Innovations on Display

For the past 70 years, the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) has held its annual Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards competition. Gold Awards and Silver Awards, as well as a Highest Achievement Award, were handed out at FPA’s 2026 Annual Meeting, held in March in Orlando, Florida.

Some of the winners are highlighted in the May/June edition of FlexPack VOICE^® magazine, which can be found at flexpackvoice.com, along with a full list of award winners.

Here is a closer look at some of the award winners who responded to written questions about their entries after the magazine’s deadline.

ProAmpac

ProAmpac won a Silver Award in Technical Innovation for its ProActive PCR^® Paper Touch Pouch—PLANTERS^® Nut Duos Snacks.

FlexPack VOICE^®: Tell us how you came to develop the package and its use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. 

ProAmpac: The development began with a shared goal between the PLANTERS^® brand and ProAmpac—to elevate sustainability in flexible packaging without compromising performance or premium shelf appeal. The PLANTERS^® brand was seeking a next-generation stand-up pouch that reduced virgin plastic usage while maintaining strong barrier properties and delivering a differentiated consumer experience. By combining ProAmpac’s ProActive PCR® films with our Signature Surfaces^® Paper Touch technology, we transitioned from a conventional multi-layer pouch to a solution that incorporates post-consumer recycled (PCR) content and a tactile, paper-like finish, while still protecting product freshness and brand integrity.

FPV: Who was involved in the development of the packages and what was that process like?

ProAmpac: This was a highly collaborative effort between Hormel Foods (the makers of the PLANTERS^® brand) packaging engineering and brand teams and ProAmpac’s Design & Sample Lab (DASL), materials science experts, and manufacturing teams. From early concept development through commercialization, teams worked closely to align sustainability targets, technical requirements, and consumer expectations. The process involved extensive material testing, performance validation, and press trials to ensure the pouch met food-contact compliance, barrier performance, and runnability requirements on existing filling lines.

FPV: This won a Silver Award for Technical Innovation. Talk a bit about these attributes.

ProAmpac: The pouch represents a significant technical advancement by incorporating mechanically recycled PCR content into a high-barrier, food-contact-compliant structure, an achievement that remains challenging in flexible packaging. The solution delivers excellent oxygen and moisture barrier performance to preserve shelf life, along with strong puncture resistance and flex-crack durability. Additional innovations include linear tear performance, a press-to-close zipper for consumer convenience, and a patent-pending construction. The Paper Touch finish adds a novel sensory dimension, offering the look and feel of paper with the protective performance of film, all while maintaining full runnability on existing equipment.

FPV: How do you intend to market the packages beyond this use?

ProAmpac: This technology platform is highly scalable and applicable beyond nut packaging. ProAmpac sees strong potential for expansion across snacks, dry goods, and other premium food categories where brands are seeking to integrate PCR content and sustainability messaging without sacrificing shelf impact or performance.

FPV: Anything that you want to add?

ProAmpac: One additional aspect worth highlighting is the role of consumer perception. The Paper Touch finish not only communicates sustainability visually but creates a tactile “moment of truth” at the shelf, reinforcing quality, authenticity, and environmental responsibility at the point of purchase. This package exemplifies how collaboration across brand owners, designers, materials experts, and manufacturing teams can push the boundaries of what flexible packaging can achieve. We are proud that this solution demonstrates how sustainability, technical innovation, and premium consumer experience can coexist, and we appreciate the FPA’s recognition of that progress.

TOPPAN Packaging Americas

TOPPAN won a Silver Award for Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging for its Skippy^® Peanut Butter Inverted Squeeze Pack.

FPV: This won a Silver Award for Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging. Talk a bit about these attributes. 

TOPPAN: Nut butters have historically been produced in rigid cups with a twistable closure, requiring a utensil for dispensing. Switching to a flexible pouch with a spout allows consumers to bring their favorite nut butters on the go and consume them with much more flexibility, without the need for a utensil. This format also helps control the amount of nut butter you want on a specific food item with greater precision than spreading it by hand with a knife.

FPV: How do you intend to market the packages beyond this use? 

TOPPAN: We believe there is a strong consumer trend moving from rigid trays to portable, flexible pouches—this has become popular in sour cream as well as the condiment world—as people live more on the go and want to eat their favorite foods while traveling, at work, at school, etc. The flexible pouch format allows smaller quantities to be carried, used, and disposed of without the need for utensils or for storing a large container.

Accredo Packaging Inc.

Accredo Packaging Inc. won Silver Awards in Packaging Excellence and Sustainability for its Deterra^® Drug Disposal Pouch.

FPV: How did you come to develop the Deterra^® Drug Deactivation and Disposal Pouch?

Accredo: Deterra^® was developed through research supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The system was created to address two critical issues: unused medications contributing to misuse and overdose, and pharmaceutical contamination from flushing or improper disposal. As adoption grew, Deterra® by Verde Environmental Technologies partnered with Accredo Packaging to enhance the packaging, not the deactivation chemistry, by creating a more durable, leak-resistant, and sustainable pouch.

Together, the teams engineered a high-barrier flexible package that serves as both the activation chamber and the final disposal container. The updated pouch maintains Deterra^®’s proven safety and performance while improving usability and environmental responsibility for patients, caregivers, and waste handlers.

FPV: Who was involved in the development and what was the process like?

Accredo: It was a deeply collaborative, multi-year R&D effort involving formulation scientists, resin suppliers, and our packaging engineers. We had to solve a unique engineering challenge. The pouch needed to be compatible with the deactivation process while remaining durable and leak-resistant during normal use. It had to safely handle the addition of water and the contents inside without breaking down, swelling, or leaking, ensuring it remained stable from activation through disposal. One of the highlights involves balancing chemical functionality with print adhesion and shelf life. We used our state-of-the-art laboratory in Sugar Land to stress-test the pouch against rigorous safety standards while ensuring it remained easy for a consumer to use.

FPV: Talk a bit about the sustainability attributes.

Accredo: This pouch earned Silver Awards for Packaging Excellence and Sustainability because it redefines what responsible packaging looks like in a medical context:

• Bio-Based Materials: The external layer is crafted from I’m green™ bio-based polyethylene, derived from sugarcane ethanol rather than fossil fuels. This makes the package exceptionally low in carbon footprint.
• Manufacturing Excellence: The pouches are produced in our LEED® Silver-certified facility, the first of its kind in North America to be powered by 100% wind electricity.
• Drastic Waste Reduction: By using our expanded color gamut (ECG) printing process, we reduce ink waste by up to 95% because we eliminate the need for ink changes between jobs.
• Resource Efficiency: Our printing methodology also reduces overall ink and solvent usage by up to 35%

FPV: Anything you would like to add?

Accredo: People often assume you must sacrifice safety to gain sustainability. The pouch demonstrates the opposite. Its bio-based film was engineered to meet the same rigorous performance and containment requirements as conventional plastics. The packaging supports the deactivation process and helps prevent retrieval of medications prior to disposal, while also reducing reliance on fossil-based materials.