Paper Clips

K‑beauty’s lightning-fast innovation and creative use of stock packaging components is forcing US beauty brands to rethink their approach to launches and design. K‑beauty is everywhere right now. From playful new formats to science-driven ingredient stories, Korean beauty has quickly become a global leader. 2026 is already shaping up to be a breakout year for K‑beauty brands in the US, but the real shift isn’t just what’s launching. It’s how fast it’s getting to shelf. What’s unfolding right now feels less like a trend cycle and more like a reset. K‑beauty isn’t only influencing aesthetics or formulas — it’s accelerating innovation timelines and amplifying packaging trends in ways that are forcing beauty brands to rethink how products get developed in the first place.

Nearly 80 corporations associated with the environmental groups the US Plastics Pact, The Consumer Goods Forum, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, have been warned that continued participation in these initiatives could expose them to antitrust liability.  These US-based environmental groups focus on promoting a circular economy and reducing the environmental impact of packaging and plastic. They often work with FMCG manufacturers and retailers, design packaging using non-plastic materials, and enhance recycling schemes.  Letters signed by 10 US state attorneys general, including Florida, Texas, and Georgia, explain that, by setting uniform packaging targets and “dictating” recyclable materials, the environmental groups may be reducing competition, limiting consumer choice, and degrading product quality.

he National Association of Wholesaler Distributors (NAW) has secured a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Oregon’s EPR law after arguing that it imposes burdensome fees and taxes on distributors.  NAW is a trade association that represents companies that distribute products across various sectors, including food and industrial supplies. “The injunction relieves NAW member companies of the fear of enforcement from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality — an enforcement that comes with the potential of US$25,000 a day in penalties, which could cause severe harm,” says Hoplin.  “This is a new law, the first in the US. It is complex and imposes a massive regulatory and financial burden on distributors, many of whom are located across state lines and were unaware of the law until just a few months ago.”

Aluminum food and beverage cans are having a moment, with manufacturers and analysts alike predicting a strong year for the sector. Crown Holdings aims to harness those timely growth opportunities while simultaneously advancing its sustainability work, said Sandrine Duquerroy-Delesalle, Crown’s vice president of global sustainability and external affairs. “We are on track with the commitments that we made five years ago, and we are even more ambitious now,” Duquerroy-Delesalle said, also highlighting the importance of collaboration across the value chain to promote sustainability. Although certain goals have shifted, overall “people are more and more conscious — I think this is across Europe and the U.S. — about circularity and how can they get their packaging to be collected and recycled. ... Circularity is very important to our business.”

The Biodegradable Products Institute is ramping up its push for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to publish an interim final rule on compost that could improve clarity on acceptable compost inputs across the United States. The member organization recently sent a letter to the agency urging it to act related to an August 2023 petition from BPI. USDA did not act directly on that petition, which requested a revised regulatory definition of “compost feedstock.” BPI’s February letter garnered dozens of supportive signatories. The list included associations such as Ameripen, the EPR Leadership Forum, the Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Consumer Brands Association. Producers in support included Georgia-Pacific, InnoPak, CJ Biomaterials, Atlantic Packaging and NatureWorks. Composters and haulers that signed on included Black Earth Compost, Veteran Compost, Garbage to Garden and Earth Matter.

Atlantic Packaging Products has earned international recognition for transforming a standard corrugated coffee box into a high-impact brand storytelling medium. The company’s solution for Zavida Coffee Roasters’ Organica Keurig 72-pod box won Best in Class in the Technical category at the 2026 PAC Global Awards. Produced on a Koenig & Bauer Durst SPC 130, the box showcases high-precision, high-colour digital print directly on uncoated white-top corrugate. The technology enables shorter lead times, greater production flexibility, and more targeted, high-impact designs for retail brands.

“A year ago, it never would occur to me that we would be having a conversation about the challenges of PET recycling,” Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership, said in the webinar “PET Packaging: Solving for an Out-of-Sync System” on Thursday, February 12. She said that because polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the highest recycled packaging plastic, with more than 2 billion pounds of PET bottles collected for recycling annually in the US, according to The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR). And recycled PET is also in demand for use in new packages. But now imports are flooding the market, US PET reclamation facilities are shutting down, and domestic sourcing is in jeopardy. My take on this … PET has been the poster child here in America for plastic packaging recycling and it’s in trouble. This does not bode well for the successful recycling of any packaging plastics in America. And if we don’t recycle, the waste crisis and climate shifts will worsen.

Digital printing for packaging has been slowly gaining steam the last few years and picking away at market share for analog systems such as flexography, rotogravure and offset lithography. But 2026 could be notable for the sector’s maturation, according to a newly released report from consulting firm Keypoint Intelligence. Digital printing is “entering a more mature, disciplined phase of adoption,” the report says, and growth this year is expected to come from different avenues than in the past. The report notes that packaging converters are considering these solutions “less as standalone innovations and more as components within broader production and manufacturing environments.”

Clearly, the U.S. packaging industry has entered the extended producer responsibility era. What remains unclear to some people is the end goal. One EPR ambition is to increase recycling rates, several speakers and attendees noted during The Packaging Conference in Austin, Texas, from Feb. 9-11. But when audience members asked speakers whether they thought EPR would actually boost recycling rates, they were generally met with skeptical responses. “Off the record?” joked Laura Stewart, executive director at the National Association for PET Container Resources, while muttering “No” and shaking her head amid audience laughter.  “EPR is great for producers, but I don’t know that it motivates the average human to actually recycle,” said Steve Lyons, vice president for strategic environmental analysis at PET packaging consulting firm SBA-CCI, pointing to deposit programs as a better incentive. “I think [EPR] will create more access points, which is good for recycling, but you have to motivate humans.”

The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) has decided to uphold the government’s order to list plastic-manufactured items (PMI) as “toxic” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).  The ruling means the Canadian government can continue to regulate single-use plastics, like bags, straws, and cutlery under CEPA. The decision has been met with doubt from the plastics industry and acclaim from environmental campaigners.  “The FCA’s decision is a landmark ruling for Canada and internationally. In a unanimous decision, the court recognized plastic pollution as a serious environmental and public health issue,” Anthony Merante, senior plastics campaigner at Oceana Canada, tells us.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) released the January 2026 Packaging Papers Monthly report. According to the report, total packaging papers & specialty packaging shipments in January decreased 1% compared to January 2025. The total operating rate for the packaging papers segment was 80.7%, higher than both January 2025 and December 2025, but lower than the overall rate for 2025 (81.2%).

When shipping highly sensitive optical and electronic equipment, there is no room for compromise. Even minor shocks, dust, or contamination can impact performance. That’s why Thorlabs Sweden partnered with Emballageteknik and Stora Enso to rethink protective packaging — replacing fossil-based foams with a renewable, high-performance alternative. The result is Papira®, a bio-based, recyclable and biodegradable shock-absorbing material from Stora Enso, converted and engineered by Emballageteknik to meet the strict demands of Thorlabs Swedens’ precision products.

Life-cycle assessments take time and money. Are the benefits worth the effort? It was a question that came up during a presentation at MD&M West.  Adam Wozniak, Director of Sustainability at Ravago North America, and I were talking about how to make plastic packaging easier and more profitable to recycle in the session “Designing for Circularity: Transforming Plastics from Problem to Packaging Solution.” We tackled the topic of plastic packaging circularity from a general sustainability perspective, as well as in this era of extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws. We kept the scope broad because not all brand owners will be selling into states that have EPR regulations. But the work being done in writing these EPR laws can help anyone. In a word, Wozniak says, yes. LCAs are valuable in several ways. Specifically, I asked, “If the law has already done the work [of identifying appropriate packaging materials for sustainability], do you need LCAs?” Wozniak answered, “In general, LCAs … help expose the underbelly of processes, too. So not only are you evaluating your systems … what you’re also doing with life-cycle assessments is your evaluating your supply chain. You’re evaluating who you source products from and understanding furthermore any impacts logistics have, impacts that the manufacturing has. “… regardless of extended producer responsibility, I think life-cycle assessment is going to be here to stay. It’s going to continue to become more of a common practice.

The choice between mailers and boxes has traditionally meant trading speed for protection. Mailers offer efficiency, while boxes provide the cushioning needed for fragile items. This binary approach creates inefficiencies across thousands of shipments, particularly as consumer expectations and regulatory requirements intensify. Consumer expectations and regulations are forcing brands to rethink their packaging. Shoppers increasingly favor environmentally responsible brands, making sustainable packaging a growth driver, not a tradeoff. At the same time, tightening laws like California’s SB 54 and expanding Extended Producer Responsibility requirements are accelerating the shift. The traditional choice between mailers and boxes is being redefined by hybrid solutions that deliver box-level protection with mailer efficiency. For fulfillment operations navigating rising costs, tightening margins and increasing sustainability pressure, WaveKraft recyclable, padded mailers represent a shift in how protective packaging can meet operational, regulatory and consumer demands.

Pregis®, a global leader in protective packaging, mailing & bagging, and flexible packaging solutions, introduces Pregis EasyPack® Strata, a high-speed on-demand paper system designed to produce structured paper pads for enhanced void fill, light cushioning and full cushioning packing applications. The system expands the Pregis on-demand paper portfolio with a solution built to meet the pace, variability and throughput demands of modern fulfillment operations. Strata forms structured paper pads that optimize space within the box, enabling more uniform packing and reducing unnecessary material use. In enhanced void fill applications, these pads maintain a more consistent form than traditional void fill, improving material efficiency. The system also supports higher productivity in fast-paced packing environments, delivering dispensing speeds of up to 60 inches per second. “Fulfillment operations need packaging systems that will keep up with throughput demands without adding complexity,” explains Joey Phister, President of Protective Products at Pregis. “EasyPack Strata was developed to give operators the ability to adjust protection levels in real time, improving throughput, reducing waste and creating a faster, more intuitive packing process.”

Footprint optimization and a structural reorganization are on the table as Graphic Packaging International embarks on a transformational period, said CEO Robbert Rietbroek. Sales during the fourth quarter of 2025 were essentially flat year over year, said executives on Tuesday’s earnings call. It was the first earnings call for Robbert Rietbroek, whose career has spanned stints at PepsiCo and P&G, since being named GPI’s CEO in December and taking over the role Jan. 1. “In several of these roles, I’ve been a customer of Graphic Packaging, and my teams worked closely with the Graphic Packaging team to design winning packaging solutions,” he said. Market trends: One of Rietbroek’s early observations is that “the external environment remains challenged near term,” and that overcapacity in bleached paperboard markets is putting pressure on finished packaging. Plus, consumer demand for staples remains uneven due to affordability issues and macroeconomic uncertainty. “We are not simply waiting for markets to recover. We are focused on what we can control,” he said.

Cascades Inc. has announced it will discontinue its honeycomb paperboard and partition packaging activities, leading to the closure of three manufacturing facilities in Canada and the United States.  The decision is part of the company’s ongoing effort to optimize its operating platform and concentrate on markets aligned with its long-term growth strategy. The closures will affect plants in York, Pennsylvania, and in Saint-Césaire and Berthierville, Quebec. According to Cascades, the operations targeted serve niche markets that no longer fit with the strategic priorities of its Packaging sector. As part of the exit, certain assets have been acquired for approximately $9 million by Emballages LM, a major North American producer of honeycomb paperboard based in Saint-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, Quebec. The buyer aims to ensure continuity of service for customers during the transition.

Once viewed primarily as a shipping solution, corrugated packaging is increasingly recognized as a strategic component of modern supply chains. Driven by sustainability requirements, digital technologies and changing brand expectations, fibre-based packaging is gaining renewed importance across industries. From recycling to circular innovation Corrugated packaging’s environmental credentials have long been well established. It is recyclable, renewable and often produced with a high proportion of recycled fibres. By combining established materials with advanced manufacturing and digital technologies, the corrugated packaging sector continues to demonstrate that sustainability and innovation can progress together—well beyond the box.

Extended producer responsibility continues to dominate packaging policy discussions. While major changes to policy trends might be hard to spot year to year, industry groups see opportunities to take some lessons from the earliest examples of EPR implementation in the U.S. to further inform legislative discussions this year. Last year saw the adoption of EPR bills in Maryland and Washington, each of which called for producers to ultimately reimburse 90% of recycling costs, following a similar approach in Minnesota the prior year. In 2026, much attention on state EPR activity centers on the Northeast, including ongoing discussions in New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York.