The packaging industry gathered at Birmingham’s NEC as Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026 opened its doors recently. Two days of innovation, insight, and connection focused on the latest industry trends, including sustainability.

Josh Brooks, divisional director – Packaging Portfolio at Easyfairs, and councillor Annette Mackenzie, mayor of Solihull, formally launched the event with a ribbon-cutting. The event saw up to 475 exhibitors who had transformed halls 2, 3, and 3a into a showcase of the full packaging supply chain. The show highlighted cutting-edge design and materials at Packaging Innovations, to automation, robotics, and AI at Empack.

Event reaction

“Today promises to be the biggest and the best edition of this show in our 21-year history,” says Brooks. “This event is all about innovation, it’s in the name, and it’s all about creating the future of packaging, whether we’re thinking about design, whether we’re thinking about materials, whether we’re thinking about processing technologies or outsourcing opportunities. It’s all here and we hope that you will, as visitors to the show, have a fantastic experience of discovery and you will go away with the toolkit to create your next product. It’s also extremely human and I really encourage you all, at an event like this, to not just discover the things, but to discover the people and make those connections, come away with new connections and new future partners for the projects that you work on. That’s the joy and the fun of any work that we do, and certainly for us who have the privilege of putting on events, it’s what we do.”

Mackenzie adds, “Packaging plays a vital role in our economy, enabling food supply, healthcare, e-commerce, and consumer goods, while supporting jobs, skills, and resilient local supply chains. Our region is proud to be a hub for manufacturing excellence and innovation, and today’s SMEs and local manufacturers are driving progress through new technologies, smarter design, and more sustainable solutions. Innovation and sustainability are clearly at the heart of this event, as the sector works collaboratively to reduce impact, improve efficiency, and create long-term value.”

EPR focus

Chief strategy officer Esther Carter took to the stage today to reflect on Pack UK’s first year. There, Carter updated attendees on the progress of its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme. Pack UK used last year’s show to officially launch the scheme, marking the transition from decades of policy development into a fully functioning organization. Twelve months on, Carter highlighted how the scheme has moved from concept to reality. The first notices of liability have been issued to producers and over £1 billion already collected and distributed to local authorities to invest in waste management systems.

The total cost of the scheme is £1.4 billion, representing the provision of an efficient and effective local authority waste disposal service. This is spread across just over 4,000 producers, with 4,299 obligated producers receiving notices of liability for household packaging waste. Across the whole scheme, there are around 7,000 obligated producers, while funding is being distributed to 388 local authorities across the four nations.

To manage this, Pack UK’s team of around 60 people has focused on ensuring the right digital systems, risk management, and operational oversight are in place to transact such large-scale payments effectively.

Sustainability goals

Paul East, Head of Packaging Recycling & Design at Recoup, added, “We do trials and tests on members’ packaging, taking them through a materials recycling facility to see what actually happens,” he said. “Our guidelines show exactly what changes you can make to make your packaging more recyclable.”

Alison Bramfitt, Nestlé’s Head of Packaging UK & Ireland, stressed the strategic approach needed across the supply chain. “Designing for recycling isn’t just about the material, it’s about understanding the system, the capacity, and consumer behaviour in every market we operate in. We must take our suppliers on the journey with us, ensuring innovations meet our requirements and are available when we need them.”

David Hainsworth, director of Sheard Packaging, described the event as, “the best show I’ve attended in a long time, a fantastic location and perfectly organized.

“The footfall has been excellent, with high-quality visitors throughout. We’ve met everyone we hoped to see, and then some,” he continued.