The Latest

  • Puzzle pieces with packaging
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    Photo illustration: Shaun Lucas/Industry Dive; Getty Images

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    Tracking packaging mergers and acquisitions in 2025

    Pactiv Evergreen sold a North Carolina mill, Berlin Packaging completed its purchase of Rixius, Novvia Group entered an agreement to acquire Saxco International and many other companies also announced deals.

    Updated Jan. 14, 2025
  • Example of proposed FDA front-of-pack nutrition label
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    Courtesy of U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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    FDA formally proposes front-of-pack nutrition labels

    This could force food manufacturers to update their packaging in the coming years. The agency says the goal with a new nutrition info box is to combat chronic diseases.

  • A sign outside a building says Packaging Corporation of America.
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    JHVEPhoto via Getty Images
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    PCA to close Georgia corrugated plant, affecting 103 people

    Packaging Corporation of America determined it could better serve customers by moving the Atlanta-area full-line plant’s capacity to other locations, according to a spokesperson.

  • rolls of cardboard
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    lucop via Getty Images
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    5 packaging industry trends to watch in 2025

    Donald Trump’s return to the White House, evolving conditions for M&A, more mature state policy negotiations and a reckoning around 2025 plastics reduction targets are some of the factors poised to affect the industry.

  • Two orange robot arms handle food packages on a conference floor.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Deep Dive

    E-commerce packaging shows why it’s hip to be square

    Squared-off designs often are better for densification, or waging the “war on air,” according to sources from Smurfit Westrock, Paccurate and others. Geometry grows more important as robots and SIOC proliferate.

  • O-I glass bottles on the hot end of a line.
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    Courtesy of O-I Glass
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    O-I Glass secures DOE funding as it begins Ohio decarbonization project

    The company will bring together energy efficiency technologies to upgrade furnace infrastructure, aiming to reduce carbon intensity by as much as 40%.

  • closeup of tops of glass bottles lined up in a crate
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    Ratchapon Supprasert via Getty Images
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    Alcohol regulators unlock new market opportunity for glass bottles

    Changes to a dated rule this week mean certain alcoholic beverages sold in cans now have the option to be packaged in glass.

  • Side-by-side comparisons of Daily Harvests old and new packaging for its frozen foods.
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    Permission granted by Daily Harvest
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    Packaging innovations: Daily Harvest revamps for retail, Töst cans it

    The companies explain the consumer-focused factors that prompted them to switch up their food and beverage packaging.

  • A person's hand points at a bale of plastic packaging collected for recycling
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    Natalie Behring via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Life cycle assessments loom large for the outcome of EPR programs

    Oregon is currently unique among U.S. states in using this environmental impact tool in its packaging regulation. Experts say the decision comes with many complex considerations, including about plastic.

  • The exterior of an industrial building with Huhtamaki's logo on the side.
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    The image by Jiří Sedláček is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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    Huhtamaki names new CEO

    Ralf Wunderlich will take over the position this month. He has decades of experience at packaging companies.

  • A pile of mixed recyclables of different materials, including bottles and containers
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    Solnuha via Getty Images
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    EPR for packaging laws: Dates to know

    Keep track of milestones slated for 2025 and beyond in California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota and Oregon, and catch up on recent developments in those and other states.

  • Blue and yellow flags bearing the European Commission logo fly in front of a building.
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    Carl Court via Getty Images
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    Acquisition of DS Smith

    International Paper agrees to European concessions for DS Smith deal

    IP’s limited footprint overlap with DS Smith previously led analysts to anticipate few or no antitrust concerns. But recent deals might have prompted regulators to alter their views of market concentration, according to The Freedonia Group.

  • Sonoco EnviroFlex pouch
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    Courtesy of Sonoco
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    Sonoco shakes up finance leadership amid business reorganization

    CFO Rob Dillard and VP of Investor Relations Lisa Weeks are leaving the company. Also on Monday, CEO Howard Coker described Sonoco’s decision to combine its converted paper products and paper businesses in North America.

  • Jeff Fielkow, CEO of Circular Action Alliance, sits and speaks on the SPC Advance stage to the left of Paul Nowak, executive director of GreenBlue
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive/Packaging Dive
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    Q&A

    Circular Action Alliance CEO details 2025 priorities

    Months into the job, Jeff Fielkow discussed the fast-growing producer responsibility organization’s focus areas, as well as the importance of needs assessments and harmonization.

  • Hotel toiletries in small bottles.
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    HowardOates via Getty Images
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    Packaging laws taking effect in 2025

    Expect to see changes in some states at hotels, restaurants and grocery stores, including restrictions to single-use plastic bottles, foam takeout containers, PFAS in packaging and more.

  • A view of vendor displays on the show floor at Pack Expo East at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on March 20, 2024.
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive
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    Packaging trade shows to watch in 2025

    Mark your calendar: These U.S. conferences and events will cover timely trends in sustainable packaging design, recycling technologies, regional market trends, substrate evolutions, automation and more.

    Updated Jan. 3, 2025
  • hands hold two stacked foam food service containers
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    CHAIWATPHOTOS via Getty Images
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    CalRecycle releases source reduction baseline report; updates on foam enforcement

    In other SB 54 developments, CalRecycle also updated some recyclability and compostability designations on the covered material categories list.

  • Flexible plastic packaging pouches
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    Romeo Gacad via Getty Images
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    US Plastics Pact charts incremental progress, signals new opportunities

    USPP’s newly released annual report points to reuse and compostability as future opportunities. CEO Jonathan Quinn describes an organizational “evolution” that resulted in changes to this year’s report.

  • The Toppan Holdings headquarters in Tokyo.
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    "Toppan Building" by Guilhem Vellut is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Toppan to buy Sonoco’s thermoformed and flexibles business for $1.8B

    The transaction accelerates Sonoco’s portfolio simplification during a year of change for the company. Toppan first expanded into the U.S. from Japan with a film production facility in Georgia.

  • person bends over and picks up a stack of packages from a porch step
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    SDI Productions via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    2024 packaging trends by the numbers

    These are some of the stats illustrating key storylines this year in policy and regulation, M&A activity, manufacturing, pricing, recycling, sustainability goals and more.

  • Close-up of brown corrugated packaging
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    Lisa Beeby via Getty Images
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    2024’s biggest packaging acquisition news

    The year saw multibillion-dollar deal announcements involving Smurfit Westrock, International Paper, DS Smith, Amcor, Berry Global, Sonoco, Ball and more.

    Updated Dec. 17, 2024
  • A screenshot of a YouTube video showing KFC's paper bucket lid that doubles as a record.
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    Screenshot: KFC/YouTube

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    Packaging innovations: KFC’s record-making lid, Greif’s mod containers

    Plus, Ahlstrom launches paper tape and American Packaging Corp. adds a fiber-based material solution for pouches.

  • The EPA sign is pictured with the building in the background.
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    EPA to formally review vinyl chloride risks, may evaluate styrene

    Regulators will consider whether high-priority chemicals, including a building block of PVC, present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

  • Three people in suits and ties sit in chairs at a Congressional event
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Federal budget proposal with $136M in recycling and composting bills stalls

    The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act and Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act were initially part of a deal to fund the federal government, but that plan has since been scrapped.

    Updated Dec. 20, 2024
  • Two workers in yellow hard hats stand over a conveyor belt full of recyclable materials, primarily plastics, in an industrial facility
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    Natalie Behring via Getty Images
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    What’s next now that Oregon has adopted final EPR for packaging rules

    Finalized rules include new permitting and living wage requirements for MRFs, as well as new fees the PRO will be expected to pay certain recyclers.