Huhtamaki, a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions, will bring together the packaging industry, start-ups, experts and investors at the joint Huhtamaki and Emerald Technology Ventures workshop “The Future of Packaging: How to make packaging better, smarter and more sustainable.”  

The innovation workshop will be held on December 1, 2023, in Helsinki, Finland, at Slush 2023, the world’s leading event for growth companies. More than 100 participants at the forefront of packaging innovation from across the world will join forces and work together to solve packaging circularity. 

“Packaging plays an essential role in securing accessibility, safety, hygiene, and affordability of food and everyday necessities for people around the world,” says Marina Madanat, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Huhtamaki. “The value of packaging is high, for instance, in helping to solve the problem of food waste that contributes 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling of packaging, a valuable resource, remains the next big challenge that needs partnerships across the industry and visionary start-ups to solve.”

Madanat added: “Huhtamaki continues to introduce breakthrough innovation for packaging circularity, such as technologies for high-barrier flexible mono-material structures, high-precision fiber technologies for complex shapes, and paperboard containers with re-pulpable coatings. We need to do more together across the packaging life cycle to develop more sustainable solutions and ensure the recycling of packaging,” 

Emerald Technology Ventures – a leader in sustainable industrial technology venture capital – announced the launch of a fund focused on sustainable packaging in April 2022. The fund, in which Huhtamaki participates, is one of the first venture-backed investment vehicles targeting the financing of innovations across the full packaging lifecycle.

“We are thrilled to be working with Huhtamaki in the push to transform the packaging sector and excited to meet promising start-ups in Helsinki,” says Gina Domanig, Emerald Managing Partner. “Our fund invests in start-ups developing advanced material solutions and digital technologies supporting corporates from the entire packaging value circle – raw material producers, converters, FMCG players, retailers as well as waste management companies and recyclers. Our aim is to help solve the largest sustainability challenges in packaging for global players across industries."