Visitors to this month’s Packaging Innovations & Empack 2024 will run the rule of the top 10 most innovative packaging projects from the last 12 months.

Organisers of the UK’s flagship packaging exhibition, Packaging Innovations & Empack, Easyfairs have announced the 2024 cohort for the prestigious Packaging Innovations Gallery.

The Gallery, which will take pride of place at February’s showcase, will celebrate a selection of the most innovative packaging projects from the past 12 months. Over 7,000 expected visitors will be afforded the opportunity to view each of the final 10 in a dedicated area, before casting their vote by swiping their visitor pass on the plinth of the project that most captures their imagination.

Paul Jenkins from ThePackHub, Jude Allan, Chair of the IOM3 Packaging Group, and Margaret Bates, the newly appointed Head of EPR scheme administrator, cast their eyes over 130 entries before deciding on the final ten.

“Everywhere you turn right now there are so many different things driving innovation,” said packaging expert and ThePackHub Founder, Jenkins. “From the lifestyles we lead and e-commerce’s unrelenting importance, to value demanded right along the supply chain and legislation around sustainability, manufacturers have no choice but to innovate for a future that demands more from packaging solutions.

“The Innovation Showcase is a fantastic platform for businesses to share their vision and take their ideas to the next level, and it’s also a great opportunity for the industry to celebrate its abundance of innovation. Visitors will once again see outstanding innovations that imagine the future of packaging."

Luke Wilson, Managing Director of FACER, said: “For the FACER. Plastic-Free Blister Pack to be recognised in the Innovations Gallery is a massive credit to the ongoing project work across all of team FACER, and to our clients for having the appetite and agility to be guided into sustainably innovative packaging formats. The consumer success of the pack demonstrates a demand to see brands make “healthy swaps” with their packaging and for those that achieve it, the advantages are vast. This is the perfect illustration of strategically partnering with our clients to solve a major challenge and meet an ambitious objective.”

The Innovation Showcase will include:

FunctionalBarrier Papers – Mondi
Their range of heat sealable barrier papers won the World Star Packaging Award. It has very strong mechanical properties, can run on existing FFS/HFFS lines, provides a moisture and water vapour barrier and is recyclable in most European wastepaper streams.

Morro Coating - Morro - A Xampla Brand
A plant-based replacement for petrochemical/fluorochemical paper coatings. Fully biodegradable and home compostable. Safe for food contact, high grease, water & oxygen barrier. It can be safely removed during repulping, enabling the recyclability of paperboard.

Pure-Pak® eSense cartons - Elopak
Pure-Pak® eSense is the first aluminium-free gable-top aseptic carton suitable for both low & high acid liquid products. Recyclable, with a unique polyolefin barrier resulting in up to 50% lower carbon, it paves the way for a fully renewable aseptic pack.

Papair: the first bubble wrap made from 100% paper - LEIPA UK Ltd
PapairWrap is safe, cost-efficient, and sustainable. Companies no longer have to choose between cost-effectiveness and sustainability, with PapairWrap making both possible at the same time.

Eco Low Profile Tube Closures - Selectpackaging
35mm & 50mm Ø - compact design - 50% less plastic - lower energy consumption - reduced height of the cap (approx. 10mm) - overall packaging reduction by 20% - lower shipping costs by 50%* (cap only) - increasing the pack out by 25% - green materials.

Label solution with mechanical recycled raw material content - Taghleef Industries Spa
Taghleef Industries champions sustainability with CEFLEX on a 40µ white voided film from 30% post-consumer mechanically recycled content, serving as a PET bottle label. This innovation gives a new life to plastic waste preserving virgin fossil resins.

Mars KIND® recycled content packaging solution - Taghleef Industries Spa
Designed with circularity in mind, this mono-material packaging facilitates end-of-life recycling in existing collection and sorting operations without compromising quality or processability with more post-consumer recycled content and less virgin plastic.

Rapilock Pro - Carlton Packaging
This 100% recyclable, glue-free and tape-free box is designed to provide unparalleled tamper evidence, giving you and your customer peace of mind, while also being quicker to assemble compared with other glue-free boxes.

FACER. Plastic-Free Blister Pack - FACER. Progressive Printed Packaging
FACER presents an answer to single-use plastic blister packs by replacing the plastic with a board-to-board heat-seal solution. The first commercially to market in the UK for Mitsubishi Uni-Ball.

Aquaseal Barrier and Heat Seal Coatings – Paramelt
In today’s economy, not only the functionality of packaging, but also the environmental impact has to be considered. Paper as a renewable material, combined with Paramelts coatings, can offer the required functionality for many packaging applications.

Last year, SUPA Products 500ml paper bottle from its eco-mate range stood out for the judges and was crowned the winner. Other notable entrants included Rippatape® Halo, a paper-based tear tape that provides a sustainable solution for frustration-free and easy-opening of paper and board packaging, along with X-CYCLE PP Fast Forward, VisiPak, D:PLOY, Eagle Reinforced Wrap, EX-30-S MONOBLOC, Autofill bag-in-box liner, 100% Recyclable Valve for Dispensing Closures, IMPAC-T, X-CYCLE PP Fast Forward.