The calculus behind sustainable packaging equipment is shifting. What CPGs worry about giving up has moved from how a machine runs to what it costs to run.
According to PMMI's white paper The Ripple Effect: CPG Sustainability and the New OEM Spec Sheet, lower cost of production has become the trade-off OEMs most often associate with sustainability-driven equipment, cited by 52% of respondents in 2026, up sharply from 29% the year before. That jump makes cost the dominant concern in these decisions, displacing packaging performance, which fell from 42% in 2025 to 24% in 2026.
