Iulia Malioukis, Horváth: “Companies are starting to focus on sustainability initiatives”

“Together with our colleagues from Germany, we did an extensive study on the evolution of the packaging industry until 2025. One of the main trends is the circular economy, which will change the entire industry.

The packaging industry is one of the most important sectors in the European Union’s action plan. There is more packaging for the consumer than there is for the industry, in a proportion of 60-40.

If we compare ourselves with Europe, Romania still has a long way to go in this field of packaging recycling. I expect the gap to be narrowed in the context in which more and more companies have sustainability and circular economy initiatives,” Iulia Malioukis, Senior Project Manager, Horváth said during Circular Economy Conference organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“The strongest trend in the packaging industry is sustainability, which is visible through that CO2 footprint. This footprint is beginning to become relevant to all companies in the field. Another trend is the change in consumer behaviour. I am referring here to the increase in the number of online orders, to the awareness of the impact on the environment. Consumers are the ones guiding the industry to these biodegradable packaging.

Another relevant trend is smart packaging, packaging optimization, AI technology applied to packaging.

We noticed that there is a desire on the part of companies to bring innovation and to put more emphasis on sustainability, not only from a regulatory perspective, but also from an efficiency perspective. Companies have realized that investing in new technologies brings benefits in terms of longer-term sustainable business development. The regulations in the field should be clear, simplified and there should be consistency in the first place.

Standards should be higher when it comes to waste management and CO2 footprint.

Every industry has trendsetters in terms of sustainability, and entrepreneurs increasingly want to invest in business in the circular economy.”

Full recording of the conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oonbexyNmcw&t=9905s