including compostable, recyclable, plant-based, bio-based, and recycled content.

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Freezer-friendly formatsNov 2026

Innova Market Insights data indicates that packaging for frozen F&B launches is evolving across materials, formats, and sustainability claims. Europe leads frozen launches at 36%, followed by Asia at 27%. Plastic remains the leading material at 69%, while paper is gaining momentum with a 4% CAGR from October 2021 to September 2026.

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Man holding a printed food container at the Engineered Printing Solutions trade show booth, showcasing XD-AQ inkjet printing technology.
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Pack Expo 2026: Engineered Printing Solutions launches ink for molded fiber packaging

Engineered Printing Solutions (EPS) unveiled a high-viscosity water-based inkjet ink for molded fiber packaging at Pack Expo 2026. It is designed to deliver high-quality printing at production speeds, according to executive chairman Ken Stack.  He discusses the shift toward digital printing amid...

PackExpo 2026 Graphic Packaging International video thumbnail: Representative smiling at a trade show, alongside attendees networking at a packaging exhibition booth
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Pack Expo 2026: Graphic Packaging presents paper solutions for EPR compliance
SACMI exhibition stand showcasing industrial packaging machinery, with a man in a blue suit and red tie featured in a circular inset.
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Pack Expo 2026: Sacmi Packaging & Chocolate USA CEO talks flowpack automation
Pack Expo 2026 Leibinger Group video thumbnail: Smiling man in glasses and a grey blazer pictured alongside the Leibinger 2D JET industrial inkjet printer with touchscreen display.
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Pack Expo 2026: Leibinger CCO spotlights GS1 Sunrise coding solution
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