Sustainability is no longer a “nice to have” in packaging. In Esko’s 2026 Packaging Trends Survey, 84% of respondents said environmental sustainability will be important or very important for their company’s packaging in 2026.
But the same research highlights a tougher truth: the industry’s ability to deliver credible, auditable sustainability data is being held back by disconnected systems and manual processes. Respondents rated their average digital maturity at just 6.2/10, with the biggest barriers being lack of integration between systems (161 mentions) and outdated manual processes (130 mentions).
84% of respondents said environmental sustainability will be important or very important for their company’s packaging in 2026.
At the same time, change is accelerating. Artificial intelligence was ranked as the #2 technology expected to have the greatest impact on packaging by 2026 (second only to automation).
And agentic AI is moving from theory into reality: 33% of large enterprises now use agentic AI in production, up from 11% only months earlier (via KPMG, as cited in the report).
Why does this matter for sustainability teams, printers and converters? Because speed and accuracy are becoming non-negotiable. A study commissioned by Amazon (cited in the report) found 30–35% of packaging is updated annually — and every update creates churn, cost, and risk when sustainability data is trapped in PDFs, spreadsheets or siloed tools.
This is exactly why CarbonQuota focuses on sustainability intelligence embedded into workflows — helping teams measure carbon impacts earlier, reduce rework, and make better design and production decisions with confidence.
Download the eBook to explore the key trends shaping 2026 and the practical steps packaging businesses can take now to turn sustainability from a reporting burden into a competitive advantage
Have questions about sustainability in Packaging – we’d be happy to help – please get in touch.
