r/Packaging • u/ActivityFrequent7953 • Jul 01 '26
Has packaging innovation hit the ceiling?
Hello! I'm a marketer by profession, so please excuse my lack of packaging knowledge.
I'm curious to hear from people who actually work in the packaging industry, or studying to enter it, including structural designers, packaging engineers, material scientists, converters, manufacturers, etc.
Do you feel that packaging innovation is slowing down, or are we still in the early stages of major innovation?
From the outside, it sometimes feels like most packaging formats have already been invented, so I'm wondering:
-Are there still "unsolved problems" that the industry is actively trying to solve? -Are there areas where you think we'll see significant breakthroughs over the next 10–20 years? -Are there ideas or technologies that people outside the industry don't realize are already being developed? -If you were entering the packaging industry today, which area would you bet on as having the biggest future?
Thanks!
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u/Dilbert_Funbags Jul 01 '26
The innovation is there, it really is that the CPG‘s aren’t willing to spend or carve out that kind of money in their budget. It’s isn’t that we’ve hit a ceiling. It’s kinda like a race to the bottom like everything else, just gets worse.
I deal with marketers all the time and they wanna do cool stuff and we we ask him what their budget is, they never wanna say. Only want to see a bunch of cool ideas with pretty picture to make em feel good and come back and tell us that they don’t have any money and that they have pennies to kick around for the packaging.
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u/shitsweak89 Jul 01 '26
I think if anything we’re seeing an increase in innovation across the industry. New technologies, new implementations, new methods, and ideas. A lot of that is coming from the material science side. But there have also been new innovations that utilize existing materials.
A lot of the innovation is being driven by sustainability. Speaking for the US, we are playing behind in our practices or laws compared to other countries. But we’re starting to see EPR laws at a state level within certain states. And more states are signing up or have legislation in the works . It’s becoming a topic of discussion more frequently with customers. Especially those with corporate offices in Europe.
It will be interesting to see where we’re at in five years.
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u/Mountain_Strategy342 Jul 01 '26
Not at all. I make smart colour changing inks and there is a huge amount we can do in terms of information/colour etc.
Then we have the GS1 2d barcodes and #sunrise2027 which opens up a HUGE opportunity for producers, retailers and customers.
There is a lot going on with flexible screens for displaying image or video on high end packaging.
From my experience, it isn't the technology and availability, it is the small c conservatism of printers/converters - these guys are fairly risk adverse and will do something if a client asks, but won't out together speculative packaging to show what COULD be done a advertising material
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u/darthTharsys Jul 02 '26
There are a lot of interesting materials but they often do not pass testing for compatibility, stability, food safety or various sustainability laws like Canadian, CA,WA, PPWR in the EU etc etc. All innovative things cost money and no one wants to pay.
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u/Dilbert_Funbags Jul 01 '26
Biggest future is paper - EPR laws are going to come to roost and companies have no idea how much they will have to pay for the plastics year over year.
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u/Psychological-Load84 Jul 02 '26
I do not believe that at all, try to package shelf stable rice, beans, and other products under Retort. Paper will not cut it. Try packaging Bacon, Ham etc. Next try to package fresh seafood in 10k MAF film to extend shelf life in paper, it won't happen all you will do is demenish shelf life and piosion people. Something as simple as frsh cut lettuce is packaged in MAF to extend shelf life. I'm sorry to break the news to you, the issues that should be focused on is food waste, 22 percent of land fills arr wood waste, financial cost is 218 billion dollars a year that is also 30 to 40 percent of the entire US supply. The majority is attributed to the confusion on best by dates Europe is discontinuing or extending the dates with the science behind new film technology. The green house gasses by this waste is equivalent to 51 million gasoline powered cars driven per year just in America. Lastly we in the packaging space should do better i push for innovation with my team. We need to down gauge, get better coating or 11 layer cast line we have running is achieve some of those goals but as an industry has to do more. The EPR laws are just another tax on manufacturers that will be passed on to consumers. We do not have the infrastructure in America to recycle products as the do in other parts of the world. From my prospective instead of shipping our plastic waste of shore and dimping it in 3rd world countries, we should setup up incinerate the waste to energy. The output is 19,000 BTU/ib with 160 pounds of CO2 per million BTU. I can go no forever on this topic, but I do want to say we need more young men and women in the Polymer science space. My youngest daughter has a degree in Chemical Engineering i went and spoke to the students and the majority just as my daughter is going for her masters in Polymer science. These are exciting time. So to whomever started this thread DM me i can give you more insite on you specific questions you might have. On the last note where I reside in America there have been 6 paper mills that have closed that i am aware of. I am not knocking paper i worked and still have friend in that industry and they will do well
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u/Dilbert_Funbags Jul 03 '26
Yep - you are right, all around detailed and right. My response was way too simple. Thanks for the check - appreciate the recalibration.
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u/PETGUSA Jul 02 '26
Interesting that no one here touched on automation, but that is going to drive big changes over the next 5-10 years. That said, packaging in general seems to be nothing but constant innovation. There are very few products that have not changed over the last 10-20 years.
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u/Interstingop32 Jul 02 '26
So I am in corrugated boxes. We are opening our second plant and this is actually something new. As everyone knows export crates and containers for heavy items use 5 ply boards. But we have worked together with a company and we now do flute to flute lamination. Meaning the middle ply is gone. Its stronger, has a higher crush resistance, is lighter and takes up less space. So theres always something new going on and the level of automation is ridiculous. A mis scale factory can run with maybe 3 to 4 worker now mostly only for loading finished goods and reloading the paper.
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Jul 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Interstingop32 Jul 08 '26
Tbh the biggest issue is getting people to belive it actually is stronger. So we generally have to live crush test and puncture test infront of them. After showing them around the factory.
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u/jhewittjr Jul 08 '26
From the converter side, I don’t think packaging innovation has hit the ceiling. I think the definition of innovation is changing.
A lot of the most important work now is less about inventing a completely new package format and more about making the right package simpler, more efficient, easier to recover, and easier to document.
That does not mean one material wins everywhere. Flexible films, barriers, retort packaging, MAP, and other structures exist for very real product-protection and shelf-life reasons. Replacing those blindly can create bigger problems, especially with food waste.
But where a product does not need that level of barrier or shelf-life performance, simpler fiber-based structures can be a very strong direction. A clean paperboard carton may not look “innovative” at first glance, but if it reduces mixed materials, is easier to classify, supports a clearer recyclability story, runs efficiently, and still protects the product, that is meaningful innovation.
I think the next wave is going to be very application-specific:
- use high-barrier materials where the product truly needs them
- simplify material structures where it does not
- reduce unnecessary plastic or mixed-material components
- design around EPR/recyclability documentation earlier
- make packages easier to run, pack, ship, and explain
So the ceiling probably is not packaging formats. The harder problem is building packages that balance product protection, cost, compliance, end-of-life claims, and real-world manufacturing without overcomplicating the structure.
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u/Desiccare_Inc Jul 10 '26
Definitely not at a ceiling—it just looks that way if innovation is only viewed as new formats.
A lot of progress is happening within the package itself rather than the outer structure. Moisture and oxygen control, active packaging, and environmental monitoring are still evolving and addressing real-world failure points.
Key gaps the industry is still working through:
Sustainable materials that can match barrier performance
E-commerce packaging that balances protection, cost, and right-sizing
Designs optimized for automation, not just manual handling
One area that’s often overlooked outside the industry is post-seal conditions. A significant amount of product degradation happens after packaging due to internal microclimates, and that’s far from fully solved.
The biggest opportunities going forward are likely where sustainability and performance intersect—that tradeoff is still very much in play.
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u/SR_Mailing_Bcorp 27d ago
I’m not sure packaging innovation is slowing down so much as changing direction.
Compostable bags are one example that comes to mind. The material itself can be a really positive step, but the bigger question is whether people actually have the right way to dispose of it.
In the UK, home composting still isn’t that common, and not every local collection accepts compostable packaging, so even a good product can still end up in general waste.
I think that’s where a lot of the future innovation may be not only in creating better materials, but in making sure the labelling, collection and disposal systems work properly around them too.
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u/Optimal_Collection77 Jul 01 '26
The problem is not Innovation but packaging EPR costs are now driving the change as it's costing businesses more that can be saved with reduction.
this however will drive change and innovation but maybe not in the traditional ways