In this course we have relied heavily on experts from academia and industry to discuss the topics of the episodes from their point of view. With the chosen topics we’ve tried to explain the several options we have to make packaging more sustainable in the future and move towards a circular economy. Besides asking these speakers about their specific expertise, we’ve also asked them what they think the packaging industry will look like in the future.

The next video is a compilation of some of the predictions that we’ve heard, ranging from the very near future to a forecast for the next 50 years.

Most experts recognize a change mainly in the way we deal with plastic packaging, either moving to improved recycling of the packaging, or shifting (partially) to renewable materials. Jan Berbee justly notes that this current focus on plastic packaging is mainly due to the attention that ocean plastics now receive. Both Peter Rem’s and Siem Haffmans’ forecast allude to some kind of regulations about the recycling of packaging in the future.