Future Packaging Day 2025: Navigating Change, Creating Impact

Beatrix Praeceptor, CEO of Greiner Packaging, opened the Future Packaging Day with a powerful appeal: “The Future is up to us”—the future doesn’t just happen; we shape it.

In her opening speech, Praeceptor placed current developments in a broader context: an era marked by economic uncertainty and ecological change. In this environment, she emphasized, the packaging industry is particularly in the spotlight — as a system-relevant part of global value chains. The key question is not whether we need packaging, but what it should look like in the future. Sustainability, she stressed, is not a “nice to have” but a business-critical factor.
Praeceptor urged participants to actively contribute to shaping this future: “Together, we can turn ideas into impact—and make sustainable packaging the new standard.”

Dr. Richard von Goetze, Director Key Accounts at Interzero, addressed the growing “feedstock challenge” in plastic recycling — how the industry can secure sufficient suitable material to meet regulatory and market demands.He explained Interzero’s role as a leading European circular economy player, with extensive sorting, recycling, and trading capacities for post-consumer plastics. Von Goetze pointed out that the availability of lightweight packaging in Germany has been declining and is expected to continue dropping, creating economic pressure on sorting and recycling facilities while demand for high-quality recyclate — especially under PPWR — rises sharply. He stressed that packaging design significantly influences waste stream quality. Many current packages are still non-recyclable or difficult to process. Redesigning these packages for recyclability is crucial to optimize material flows and prevent feedstock losses. 

As a key solution, he presented Interzero’s commitment to chemical recycling. Together with OMV, a large-scale feedstock preparation plant is being built in Walldürn to convert mixed plastic waste — previously incinerated — into usable raw material. This technology could play a major role in meeting future recyclate quotas and avoiding material shortages. Von Goetze concluded that circular economy can only succeed as a joint effort across the entire value chain — from packaging design to sorting and innovative recycling processes.

Volker Muche, Managing Director at Pacoon Sustainability, closed the keynote series with “Smart Solutions: How AI Transforms Plastic Recycling.” Using the example of the “KIOptipack” project, Muche explained how AI optimizes sorting, design, and processing of packaging — through real-time quality checks, digital twins, and even odor tests. AI can help detect design flaws early, stabilize processes, and accelerate the development of sustainable alternatives. Despite these opportunities, Muche also addressed challenges such as data availability, privacy, and ethical concerns. His message: AI is key to transforming from a single-use economy to a circular economy.