Latest Global News on Paperboard Packaging Cartons

1. Paperboard overtook plastics as the world’s dominant packaging material in 2024, accounting for the largest share of new sustainable launches thanks to its high recyclability and lower production cost .

2. New EU rules that took effect in July 2025 force every consumer product sold in the region to carry a digital product passport; folding-carton makers are embedding printed QR codes directly on cartons to deliver ingredient, carbon-footprint and recycling instructions to shoppers .

3. Mondelēz International and Saica Group have just rolled out a heat-sealable, fully paper-based multipack for chocolate and biscuits across Europe. The carton is designed to run on existing flow-wrap lines and is 100 % recyclable in the paper stream .

4. Unilever is piloting a wrapper-less Solero ice-lolly multipack in Ocado (UK): the product sits in a recyclable PE-coated carton with internal dividers, cutting single-use plastic by 95 % .

5. Roberts Bakery has expanded its plastic-free 800 g loaf bag to 300 Tesco stores; the sustainably-sourced paper bag carries a thin PP coating and the OPRL “widely-recycled” logo—marking the first UK bread SKU to achieve this status .

6. BW Papersystems has shipped two five-colour ServoPro rotary die-cutters to McKinley Packaging (US) that can switch carton sizes in under two minutes, targeting the booming e-commerce corrugated market .

7. Saica Group accepted a €32.7 million Spanish-government grant in late July to accelerate decarbonisation of its paperboard mills, aiming to cut CO₂ emissions per tonne of cartonboard by 30 % before 2030 .

8. In North America, SUN Automation and Kolbus Group formed an exclusive distribution partnership in July, giving carton converters access to Kolbus high-speed folding-carton gluers and window-patchers for short-run digital print jobs .