Graphic Packaging International has been dismissed from the containerboard price-fixing lawsuit that New York-based Artuso Pastry Foods Corp. filed against eight of the largest fiber product producers in North America, according to court documents. Judge Mary M. Rowland of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Sept. 25 granted Artuso’s request to voluntarily dismiss GPI. Each party will handle its own attorney fees and related costs. The documents note the case will continue against the other defendants, which include Cascades, Georgia-Pacific, Greif, International Paper, Packaging Corporation of America, Pratt Industries and Smurfit Westrock.

Pregis® opened a new 477,000-square-foot paper converting center in Elgin, Illinois, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 19, 2025. The facility will support over 500 manufacturing jobs and can produce more than 1 billion curbside recyclable paper packaging solutions annually. The zero-waste production complex, powered entirely by renewable energy through Renewable Energy Credits, will host multiple production lines for the company’s Protective Paper and Mailing Solutions offering. The facility is expected to divert an estimated 33,000 tons of waste from landfills as brands transition from plastic alternatives. The Elgin site will serve as the company's primary Midwest facility for curbside recyclable paper mailer production. This facility joins four other Pregis mailing facilities nationwide in Arlington, Texas; McDonough, Georgia; Bethel, Pennsylvania; and Reno, Nevada. Investment in this facility enables Pregis to add capacity, improve manufacturing efficiency, and streamline innovation development while enhancing its robust ecommerce product line and expanding fiber-based protective packaging options that address customers' environmental preferences for widely recyclable materials with critical protective attributes for damage-free delivery.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has released the August 2025 Packaging Papers Monthly report. According to the report, total packaging papers & specialty packaging shipments in August increased 5% compared to August 2024. They were down 1% when compared to the same eight months of 2024. The bleached operating rate increased to 78.2%, tying January 2025 for the highest level over the last 15 months. Unbleached bag & sack shipments were up 6% from last August, but down 5.4% year to date. Total inventories were up 7.3% from the same month last year.

SeamanPaper, a global leader in sustainable paper-based packaging, today announced the launch of its new line of heat-sealable, curbside recyclable paper packaging solutions. Designed to directly replace single-use plastic bags, these FSC™-certified (FSC™ C102652) alternatives combine sustainability, durability, and efficiency – without requiring brands to overhaul existing equipment. Seaman Paper’s heat-sealable solutions are available in a variety of substrates, weights, and formats designed to accommodate a wide range of applications and converting equipment. Fully compatible with most OEM form-fill-seal (FFS) and horizontal flow-wrapper equipment, the offering includes translucent, kraft, and opaque constructions, and is available in both flat sheet and heat sealable tube formats.

Red Bull broke ground on a new $1.7 billion facility in Concord, North Carolina, following a four-year delay. The facility is a joint manufacturing and distribution center from Red Bull packaging supplier Ball Corp. and Austrian beverage company Rauch Fruchtsäfte. It’s the second manufacturing plant for the companies in the U.S., and is meant to meet local market demand, according to a Red Bull spokesperson. The 2.36 million-square-foot facility is expected to begin operations in 2028 and reach its maximized capacity by 2031, a spokesperson said. It will fill up to 3 billion cans annually and is expected to create 700 jobs. Austria-based Red Bull is building the North Carolina facility as the global energy drink market is seeing growth — it’s projected to reach $125 billion by 2030.

Fulfillment operations today face growing pressure to handle more orders with fewer resources, adapt to shifting material requirements and deliver more sustainable packaging options. Sealed Air is helping its customers meet these challenges by expanding its industry-leading AUTOBAG® brand portfolio with the addition of the AUTOBAG® 850HB Hybrid Bagging Machine — a new automated bagging system engineered to run both poly and paper mailers, giving fulfillment teams the flexibility to choose the right packaging for every order while improving efficiency and supporting curbside recyclable formats. The AUTOBAG® 850HB Hybrid Bagging Machine strengthens Sealed Air's ability to deliver a complete range of protective packaging solutions. By supporting both curbside recyclable paper and traditional poly mailers in one system, it enables fulfillment operations to adapt packaging without slowing throughput. This balance of efficiency, product protection and material flexibility helps e-commerce, direct-to-consumer brands and third-party logistics providers meet the demands of modern fulfillment.

Forrest Gump famously referenced life’s uncertainty with an analogy to a box of chocolates. A similar comparison could be made now for containerboard and box markets: “You never know what you’re gonna get.”  A sustained down cycle for fiber markets could soon end, in part due to this year’s uncommonly large containerboard capacity reductions and a milder-than-feared tariff environment, analysts cautiously suggest. “Time will tell, but this complexion of results suggests that we are approaching an inflection (hopefully positive) based on our experience,” said George Staphos, BofA Securities research analyst. The capacity reductions could help to rebalance supply and demand, correcting a yearslong oversupply that has plagued both North American and global markets. Yet improvements are not expected to be robust or materialize quickly, analysts say. RaboResearch expects containerboard demand to experience a “modest” recovery, with a 0.53% compound annual growth rate through the second quarter of 2027.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year and create synergies, especially for their food and beverage packaging business units. Anchor Packaging touts itself as being the eighth largest plastic packaging thermoformer in North America, while Georgia-Pacific is one of the leading fiber and tissue product manufacturers. The companies indicate their combination will create synergies to drive growth and innovation, especially to serve the food and beverage sectors. “This partnership allows us to expand our product portfolio, strengthen our supply chain and accelerate our commitment to innovation,” said Anchor Packaging President and CEO Jeff Wolff in the news release. Anchor Packaging is based in St. Louis and has multiple facilities in Arkansas, Wisconsin and Argentina. TJC has owned the company since 2019, at which time Anchor announced a plan to accelerate growth. The Hermann family, who founded Anchor in 1963, continued to have ownership alongside TJC.

PepsiCo reduced its virgin plastic use by 5% in 2024, exceeding an annual target of 2%, according to the 2024 ESG report it released Aug. 28. This is the consumer packaged goods company’s first such report to detail progress toward its newly revamped sustainability goals, which it announced in May. Chief Sustainability Officer Jim Andrew told Packaging Dive this spring that the company wanted to be transparent with its changes and publicly discuss the reasoning. Since announcing the PepsiCo Positive (pep+) sustainability program in 2021, “We’ve learned a lot, and the world has changed a lot, and so we wanted to incorporate those learnings and those external realities,” Andrew said. The goal updates follow PepsiCo flagging last year in its 2023 ESG report that it was unlikely to meet certain 2025 sustainability targets.

In response to rising demand for recyclable packaging that performs under pressure, Billerud introduces two new cartonboard grades: CrownBoard Carry and CrownBoard Light. Designed for strength and moisture resistance, the new packaging materials expand the CrownBoard portfolio and support brand owners in meeting both performance and sustainability goals. Like all CrownBoard products, the new grades are made from fresh fibers and designed for easy recycling in existing streams. By avoiding wet-strength additives, they align with upcoming EU regulations that will require packaging to be fully recyclable by 2030. “Brand owners and converters are looking for packaging materials that help them reduce carbon footprints, lower EPR fees and meet future recycling regulations. And this is where our new CrownBoard grades really shine” says Niki Jennische, Senior Director Product Management Cartonboard at Billerud.

Sonoco announced Monday that it had reached an agreement to sell ThermoSafe, its temperature-assured packaging business, to private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners for up to $725 million. The purchase price consists of $650 million on a cash-free and debt-free basis payable at closing, and an additional consideration of up to $75 million if the business meets certain performance targets for calendar year 2025. Sonoco’s long-anticipated divestiture comes amid nearly two years of change for the company. It announced plans to sell ThermoSafe in June 2024, at the same time it announced plans to acquire Switzerland-based metal packaging company Eviosys from KPS Capital Partners. That $3.8 billion deal closed in December 2024, and the ThermoSafe sale is a way to offset the cost.

Sam’s Club China has launched label-free Member’s Mark drinking water, reducing plastic, ink, and energy use, and making recycling easier as part of its sustainable packaging efforts. Sam’s Club China is updating packaging across multiple Member’s Mark products, removing unnecessary plastics and using more recyclable materials, supporting Walmart’s larger sustainability and Project Gigaton goals. The only thing more punk rock than being well-hydrated is a steadfast refusal to be labeled. Now, Sam’s Club members in China can do both. Under the private brand Member’s Mark, Sam’s Club just launched a label-free drinking water, an innovative solution in the company’s journey toward more sustainable packaging. The choice to strip labels from its bottles means Sam’s Club reduces plastic use during manufacturing, leaving just one material to recycle at the end of the bottle’s use. The lack of a label also reduces ink and energy consumption. But fear not: a case of water is the minimum selling unit, so you still get nutrition facts on the outer packaging of the case. Customer response to the new, label-less water bottle will be a key outcome of this trial effort. Sourced from nature, and designed to help protect it, the label-less bottles reflect the cleanliness and quality of their contents.

Sappi Europe is strengthening its position as a leader in sustainable packaging with the launch of Guard Pro OHS and Guard Pro OMH. These two recyclables, mono-material papers, deliver high-barrier protection without compromising production efficiency. Designed to help brand owners meet tightening EU packaging regulations such as the PPWR, the new solutions offer a paper-based alternative to plastic and multilayer foils that is ready for today’s fast-paced manufacturing lines. The paper is available in two finishes: Natural (62, 72 and 92 g/m²), and Gloss (77, 87 and 102 g/m²). It is suitable for direct food contact and complies with toy safety standards, making it ideal for both food and non-food packaging that require secure seal integrity and safety assurance. Typical applications include snacks, dry foods, ice cream flow wrap, hygiene products, and children’s items, where safety, freshness, and compliance are key.

From groundbreaking cans to an inexplicably indestructible bottle, the National Brewery Museum chronicles the fascinating history of beer and its packaging in America. From stoneware to aluminum: Beer packaging has evolved dramatically, reflecting changing consumer needs and technology. Size matters: Half-gallon "picnic bottles" and miniature collectibles show how packaging has adapted to different occasions. Innovation endures: The unbreakable century-old bottle and revolutionary 1935 beer can showcase packaging ingenuity. Tucked into the rolling hills of southwest Wisconsin, the town of Potosi, WI, is home to the restored Potosi Brewing Company complex that houses the National Brewery Museum. Spread across three floors, the museum is a showcase of American brewing history, highlighting classic marketing promotions, beer packaging innovation, and one-of-a-kind curiosities. For beer lovers, packaging enthusiasts, or anyone with a thirst for Americana, it’s a worthy detour 30 minutes from Dubuque, IA. As a refreshing bonus, your $10 admission ($8 for seniors) includes a pint of tap-fresh beer from the main floor brewpub.

Packaging designer and manufacturer PakTech has commissioned a study including 500 packaging experts from the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. The company identifies a “clear gap” between the industry’s perception and reality of plastic use. Over 85% of respondents said that plastic remains essential for the CPG sectors. However, 67% also shared that their companies are taking steps to reduce plastic use or are transitioning to “more sustainable” plastic options. “We commissioned this research to gain deeper insight into the real-world challenges facing European manufacturers and co-packers,” says Gary Panknin, sustainability officer and supply chain manager at PakTech. “What emerges is that while companies are not eliminating plastic packaging entirely, they are actively seeking to move away from virgin and single-use plastics. The real sustainability challenge lies in helping brands overcome barriers to reducing their environmental footprint by using more recycled plastics and making informed, data-driven material choices.”

This according to Fastmarkets Paper Packaging Monitor. On the heals of IP closure of 1.4 million tons of containerboard added to closures by Greif, Georgia Pacific, Cascades, and Smurfit Westrock brings a total of nearly 4 million tons removed from the market this year alone. These closures will send operating rates into the mid-nineties in 2026. We can expect price increase at these operating rates and Fastmarkets is projecting $50/ton next year.

Finnish food and confectionery processor Orkla Suomi wanted to find a paper-based packaging solution to support its goal of increasing the share of renewable packaging materials without compromising recyclability. During a six-month pilot period, new wrappers for Panda brand chocolate bars replace traditionally used PP-plastic wrappers. The new solution uses UPM Specialty Papers Asendo™ barrier paper. The paper’s built-in grease-barrier protection removes the need for an additional plastic layer. A cold-seal lacquer allows the package to be sealed on existing flow-wrap packaging machines, and the new packaging has undergone testing, including shelf-life studies. “We want to make everyday life better with local brands that bring joy and make sustainable choices easier. A great example of our ongoing efforts to replace fossil-based materials with renewable alternatives is the new paper-based, chocolate-tablet packaging,” says Arja Laitinen, packaging developer at Orkla Snacks. Chocolate can be a challenging product to package in paper, due to its relatively high grease level. So the new type of wrapper is based on UPM Asendo Pro 75-gsm barrier paper, which offers the required level of grease-barrier properties and is also certified for food safety to BfR and FDA standards.

The market for specialty papers is continually changing due to demand for sustainable packaging solutions, evolving environmental regulations, new papermaking technologies, and new materials for paper and coatings. The Future of Specialty Papers to 2030, a new report from Smithers, details these trends as well as the latest developments in biobased coatings and alternative fibers, e-commerce and more. According to the new research, the global specialty papers market is predicted to be 28.2 million tonnes in 2025 and projected to grow to 31.3 million tonnes by 2030. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1% for this five-year period. The largest categories of specialty papers are flexible packaging, printing papers, and printing labels, representing 49% of the 2025 market tonnage. The Impact of Regulations Sustainable packaging structures and the governing policies that support them are key drivers in changing the kinds of products that are made, how they are designed, which raw materials are utilized, and their disposition at the end of their lifecycle. Non-recyclable film structures used in flexible packaging are being displaced by new barrier coated paper structures, which are recyclable. Also included is the requirement for recycled content in the package design. The objective is to reduce packaging waste that goes into landfills. Packaging companies that do not comply with the new regulations will pay a fee that supports the recycling infrastructure. In the EU, a new regulation called the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has been enacted to reduce packaging waste and promote recyclable alternatives. Revised in 2025, the new legislation replaced the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). The PPWR imposes strict rules on packaging design, recycling, and waste reduction.

When Kraft Foods Group Inc. and the H.J. Heinz Co. joined forces back in 2015, the goal was to achieve economies of scale and enable Kraft’s brand to piggy-back off of Heinz’s global reach. Ten years on, however, the company’s market capitalization is less than a third of what it was at its peak, and the merger is widely seen as a failure. When your brand stands for something that consumers don’t want, that’s a problem. Just ask Budweiser. At the same time, upstart brands are moving in on staid national brands with health-focused staple products and eye-catching packaging. Consider Goodles, a box macaroni and cheese brand launched in 2021 that has grown its share of the market from 0.6% in 2023 to 4% last year, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Goodles boasts that its products have more protein and fiber than competitors like Kraft Mac & Cheese and Annies. Goodles also defines its competitors by their packaging (Kraft = Blue Box, Annies = Purple Box) and stands out on shelves with its own bold logo and brightly colored boxes. Another reason being blamed for the Kraft Heinz split is consumers’ continuing support of private label brands. In a shift that started during the Great Recession, cost-conscious shoppers have continued their openness to opt for store brands over brand-name staples. Studies have shown that consumers believe private label products are largely similar in quality to their name-brand counterparts, leaving only one thing to differentiate the two: packaging. And yet, it can be hard to pick out the Heinz in a wall of ketchup at the grocery store.

A deal with Walmart comes shortly after one with Amazon. CEO Omar Asali discusses the importance of these enterprise customers and navigating economic uncertainty ahead of the busy holiday season. Ranpak is expanding its automation solutions at Walmart’s distribution centers. Under the multiyear agreement, Walmart will install Ranpak’s AutoFill machines at sites in the Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento, California, metro areas. Walmart already uses this equipment at an Indianapolis-area fulfillment center, where it automates void filling and box closing to increase productivity.  This is the second major deal Ranpak has landed this year with an e-commerce giant. In January, Amazon agreed to spend $400 million on an eight-year deal to acquire up to 18.7 million Ranpak shares, which will amount to an estimated 17% of the company’s shares when completed.