{"id":472667,"date":"2026-06-02T16:59:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/472667\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:59:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:59:52","slug":"announcing-the-finalists-of-packaging-europes-sustainability-awards-2026-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/472667\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing the finalists of Packaging Europe\u2019s Sustainability Awards 2026! | Article"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Finalists-Announced-web\"<\/p>\n

The Sustainability Awards<\/a> 2026 are under way! Ten years on from the launch of the world\u2019s most prestigious sustainable packaging competition, our expanded jury<\/a> of 63 international experts has announced this year\u2019s finalists in a new-and-improved range of categories. <\/p>\n

A total of 352 applicants entered the competition this year \u2013 just seven entries shy of the highest number on record \u2013 but only 48 have been shortlisted for the chance to take home a coveted crystal trophy.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have reduced the number of categories for general submissions to ten,\u201d explains Tim Sykes, brand director at Packaging Europe<\/a>, \u201cwhich makes it even harder than before to be shortlisted for a prize in the world\u2019s most competitive packaging sustainability competition, especially as entries continue to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the changes were mainly designed to better curate the snapshot of what\u2019s happening in innovation, replacing some more abstract categories that focused on impact with new ones that specified important areas of innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The geographical range of entrants becomes more diverse every year, and this cohort is no exception. With Zafree Papers<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Among the notable themes in this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Once again, the winners will be announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit<\/a>, taking place at the Jaarbeurs<\/a> in Utrecht on 10th \u2013 12th November. Click here<\/a> to purchase a ticket to the event; admission to the Sustainability Awards ceremony and networking party is included in the price.<\/p>\n

With no further ado, here are this year\u2019s contenders for the \u201cNobel Prize\u201d of sustainable packaging innovations, the Sustainability Awards.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commercialized Products<\/p>\n

\"PE_Circular_Plastics_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Circular Plastics<\/p>\n

\"PE_Climate_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Climate<\/p>\n

\"PE_Digital_Transformation_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Digital Transformation
\n
\nQuantiPackAI<\/a> \u2013 Data-driven packaging optimization platform
\nEcoSource<\/a> \u2013 EcoSource Packaging Intelligence decision support platform
\nSpecright<\/a> and Lorax<\/a> \u2013 Integrated platform for sustainability reporting at scale
\nCLUBZER\u00d8<\/a> \u2013 National deposit return system for digital DRS
\nResycure<\/a> \u2013 QI suite for controlling and optimizing PCR <\/p>\n

\"PE_Driving_Circular_Economy_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Driving the Circular Economy<\/p>\n

\"PE_Renewables_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Renewables
\n
\nMondi<\/a> \u2013 Ad\/Vantage smooth brown semi extensible kraft paper
\nPAPACKS<\/a> \u2013 Fiber Box moulded fibre transport packaging for chilled seafood
\nHeliograf<\/a> and Vert Design<\/a> \u2013 Holy Carp home-compostable soy sauce fish
\nMpact Corrugated<\/a> \u2013 Paper-based pallet column locks
\nUPM<\/a> \u2013 UPM Circular Renewable Black bio-based, NIR-detectable black pigment <\/p>\n

\"PE_Reuse_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Reuse
\n
\nXipa<\/a> \u2013 Double Circular reusable 1kg ice cream container
\nSykell<\/a> \u2013 EINFACH MEHRWEG Prefill
\nBockatech<\/a> and partners \u2013 Pioneering reuse schemes using EcoCore cups
\nKIUD<\/a> and Telia<\/a> \u2013 Reusable packaging for telecom logistics
\nSulapac<\/a> and Hesburger<\/a> \u2013 Sulapac Solid 2.0 biobased, dishwasher-proof material for reusables <\/p>\n

Categories for start-ups with seed funding\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PE_New_Materials_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Start-Up \u2013 New Materials<\/p>\n

\"PE_New_Systems_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Start-Up \u2013 New Systems
\n
\nAntfarm<\/a> \u2013 AI-powered autonomous waste sorting system <\/p>\n


\nCOtooClean<\/a> and Coveris<\/a> \u2013 Decontamination technology for flexibles
\nVioneo<\/a> \u2013 Fossil-free PP and PP at scale
\nKWiiD<\/a> \u2013 Swift and strong reusable boxes <\/p>\n

\"PE_Thinking_Big_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Thinking Big category \u2013 for broad initiatives
\n
\nColgate-Palmolive<\/a> and Erthos<\/a> \u2013 AI-enabled sustainable packaging with biomaterials
\nPolytag<\/a> \u2013 Ecotrace industry-wide packaging traceability infrastructure
\nVANGEST<\/a>, NERLEI CCI<\/a> and INOVA+<\/a> \u2013 Embalagem do Futuro (Packaging of the Future) project
\nAIM – European Brands Association<\/a> and partners \u2013 HolyGrail 2.0 value-chain consortium proving viability of digital watermarking technology
\nPack4Food<\/a>, FlandersFOOD<\/a>, VIL<\/a>, ReUSElab<\/a>, Colruyt<\/a>, Albert Heijn<\/a>, Carrefour<\/a>, Delhaize<\/a>, Lidl<\/a>, Aldi<\/a>, Rotion<\/a>, deSter<\/a>, MIVAS<\/a>, Made<\/a> and Fost Plus<\/a> \u2013 REPASYS reusable packaging system <\/p>\n

\"PE_R&D_Finalist\"<\/p>\n

Research & Development category \u2013 for early stage innovation<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a full list of this year\u2019s finalists, click here<\/a> to view the shortlist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sustainability Awards 2026 are under way! Ten years on from the launch of the world\u2019s most prestigious…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-472667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}