Nicolò Giovannini at PRIMA 2026: The Future of Paper Packaging
Paper is becoming one of the most promising answers to the packaging industry’s sustainability challenges. But turning that promise into industrial reality requires technology, testing, and close collaboration across the entire value chain.
Is paper really the packaging material of the future?
It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is far from straightforward.
Paper is familiar, natural, recyclable, and increasingly central to the sustainability strategies of global brands. But when paper enters the world of high-performance industrial packaging, the real challenge is not simply replacing one material with another. The real challenge is making it work.
That is where one of the most relevant conversations at PRIMA 2026 begins. The international conference dedicated to paper, fiber, pulp, and packaging will bring together key players from across the value chain to explore how sustainability, industrial performance, and innovation can shape the future of packaging materials.
Among the speakers at the 2026 edition will be Nicolò Giovannini, Senior Key Account Manager at Universal Pack, who will share the company’s perspective on one of the most discussed transitions in the industry: the paperization of packaging.
Who is Nicolò Giovannini?
Nicolò Giovannini is Senior Key Account Manager at Universal Pack, where he manages strategic customers and international projects in the automatic packaging industry.
His role puts him in daily contact with very practical market needs: productivity, reliability, pack quality, dosing accuracy, waste reduction, and compatibility with increasingly sustainable materials.
In other words, Nicolò works right at the point where major industry trends need to become real, scalable industrial solutions.
Because talking about paper in packaging is important. But understanding how paper performs on a high-speed packaging line is what truly makes the topic decisive.
The speech: “Evolving paper packaging through improved machinability and sealing”
At PRIMA 2026, Nicolò Giovannini will take part in the panel titled:
“Evolving paper packaging through improved machinability and sealing”
The topic is essential for the future of flexible packaging. Paper does not only need to be sustainable. It also needs to be converted, formed, sealed, filled, and handled consistently throughout the entire production process.
In automatic packaging, especially for sachets and stick packs, every material must meet very specific requirements. It needs to run smoothly on the machine, maintain dimensional stability, ensure reliable sealing quality, protect the product, and deliver a consistent final pack.
Paperization, then, is not just a design choice or a sustainability claim. It is a technical, industrial, and collaborative journey.
Paperization: sustainable promise or technological challenge?
Over the past few years, many brands have started looking at paper as an alternative to traditional packaging materials. The push comes from several directions: more conscious consumers, stricter regulations, ESG targets, plastic reduction goals, and the search for solutions that are easier to recycle.
But one question remains open: can paper truly replace other materials in every application?
The answer is not automatic. It depends on the product, the format, the required barrier properties, shelf life, sealing system, line speed, and production environment.
That is why the transition toward paper-based packaging requires constant dialogue between material producers, brand owners, converters, and machine manufacturers.
Universal Pack contributes to this conversation with the experience of a company that designs technologies for single-serve packaging and understands the variables that make a material truly processable on an industrial scale.
The key questions shaping the future of paper packaging
Nicolò Giovannini’s contribution at PRIMA will open the door to several important questions.
When can paper packaging be considered truly sustainable?
It is not enough to focus only on the material itself. The full life cycle matters: recyclability, production efficiency, generated waste, and the pack’s ability to properly protect the product.
Is paper ready for high-speed packaging lines?
Machinability is one of the most important aspects. A sustainable material also needs to guarantee stability, accuracy, and continuity during the packaging process.
How can sustainability and performance be balanced?
A package must be more sustainable, but it also needs to be safe, strong, functional, and market-ready. True innovation lies in the balance between these factors.
What role do machine manufacturers play in paperization?
Machines are not a secondary part of the transition. They are where the material is truly put to the test. That is why collaboration between material developers and packaging technology manufacturers is essential.
Will the future be made only of paper?
Most likely, the future will not be defined by a single solution. It will be shaped by smarter material choices based on each specific application. Paper will play an increasingly important role, especially when it can combine sustainability, product protection, and industrial performance.
From declared sustainability to achievable sustainability
Universal Pack’s participation in PRIMA confirms the importance of a pragmatic approach to sustainable innovation.
Today, packaging can no longer be evaluated only by looking at the material used. It needs to be assessed as a system: material, machine, product, process, logistics, end use, and recycling.
Only then can sustainability move from a promise to a measurable result.
In this scenario, paper represents one of the most interesting directions for the industry. But to truly become the packaging material of the future, it must pass one decisive test: performing reliably in the present.
Universal Pack at PRIMA 2026
Through Nicolò Giovannini’s participation, Universal Pack will bring its experience in automatic packaging to PRIMA 2026, contributing to the discussion on how innovative materials and industrial technologies can evolve together.
Paperization is an open challenge. It requires research, testing, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
And it is precisely in this space, between sustainability and performance, that the future of packaging is being built.
Because tomorrow’s packaging will not only need to be more sustainable. It will also need to be efficient, scalable, safe, and ready for industrial production.
