Innova Market Insights Releases 2024 Packaging Trends: Digital Circularity Leads as Regulations Reshape the Industry

Innova Market Insights has unveiled its 2024 packaging trends, placing Digital Circularity at the top. Pending regulations—most notably the UN Global Plastics Treaty and the revised EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD)—are set to raise expectations for responsible waste management. To scale circular economy solutions, the packaging sector is expected to lean more heavily on digital technologies.

Maximising the Minimum ranks second, driven by producers seeking material reduction and lightweighting to cut environmental footprints, especially in e-commerce. The third trend is a fast food clean-up prompted by new rules, which will sharpen the reusable-versus-single-use debate.

As lawmakers crack down on widespread greenwashing, Honest Packaging takes fourth place and stands to gain from tighter regulation. The global market researcher sums up this year’s trends with Breaking the Barrier, as paper packaging makers unlock fresh food growth through plastic-free barrier innovation.

Trend One: Digital Circularity

With QR codes, NFC and digital watermarks surging, industry players will use digitalisation to improve environmental performance, automate supply chains and avoid greenwashing lawsuits. Artificial intelligence systems and machine learning also enter the picture.

New laws such as the revised PPWD mean stakeholders need the best available, verifiable data to back their claims and meet circularity targets. The industry is now focused on cutting-edge technology for material traceability and legal compliance. SaaS platforms can capture and verify such data.

Companies will also deploy new technology to encourage responsible consumer behaviour. Researchers in China found that adding green nudges to food service apps can substantially cut packaging consumption.

QR codes and NFC have moved beyond brand-to-consumer engagement—they now help steer positive consumer behaviour and improve packaging circularity. With consumer scrutiny rising and regulatory changes approaching, companies are capitalising on advances in sorting and recycling technology.

Consumer surveys show that more than two-thirds (77%) of global consumers engage with connected packaging at least occasionally, while over a quarter (27%) cite sustainability information such as carbon footprint as a key reason for their engagement.

Data indicates that from 2019 to 2023, the number of food service products worldwide with QR codes on packaging rose at a 19% compound annual growth rate.

Trend Two: Maximising the Minimum

Whether producers aim to improve their environmental footprint or simply use less material, reduction is a proven route. Data shows that from 2019 to 2023, global packaged food and beverage products recorded a 41% compound annual growth rate in reduced packaging claims.

Consumers are responding: according to the survey, almost one-third (29%) of global consumers say that using less packaging material would positively influence their product choices.

Advocates of plastic packaging often highlight its ability to cut transport-related emissions compared with glass and metal. Some companies are innovating in lightweight solutions to achieve carbon reduction, while the tethered caps directive aims to minimise plastic waste accumulating in landfill.

As brands pursue carbon reduction, lightweighting initiatives across material types will multiply this year, including infinitely recyclable glass and metal. OI Glass, for example, launched a 390-gram wine bottle for the French market, reducing weight by 25%.

The push to reduce or eliminate plastic matters greatly in e-commerce, where weight and related carbon emissions are at stake. Amazon recently modified automated machinery at a US plant to produce 100% paper packaging, removing the plastic liner without compromising weight or durability.

China’s government is also cracking down on excessive e-commerce packaging. In the European beverage market, caps must be tethered to bottles from July this year under the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive. Meanwhile, label-free designs such as Coca-Cola’s label-free Sprite bottles in the UK support material reduction efforts.

Trend Three: Fast Food Clean-Up

Quick service restaurant (QSR) packaging will change significantly this year, especially in Europe. Because the sector relies on single-use formats, it faces unique challenges; the potential of reusable materials to reduce ecological impact remains controversial. Surveys indicate that 40% of consumers increased their use of reusable packaging in 2023.

The PPWD’s push for reusable solutions could inspire innovation in reusable glass bottles, similar to eco tote bags.

Some critics, however, argue that ambitious targets overlook higher energy and water use, which may outweigh any benefits. They may also create bottlenecks for recycling targets. Some companies are already trialling reusable formats.

Last year, Visa and Uber helped food service businesses move to less disruptive packaging formats. Starbucks and Hubbub launched reuse projects to incentivise businesses to adopt the model.

A study commissioned by McDonald’s predicts that a mandatory reuse target for 2030 could increase plastic packaging waste from dine-in consumption by 300% and from takeaway consumption by 1,500%.

Even so, food service products using reusable packaging continue to advance, with an 18% compound annual growth rate between 2019 and 2023. 38% of global consumers say they would pay more for reusable packaging than for conventional packaging.

Trend Four: Honest Packaging

Green action is accelerating, and every company needs to prepare. Major players including Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestlé have already faced legal proceedings in the EU over misleading claims.

Consumers are increasingly sceptical of packaging claims. Nearly half (46%) of consumers worldwide view environmental information on packaging as misleading, and 100% recyclable claims are misleading in most cases.

As allegations grow, so does the threat of litigation. The European Parliament recently approved a new directive that bans greenwashing and deceptive product information to protect consumers.

Lawmakers said companies can no longer deceive people. In addition, the UN Global Plastics Treaty will hold its final round of negotiations later this year to determine how the packaging industry uses and markets plastic products.

As artificial intelligence spreads across the industry, experts warn that a new form of deception, AI washing, could gain ground this year.

Trend Five: Breaking the Barrier

Barrier coatings are now a focus in nearly every field. Notably, the shift from plastic to fibre-based solutions creates the challenge of replicating grease and moisture protection, as well as shelf life, without plastic.

Adding plastic film, however, has become a standard way to enhance the poor oxygen and water vapour barrier performance of materials such as paper and paperboard.

Innovations in functional oxygen-barrier films now match conventional plastic performance, signalling a continued move toward paper-based solutions, reduced plastic reliance and better recycling efficiency. Most companies still use some form of fossil plastic to coat paper packaging.

Companies are nevertheless investing in bio-based barrier layers to eliminate plastic and open new applications. Aquapak’s functional oxygen barrier film, for instance, can replace ethylene vinyl alcohol—the most widely used plastic barrier layer—as part of a multilayer structure.

Nearly one-third (27%) of global consumers say extended shelf life influences their purchasing decisions, second only to ease of storage (34%). Coatings are also an issue in the metal packaging market, where conventional barriers are linked to health concerns.

Source: This article is reprinted from the China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-379639.html.