Sustainable Packaging Trends: The Winners of the European Carton Excellence Award 2025

Whether beer multipack, chocolate packaging, or beauty advent calendar – at the European Carton Excellence Award 2025 (ECEA) in Istanbul on September 18, everything revolved around sustainable packaging solutions. The award-winning folding cartons impressively demonstrate how recyclability, material savings, and creative design go hand in hand. 

 A highlight of the competition was the multipack developed by Graphic Packaging International for the Belgian beer brand Leffe. The innovative folding carton for 20 glass bottles relies on a two-component technology and completely avoids plastic-reinforced handles. Instead, it uses a solution made from renewable wood fibers and recycled cartonboard. The result: a particularly robust and sustainable packaging. Even small details, such as a detachable barcode that makes checkout easier, show how carton packaging can improve consumers’ everyday lives. 

The award ceremony in Istanbul once again made it clear: sustainability and resource efficiency remain the defining themes of the industry. Carton packaging is increasingly replacing mixed materials, scoring points with recyclability and carbon dioxide savings. For the first time in 2025, new brand-owner-focused categories were also recognized – ranging from food and beverage packaging to beauty and pharmaceutical solutions. This underlines that folding cartons and fiber-based packaging are now firmly established as success factors across all market segments. 

One of the most emotional moments of the evening was the award for Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus. Its packaging design Easter Filled Figures, created by DUCAJU, won the Public Award 2025 with more than 7,600 votes. The house-shaped carton evokes festive associations and features a practical closing mechanism that allows repeated opening and closing. This shows how folding cartons can serve not only as sustainable packaging solutions but also as a way to create positive brand experiences – for both adults and children. 

The evening’s highest honor – the Carton of the Year – went to Van Genechten Packaging and Metsä Board. Their project Lumene 24 Nordic Beauty Secrets reinterprets the Advent wreath: a hexagonal tray with spiral-shaped boxes, made entirely from FSC-certified cartonboard. Enhanced with Nordic-inspired design elements such as holographic effects, the advent calendar is nevertheless fully recyclable – a prime example of how modern packaging design can unite sustainability and brand storytelling.