Applications open from March 3 to April 30, 2026. €600,000 up for grabs for companies innovating sustainable packaging.
Ecodesign applied to packaging is back in the spotlight with the thirteenth edition of Ecopack, the call for entries promoted by CONAI – the Italian National Packaging Consortium – which is putting up a total prize fund of €600,000 to reward the most innovative and sustainable packaging solutions placed on the Italian market in the 2024/2025 biennium.
The initiative targets packaging manufacturers and users that have redesigned their packs with a focus on innovation, efficiency and reduced environmental impact, turning sustainability into a strategic driver of industrial development.
Nine ecodesign levers
Applications are open from March 3 to April 30, 2026. The competition is structured around nine key areas of intervention: reuse, refill, facilitation of recycling activities, use of recycled/recovered materials, raw material savings, reduction in the use of virgin raw materials, optimization of production processes, logistics optimization, and simplification of the packaging system.
Projects concerning packaging made from all major materials – steel, aluminum, paper, wood, plastic, compostable bioplastic and glass – are eligible. There is no limit to the number of cases that may be submitted, provided that primary packaging entries involve different formats, and that for secondary or tertiary packaging the ecodesign intervention differs.
€600,000 in prizes and special awards
The total prize fund remains unchanged from previous editions: €550,000 will be distributed among all admitted cases based on the score achieved in the ranking. An additional €50,000 will fund five “special awards” worth €10,000 each, reserved for the most virtuous projects from a circular economy perspective.
Each edition of Ecopack marks a further milestone toward a more sustainable production system - comments Simona Fontana, general manager of CONAI - Today more than ever, the way we design packaging can make a difference: choosing solutions that reduce environmental impact means not only optimizing resource use, but also making a tangible contribution to building an increasingly circular model. Rewarding companies that invest in sustainable innovation is our way of recognizing those playing a decisive role for the future of the Planet. We hope that more and more companies will take up this challenge
Technical evaluation and environmental criteria
Each proposal will undergo a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using the CONAI Eco Tool and will be reviewed by the Technical Committee, which will verify compliance with the requirements set out in the Regulations. The five special awards will be assigned by an extended Technical Committee that also includes external experts. A mandatory requirement for admission is the demonstration - through a comparison between the “before” and “after” packaging - of environmental benefits in at least two of the three LCA indicators analyzed: energy savings, reduction in water consumption, and cuts in CO₂ emissions. As in every edition, the assessment procedures will be verified by an independent third-party certification body to ensure transparency and fairness throughout the entire process.
The list of winning cases will be announced in November 2026 during the traditional award ceremony. The full regulations are available at www.conai.org and www.ecotoolconai.org.
