Material insights company Material ConneXion will attend Packaging Innovations & Empack in the UK for the first time in 2026, bringing a curated exhibition of 45 innovative packaging materials to the Birmingham event on 11-12 February.
Exhibiting at stand A15 in Hall 2, the global materials insights company will showcase a selection of sustainable plastics, advanced pulped fibres, lightweight protective structures and novel closures, highlighting how smarter material choices can reduce waste, improve performance and enhance packaging design.
The collection draws on Material ConneXion’s database of more than 10,000 materials from 7000 manufacturers worldwide. Each material will be presented with technical data, performance metrics and supplier information, enabling designers and brand owners to move from inspiration to implementation.
“Discovery is meaningless without physical validation,” said Andrew Dent, executive vice president of materials research at Material ConneXion. “Touch and feel are critical. You need to know a material will perform in its intended application.”
Mr Dent added that packaging innovation often comes from improving existing materials rather than developing entirely new ones, by adapting how they are formed, coated or combined to achieve better performance with lower environmental impact.
“There won’t be a single wonder material,” Mr Dent said. “The future lies in optimising what we already use – commodity plastics like PET and PP, and industrialised paper and pulp – alongside bio-based sourcing, effective end-of-life solutions and smarter design.”
