Want to know what the trends are in packaging? Ask someone who knows a lot about packaging. That’s why, when Esko released its 2026 Packaging Trends report, our ears perked up. Especially since the packaging world has been shaken up like a snow globe. Evolving consumer expectations, technology shifts, and unstable global economic conditions. Oh, and AI. Hang onto your hats.
Esko packages the 2026 trends into three categories:
- Sustainability
- Smart packaging and the Digital Product Passport (DPP)
- Agentic AI
Here, we’ll pick a few highlights. But in the 35-page report, Esko combines market analysis, expert insight, and its own perspective on what these trends mean in practice—for brands, converters, and the people who work with packaging every day.
Rules? There Are No Rules
Although agentic AI was the third bullet point in the table of contents, Esko actually opened the report with the topic.
In a heartening statement, Esko tells us that much of what we thought we knew about packaging is out the window: “For years, automation in packaging followed a predictable pattern: rule-based systems built around pre-defined templates, workflow, and extensive human input….Agentic AI marks a clear departure.”
Instead of waiting for input, Esko explains, “agentic systems act autonomously using learnings from the codified domain knowledge and analyzing data patterns. They have the capacity to reflect on a goal, take proactive steps, and execute a plan.”
That ought to be good news, right? Except remember scheming AI? (See WTT’s post “Scheming, Security Breaches, and Success: The AI Pardox Printers Can’t Ignore.”) When AI models are given a goal, then allowed to determine how to reach that goal autonomously, things can get hairy. (So train your “toddler” and make sure it has clear guidelines.)
Hairy or not, AI is here, and we have to deal with it.
- 33% of large enterprises now use agentic AI in production, up from just 11% only months earlier (KPMG).
- 65% of packaging companies planned to “increase AI adoption in their operations in 2025” and
- In 2027, autonomous AI-powered packaging robots are “projected to handle 50% of packaging tasks” (Gitnux’s AI in the Packaging Industry Statistics 2025 report)
Esko then provides two examples of “in the field’ use of agentic AI from Coca-Cola + Adobe (and their project Fizzion) and from Ranpak.
What About Job Losses?
What about job losses due to AI? While anecdotal evidence tells us that smarter, more effective automation reduces head count, Esko’s report takes the position that, rather than replacing jobs, agentic AI frees team members to do what only humans can do. For example, “focusing on quality outcomes rather than administrative steps.”
However, this depends on whom you hire. If you hire people only capable of doing the basics, without the capacity or interest in handling more complex “strategic overseer” roles, they may not be smart long-term investments. So, if you’re planning on adding complex, AI-driven automation, hire people you know are capable of handling more complex, strategic thinking.
Next Stop, Smart Packaging
Esko then moved on to smart packaging. According to its survey, 20% of industry professionals rank smart packaging among the top technologies set to impact packaging by 2026, behind only automation and artificial intelligence.
While smart packaging has been in the mix for years, Esko argues that what makes 2026 different is that the enabling technology has matured (such as GS1’s Sunrise 2027) and regulation is now forcing its adoption. The industry has reached a point, Esko says, where both tracks are converging.
When asked which regulations will most impact their packaging compliance by 2026, respondents to Esko’s survey were most likely to cite PPWR and DPP. However, the largest single group (36% of respondents) weren’t sure yet.
“But this digital shift isn’t limited to what’s printed on a pack,” Esko writes. “The same connectivity that links a product to the cloud is also reshaping how those packs are made.” Enter IoT in packaging production.
End-to-End Sustainability Intelligence
The third trend, according to Esko, is “end-to-end sustainability intelligence.” No longer are recycling logos and a sustainability page on your website enough. Today’s consumers are demanding more. The new standard is Lifecycle Assessment (LCA), which calculates the impact of raw materials, production, transport, and end-of-life.
Esko notes that while packaging represents 5–10% of a product’s overall footprint, it is the most visible signal of sustainability to consumers. Hence the pressure to reflect a sustainability commitment in a highly visible way. According to Esko’s survey, 84% of respondents said sustainability would be important or very important for their company’s packaging in 2026. This is up from 77% in 2024 and 80% in 2025.
“The conversation has also broadened,” Esko writes. “Sustainability is no longer just about the recyclability of materials. It is about responsibility, measurability, and visibility across the entire packaging lifecycle—from source to shelf to consumer and back again.”
While most of the regulatory pressure has come from Europe, there is speculation that the winds are moving to the United States. As an example, Esko points to New York’s proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which is designed to reduce the state’s plastic packaging over the next decade by 30%.
But it will be consumers, not the government, who are the ultimate enforcers. The report cites a Wall Street Journal report that 37% of North American shoppers, and 42% of Europeans, have already refused to buy a product because of unsustainable packaging.
What Does It All Mean?
What does all of this mean for designers? Packaging converters? Packaging teams? Esko has a lot to say about that. We’ll let WTT readers hear it directly from them. Our take? All of this is more than the average human being can fully process. There are so many moving parts, disparate regulations in different locales, constant change in workflows and consumer demand, it’s mind-blowing how teams are able to keep up with any of it—and the pace of change is only increasing.
Oh, wait. Humans can’t do it. That’s what AI is for.
Click here to access the report.
