The doors to London Packaging Week 2025 have officially opened at Excel London, welcoming thousands of industry leaders, innovators, and visionaries to the UK’s biggest celebration of packaging creativity and innovation. From luxury and beauty to food, drink, and FMCG, the first day set the stage for two days of insight, inspiration, and connection across four dynamic exhibitions and three packed conference stages.
Josh Brooks, Divisional Director – Packaging Portfolio at event organiser Easyfairs said, “We know events is a very numbers-driven business. But I think the North Star for us, and what gets me out of bed in the morning, is when we’re running an event where we know that there’s a really passionate community that comes together, and we’re playing a role in helping things move forward, and creating a story.
“Every year it feels a little bit more luxury, which is what we’re trying to do – we’re really trying to make this show represent more and more every year the really cool industries that it serves. I personally feel we have really levelled up on that front this year.
“And whether it’s regulation, whether it’s design inspiration, whether it’s the materials, we’re bringing something to the party for everybody who walks through the door.”
The need for the entire value chain to ‘rethink’ refill, reuse, and recycling was the key takeaway from the WRAP-led session on the UK Packaging Pact and the circular economy in action.
Guided by WRAP chair Sebastian Munden, the panel of James Bull, Head of Packaging & Food Waste Strategies at Tesco, Paula Chin, Senior Policy Adviser (Consumption) at WWF, Catherine Conway Director, Reuse Lead at GoUnpackaged, Stuart Hayward-Higham, Chief Technical Development and Innovation Officer at SUEZ, gave an insight-packed session that looked at how the UK Packaging Pact is informing and evolving the way the industry looks at refillable solutions, is helping to scale reuse and refill systems, and working ensure all packaging materials are responsibly sourced and kept in circulation.
While the UK Packaging Pact came into being in April 2018, all panellists noted there remains strong need for the supply chain to rethink reuse, refill, and recycling. Specifically, Mr Hayward-Higham spoke of the need for ‘systemic change’ up and down the packaging value chain. Building on this, Ms Conway referenced extensive studies that have proven favourable costs associated with refillables and reusable packaging when compared to single-use plastics, particularly when considered at scale. This differs from the historically accepted norm, whereby single-use plastics was considered a more economically viable option.
Ms Chin went on to warn that there needs to be careful consideration of the impact of switching from single-use to reusable formats beyond the obvious waste reduction conversation. Plastic bags were the example given and that, while retailers and consumers have transitioned away from single-use options to reusable options, these use far more material in their construction and when consumer habits do not change in the same way and at the same pace, there is commensurate impact as single-use plastics – if not potentially worse.
Mr Bull’s wish is to see increased investment in the processing and recovery to help support the transition to circular business models. Currently, he noted, there are more waste processing and recovery centres closing than opening. This has a knock-on effect on the ability for the supply chain to actively embrace circularity and cost-effectively follow through on the required need for recycled content.
In the following session, ‘How packaging will pave the way to a circular economy’, Emma Bourne OBE, Director of Circular Economy with UK Governmental department Defra, wished to see PackUK and the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme help to realise an anticipated £10 billion investment in recycling services and infrastructure across the UK over the next 10 years.
This is now becoming a reality with PackUK having issued the first pEPR invoices this week, turning the scheme from theoretical to transactional, according to Jeremy Blake, who recently took over as PackUK CEO.
‘This is a trigger point,’ said Mr Blake. ‘We are now able to use resources to support investment and improvement at the local authority level to fund and boost the performance of the Circular Economy.’
Visitors on the first day of the two-day spectacular enjoyed a vibrant mix of design showcases, sustainability breakthroughs, and future-facing discussions. Kicking off the day with a keynote on inclusivity, Kevin Marshall, Senior Director of Design, Packaging, and Content at Microsoft, said, “I’m thrilled to see how the idea of designing inclusively and building more accessibility in packaging seems to be taking on greater prominence and presence in design thinking and package thinking. When you look at the conference agenda, so much more of it’s talking about accessibility, inclusivity in one way or another.”
Industry association the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) also enjoyed a good first day at London Packaging Week, connecting with members and the wider industry to share the support and services it offers to help the UK printing industry thrive.
The showcase of packaging through the ages by the Museum of Brands provided additional intrigue. This includes a curated selection of brands and packaging through the 20th and into the 21st Century. Samples from tea brand Typhoo, coffee brand Lyons, malt drink Ovaltine, and Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Packaging from as far back as the 1920s evidenced how brands have evolved and innovated their packaging over the previous century. It also evidenced where some are looking back and reviving some design themes and packaging choices. This correlates with the presentation of Museum Director Paul Botje, which takes place on Day Two of London Packaging Week. Under the topic, ‘Innovation is nothing new’, Paul will take the audience on a journey through the evolution of packaging design, explore past trends, see how consumer preferences have changed, and look at what the future holds for branded products.
Botje was impressed by the innovations on show, saying, “Mankind and the human brain want to make things more efficient, cheaper, easier, and less costly. Those are really important drivers for innovation. It’s happened throughout the ages, and it’s still happening. So all the innovations you see here, extremely clever stuff, it’s all driven by the same urge to make things better.”
The show was also hugely newsworthy for the paper industry, as it represented the first chance for the UK market to experience James Cropper’s Coloursource, a range of premium UK-made coloured papers.
Paul Davinson, Sales Director at Winter & Company, the exclusive seller of James Cropper’s Coloursource, felt the show was the perfect place to generate maximum exposure for the new partnership. “It’s obviously a very exciting collaboration for us and we’re very interested to get it underway,” he said. “James Cropper is our number one supplier. It’s a business that we’ve worked collaboratively with for almost 50 years, and we believe there is a huge place in the market for a UK-made paper, made to the quality and in the way that James Cropper makes it, and we want to support that and to be involved in it.”
As ever, the show was well-attended by some of the biggest brands in luxury, retail, and consumer goods. Yvonne Isherwood, Head of Product and Packaging Design at Fortnum & Mason, spoke of the importance of events like London Packaging Week when building trusting relationships with partners. “We value all of the creativity and actually working together as a partner, not just a supplier,” she explained. “When something goes wrong, how do we react together? When something goes right, how do we celebrate it? It’s very much a partnership that we’re looking for, rather than something that’s down to pennies.
“It’s so nice to collaborate and talk to people because they are all skilled in their own way. Not any one person knows everything, and that’s the beauty of shows like this one.”
With a further day of talks, events, and networking opportunities to come, expectations for the second day of London Packaging Week’s 15th showing are high.
To secure your attendance at the second and final day of London Packaging Week 2025, visit www.londonpackagingweek.com to register for a free visitors’ ticket.
