Pack Expo 2026: AI Knowledge Transfer and Toxics Top Packaging Agenda

U.S. packaging machinery shipments grew 2.3% in 2025, and PMMI projects another 4.5% increase this year, according to Jorge Izquierdo, the association's vice president of market development.

Izquierdo presented the figures at Pack Expo International 2026, which closed Wednesday at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center. PMMI, the event host, estimated attendance at 45,000 across four days.

Izquierdo identified productivity, automation, resilience and flexibility as the industry's dominant priorities. Sustainability decisions are now rippling into equipment and operations, he said, citing lightweighting, increased PCR use, elimination of secondary packaging and reduced packaging sizes.

The challenge for many companies is keeping up with what is next. Firms invest in equipment optimized for a specific material, then sustainability decisions change that material. PMMI built a Material Transitioning Dashboard to track which materials companies are altering or eliminating.

Where is AI actually landing on the plant floor?

Artificial intelligence has appeared at Pack Expo for several years, but it is now entering operations for specific purposes rather than as a novelty.

"By far the number one adoption in AI is with knowledge transfer," Izquierdo said. Use cases include scanning an operating or service manual into a conversational AI powered by a large language model such as ChatGPT, or an operator wearing a body camera that records everything said and done during a shift for trainees to study.

"You're going to notice that a big part of the improvements on the equipment is in that area: how to improve the training, the knowledge transfer, and how to enable the operators," he said. "The use of AI in machine vision is not new, but the level of sophistication is there. It's becoming much more accessible."

Predictive maintenance is another AI growth area, along with compliance support and data transparency. Izquierdo tied compliance directly to policy pressure.

"When you're talking about sanitation, collecting all that data is cumbersome. When you're talking about extended producer responsibility, collecting all that data and feeding it into the system is significant," he said. "So compliance is very important."

Why are chemicals of concern rising up the agenda?

Presenters from Ameripen and the Flexible Packaging Association both flagged chemicals of concern and toxics in packaging as a rising issue. For years the industry has worked to remove PFAS. In the last 18 months, scrutiny has expanded beyond those "forever chemicals," coinciding with the Make America Healthy Again movement initiated by the Trump administration.

"I don't necessarily put that as a political initiative. It's a groundswell initiative, as well, from others who are concerned about what's coming into their food, and now subsequently what's coming into packaging as well," said FPA CEO Dan Felton.

Previewing FPA's soon-to-be-released annual state of the industry report, Felton showed that reducing chemicals of concern scored highest on "importance in three years" among material and sustainability priorities. FPA also noted a pattern of states seeking to restrict certain chemicals, alongside ramped-up federal activity on how they are regulated under the FDA's Generally Recognized As Safe, or GRAS, pathway.

"We're sort of moving into a new level of requirements and focus on other chemicals, additives, microplastics," Felton said.

Ameripen President Lynn Dyer reported more state laws banning specific materials, chemicals and formats. Drawing on lessons from the PFAS transition, she advised businesses to watch chemicals of concern to guide R&D and manage costs. "Because something works so well, trying to find an alternative can be challenging," she said.

"Think about what are the next chemicals that people are going to be banning, and how do you find replacements for it? How do you start working with your material suppliers to make sure that you have some sort of an alternative?" Dyer said.

What is happening in legislatures?

Most packaging legislation is moving at the state level, Felton noted, though both speakers addressed the limited federal activity. The federal labeling bill, known as the Pack Act, has advanced through certain House committees but awaits a champion in the Senate, Dyer said.

Felton added a forward-looking signal for marketers: if the House flips to Democratic control in the midterm elections, expect more conversations on potential federal EPR when the new Congress convenes next year.