Packaging Improvements & Empack 2026 returns to Birmingham’s NEC with unique UK debuts, ground-breaking supplies, and first-to-market applied sciences, together with Materials ConneXion and the Museum of Failure, cementing its place because the UK’s definitive showcase for packaging innovation.
All eyes throughout the worldwide packaging business are on Packaging Improvements & Empack 2026, the place main manufacturers, designers, producers, and suppliers will collect at Birmingham’s NEC on 11 & 12 February to expertise the UK’s most forward-looking showcase of merchandise, supplies, and innovation. With only one week to go, there’s a lot to see throughout two action-packed days, from first-to-market supplies and stay manufacturing applied sciences to interactive demonstrations and the UK debuts of Materials ConneXion and the Museum of Failure. The occasion has develop into an unmissable vacation spot for anybody in search of the concepts, options, and applied sciences shaping the way forward for packaging.
A significant draw for attendees is the UK debut of two globally recognised establishments, Materials ConneXion and the Museum of Failure, each showing completely on the occasion. Materials ConneXion showcases a curated assortment of 45 breakthrough supplies, giving designers, engineers, and model house owners hands-on entry to options that may remodel packaging design, efficiency, and sustainability. The Museum of Failure brings company missteps to life, providing distinctive insights and classes for packaging designers, supplies specialists, and automation engineers. By no means earlier than out there to UK audiences, these options provide uncommon, hands-on perception into each breakthrough success and real-world failure – important intelligence for anybody shaping the way forward for packaging.
Throughout the broader exhibition, greater than 450 exhibitors, together with international leaders resembling Amcor, Coveris, Huhtamaki, Innovia Movies, Mondi Group, Scodix, Sealed Air, and Solar Chemical will showcase commercially deployable options throughout sustainable supplies, good packaging, automation, robotics, and premium ending. Senior representatives from manufacturers together with Diageo, Nestlé, Unilever, Amazon, and main FMCG, foodservice, and retail companies are anticipated to be in attendance, intensifying demand for last-minute registrations and on-site conferences.
Josh Brooks, Divisional Director – Packaging Portfolio at Easyfairs, stated: “Innovation waits for nobody. Packaging Improvements & Empack 2026 is the place to see it first, from breakthrough supplies and cutting-edge automation to sustainable options and AI-driven manufacturing. Each demonstration, each session, each exhibitor is a chance to remain forward of the competitors, however solely for individuals who act now and safe their place.”
Sustainability strikes from idea to execution at Packaging Improvements & Empack 2026, with improvements together with eGreen & Polymateria’s VeriGreen® Plus, the world’s first self-destructing bio-based cup, eGreen’s Atera tableware produced from rice husk by-products, Futamura, Repaq, and GK Sondermaschinenbau’s compostable liquid sachets, and Prevented Ocean Plastic’s food-safe recycled polypropylene. Different options embody recyclable shrink sleeve movies, compostable fruit and vegetable labels, light-weight cardboard pallets, and premium digital embellishment on luxurious substrates from Scodix Luxe.
Operational effectivity and automation are additionally on show. RARUK Automation demonstrates robotic palletising options for cobots, whereas Nulogy presents its Manufacturing Working Techniques. Guests can expertise equipment and stay automation demonstrations within the Automation & Robotics Zone, or be part of Empack Equipment & Processing Excursions for guided periods throughout manufacturing improvements. Challenger manufacturers can participate within the ‘Pitch the Co-Packers Competitors’ in partnership with BCMPA, a Dragon’s Den-style occasion providing publicity, networking, and potential funding.
Schooling stays a serious draw, with an unrivalled convention programme that includes over 100 audio system from greater than 70 international manufacturers and organisations. Throughout the Design & Innovation, Provide Chain, Round Financial system, and Discovery Theatre Phases, attendees will hear from business leaders together with Diageo, Nestlé, Unilever, Amazon, BCMPA, Materials ConneXion, Sheffield Hallam College, PackUK, WRAP, RECOUP, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. The programme brings an unparalleled combine of experience spanning packaging design, sustainability, co-packing, automation, AI, and expertise growth throughout the total worth chain.
Begin-ups and innovators additionally take centre stage. Firms together with Acentrixia Ltd, GreyParrot AI, Trakya Pack, KURZ SCRIBOS, and PackPeer showcase commercially prepared options in AI, good packaging, and sustainable supplies, giving guests an up-close have a look at innovation shaping the way forward for packaging. The Future Trailblazers Awards, in partnership with IOM3, rejoice rising expertise from organisations resembling Alexir, Elddir, GreyParrot AI, James Cropper, and Nestlé, highlighting the subsequent technology of packaging leaders.
With demand accelerating and complimentary passes being claimed at tempo, professionals are urged to register now to safe entry to the UK’s most influential packaging occasion of 2026.
The submit One week to go: The packaging world set to converge at Packaging Improvements & Empack 2026 first appeared on Warehouse & Logistics Information.
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