The Sustainability Awards 2026 are under way! Ten years on from the launch of the world’s most prestigious sustainable packaging competition, our expanded jury of 63 international experts has announced this year’s finalists in a new-and-improved range of categories.
A total of 352 applicants entered the competition this year – just seven entries shy of the highest number on record – but only 48 have been shortlisted for the chance to take home a coveted crystal trophy.
To mark a decade since the Sustainability Awards first launched in 2016, the submission categories have been revised to more accurately reflect the progress and values of the modern packaging industry. New additions to the lineup include Reuse, Digital Transformation and Circular Plastics, right alongside the classic Renewables, Climate, and Driving the Circular Economy categories.
“We have reduced the number of categories for general submissions to ten,” explains Tim Sykes, brand director at Packaging Europe, “which makes it even harder than before to be shortlisted for a prize in the world’s most competitive packaging sustainability competition, especially as entries continue to grow.
“However, the changes were mainly designed to better curate the snapshot of what’s happening in innovation, replacing some more abstract categories that focused on impact with new ones that specified important areas of innovation.
“We have also introduced two categories for startups which already have seed funding, as these are an increasingly important dynamo introducing new technology and materials to the market, as well as introducing the Research & Development category for early-stage innovation.”
The geographical range of entrants becomes more diverse every year, and this cohort is no exception. With Zafree Papers making history last year as the first Overall Winner from Africa, the jury is pleased to announce two more finalists from South Africa in 2026. Joining them are innovations from China, Indonesia, Singapore, Argentina and Australia, as well as Europe and North America.
Among the notable themes in this year’s finalists are artificial intelligence, used in this case to identify, sort, and recycle substrates; and improvements in food packaging, from biopolymer coatings to reusable transit packs. Other developments include industry coalitions, high-barrier technologies, and biobased materials and inks.
Once again, the winners will be announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit, taking place at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on 10th – 12th November. Click here to purchase a ticket to the event; admission to the Sustainability Awards ceremony and networking party is included in the price.
With no further ado, here are this year’s contenders for the “Nobel Prize” of sustainable packaging innovations, the Sustainability Awards.
Commercialized Products
Circular Plastics
- CYPET Technologies – 1000-litre PET water tank
- Prevented Ocean Plastic – Food-safe rPP
- Plastipak – O2Blox nylon-free PET oxygen barrier technology
- Evonik Operations – TEGO Res 1100 co-binder for solvent-borne packaging inks
Climate
- Constantia Flexibles – ComforLid with low carbon aluminium
- Bockatech and Vestacy – EcoCore cap for Air Wick air freshener refill
- Sealed Air’s CRYOVAC – FlexPrep portion dispensing system
- Interpac – Interpac 1250 cold corrugator
- H.B. Fuller – Swifttak PM 4400 enabling cold corrugation production
Digital Transformation
- QuantiPackAI – Data-driven packaging optimization platform
- EcoSource – EcoSource Packaging Intelligence decision support platform
- Specright and Lorax – Integrated platform for sustainability reporting at scale
- CLUBZERØ – National deposit return system for digital DRS
- Resycure – QI suite for controlling and optimizing PCR
Driving the Circular Economy
- Innovia Films – Food-safe rPP
- SealGlobal.Co – KandyKote Chappies gum wrapper for Mondelēz
- Xampla and Huhtamaki – Plastic-free Morro coating for folded cartonboard
- Novamont – Ovenable paperboard ready-meal tray with Mater-Bi coating
- STEINERT – STEINERT AI enabling food-grade tray recycling at Cirrec
Renewables
- Mondi – Ad/Vantage smooth brown semi extensible kraft paper
- PAPACKS – Fiber Box moulded fibre transport packaging for chilled seafood
- Heliograf and Vert Design – Holy Carp home-compostable soy sauce fish
- Mpact Corrugated – Paper-based pallet column locks
- UPM – UPM Circular Renewable Black bio-based, NIR-detectable black pigment
Reuse
- Xipa – Double Circular reusable 1kg ice cream container
- Sykell – EINFACH MEHRWEG Prefill
- Bockatech and partners – Pioneering reuse schemes using EcoCore cups
- KIUD and Telia – Reusable packaging for telecom logistics
- Sulapac and Hesburger – Sulapac Solid 2.0 biobased, dishwasher-proof material for reusables
Categories for start-ups with seed funding
Start-Up – New Materials
- Living Ink Technologies and 100+ Accelerator – Biobased black pigments and inks
- Nfinite Nanotechnology and Amcor – High-barrier paper for flexible packaging
- Z1RO Europe – Moulded fibre made from fallen leaves and bamboo
- Thermapet Technologies – PET with –40°C to 220°C heat-stability range
- Kelpi – Seaweed-based recyclable and biodegradable high-barrier coating
Start-Up – New Systems
- Antfarm – AI-powered autonomous waste sorting system
- COtooClean and Coveris – Decontamination technology for flexibles
- Vioneo – Fossil-free PP and PP at scale
- KWiiD – Swift and strong reusable boxes
Thinking Big category – for broad initiatives
- Colgate-Palmolive and Erthos – AI-enabled sustainable packaging with biomaterials
- Polytag – Ecotrace industry-wide packaging traceability infrastructure
- VANGEST, NERLEI CCI and INOVA+ – Embalagem do Futuro (Packaging of the Future) project
- AIM - European Brands Association and partners – HolyGrail 2.0 value-chain consortium proving viability of digital watermarking technology
- Pack4Food, FlandersFOOD, VIL, ReUSElab, Colruyt, Albert Heijn, Carrefour, Delhaize, Lidl, Aldi, Rotion, deSter, MIVAS, Made and Fost Plus – REPASYS reusable packaging system
Research & Development category – for early stage innovation
- Greiner Packaging – CUBO logistics-optimized square cup
- Embalagem do Futuro and Polytechnic University of Leiria – Biopolymer coating for food-contact corrugated cardboard
- Serioplast – Net zero waste through reusable structural skeleton architecture
- Teagasc – PMA MAP shelf-life extension system for fresh produce
- Siegwerk Druckfarben – UniLEAF acrylic-free flexo ink extender
For a full list of this year’s finalists, click here to view the shortlist.
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