More than 5,000 exhibitors and 430 international buyer delegations took part in this year’s Chinaplas, which filled all 16 halls of the National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai, underlining the scale of one of the plastics and rubber industry’s largest global events.
A total of 350,189 visitors attended the exhibition, which took place against a backdrop of continued volatility in raw material prices and ongoing pressure across global supply chains.
In response, it centred on four main themes: circular economy development, digitalisation, innovative materials, and China’s high-end manufacturing capabilities – under the broader framing of transformation, collaboration, and sustainability.
Across the show floor, these themes were reflected in live production systems, material innovations and recycling technologies spanning the full plastics value chain.
From artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled manufacturing and connected production systems to advances in mechanical and chemical recycling, the emphasis was increasingly on linking material design with processing performance and end-of-life outcomes.
More broadly, the exhibition highlighted Asia’s growing role as a centre of gravity for plastics production and innovation. Strong international participation reflected an industry navigating cost pressures, regulatory change, and rising demand for more circular packaging systems.
Regional highlights
Vietnam
Strong industrial expansion across Southeast Asia is increasingly visible in Vietnam’s packaging sector, where manufacturing growth is feeding directly into demand for materials and finished packaging formats.
In 2025, industrial production rose 10.3 per cent year on year in the second quarter, with processing and manufacturing up 12.3 per cent, according to the National Statistics Office of Vietnam, driven by food, consumer goods and electronics production that relies heavily on packaged goods.
That growth is translating into rapid expansion in plastics consumption. Vietnam’s plastics market reached 11.84 million tonnes in 2025 and is forecast to exceed 17m/t by 2030, growing at 8.44 per cent annually, according to Mordor Intelligence. Packaging is the dominant-end use, led by food, beverage, and export-driven manufacturing.
Food and beverage production is the main driver of packaging demand, particularly in processed foods and liquid products where packaging choices are closely linked to shelf-life, safety and export requirements, according to a Chinaplas report. Films, containers and injection moulded formats are widely used, while demand for aseptic and flexible packaging is increasing alongside growth in convenience consumption.
Capacity is expanding in response. Swedish multinational food packaging firm Tetra Pak has increased production in Vietnam to around 30 billion packs annually, reinforcing its role in supplying aseptic carton packaging across regional beverage markets.
Sustainability regulation is also beginning to influence material selection. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements are pushing producers to strengthen collection and recycling systems and increase the use of rPET in packaging applications.
This is supporting investment in recycling infrastructure, including PET washing and processing technologies supplied by surface treatment global business Chemetall, which are improving recycled material quality for use in regulated packaging streams.
Indonesia
Rapid industrial growth in Indonesia is reshaping packaging demand, supported by rising consumption, urbanisation and regulatory change in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country’s plastics market is projected to grow at around 6 per cent annually between 2025 and 2033, reaching about $14 billion by 2033, according to research company Imarc Group.
Packaging demand is being driven primarily by food and beverage applications, where producers are under increasing pressure to reduce material use while improving efficiency and recyclability. This is supporting greater adoption of injection moulded and flexible packaging formats, alongside a wider shift towards lighter and more resource-efficient designs.
Regulation is accelerating this transition. EPR requirements, becoming mandatory in 2025, have pushed producers to take greater responsibility for packaging waste and increasing investment in recyclable and lower impact materials across the value chain.
Industry response is already visible in new partnerships. Dynapack Asia and AeroFlexx, for example, are developing lightweight flexible packaging designed to reduce virgin plastics use while maintaining performance, aligning with EPR compliance requirements.
Aseptic and liquid packaging capacity is also expanding. LamiPak Indonesia has increased production capability through its integrated facility, reflecting growing regional demand for food-safe, long shelf-life packaging formats.
Material innovation is extending into recyclable flexible packaging systems as well, with Indoceria Plastik and Printing working with ExxonMobil to develop full PE-based recyclable solutions aimed at improving circularity in packaging formats that have traditionally been difficult to recycle.
Malaysia
Malaysia is strengthening its position as a high value manufacturing base in Southeast Asia, supported by its role as both a regional feedstock hub and a downstream production centre supplying packaging, electronics and consumer goods industries.
The plastics market is projected to grow from $4.19bn in 2026 to $5.07bn in 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of 3.86 per cent, according to Mordor Intelligence. Growth is being shaped increasingly by demand for recycled and bio-based materials, alongside investment in higher efficiency processing systems.
A large share of this expansion is being driven by food and beverage packaging, where stricter food safety requirements and halal certification standards are pushing demand for higher performance materials. Films, pouches, PET bottles and containers remain core formats, but producers are increasingly focusing on packaging systems that combine functionality with compliance and sustainability requirements.
This shift is attracting investment in recycled content production. FE Green PET has secured $35.5 million in green and sustainability linked financing for a rPET resin plant in Melaka, designed to produce 50,000 metric tonnes annually from post-consumer plastics waste. The project supports bottle-to-bottle recycling systems for global beverage supply chains and reflects growing regional demand for food-grade recycled materials.
Speciality and functional packaging capacity is also expanding. Colorcon has opened a film coating manufacturing facility in Johor, producing materials used in controlled release formulations and pharmaceutical and nutraceutical packaging applications, highlighting Malaysia’s growing role in regulated high-performance packaging segments.
Sustainability and technical capability are increasingly linked across the sector, with investment focused on improving material performance while meeting regulatory and environmental expectations. This is reinforcing Malaysia’s position as a production base for advanced packaging materials serving both regional and export markets.
Japan
In more mature packaging markets, the focus is shifting away from volume growth towards material transformation and system-level circularity. This is particularly evident in Japan, where industrial maturity is increasingly reflected in stronger adoption of recycled content, bioplastics and lifecycle-based design approaches.
Concerns around marine plastics waste in recent years are thought to have helped accelerate this shift, while the post-pandemic period reinforced the importance of packaging in maintaining hygiene and product protection across food and consumer goods. As a result, attention has moved towards materials that can balance performance with environmental impact.
That transition is becoming visible in everyday packaging formats. In foodservice, some restaurant chains have begun replacing paper straws with bioplastics alternatives, while in beverage packaging recycled content is increasingly used in PET bottles, supported by established collection and recycling systems.
Industry coordination is also strengthening. The Sustainable Plastics Initiative, known as SusPla and established in 2024, brings together recyclers, manufacturers, brand owners and research institutions to build a more integrated circular system for plastics – spanning collection, recycling and reuse.
Corporate strategies are reinforcing this direction. Kao has increased its plastics recycling rate from 1 per cent in 2021 to 8 per cent in 2024, with a target to peak fossil-derived plastics use in packaging by 2030 through greater use of recycled inputs across its product portfolio.
Bioplastics adoption is also expanding, supported by national policy targets to increase usage by 2030. Their compatibility with existing processing systems and comparable performance to conventional plastics is supporting wider uptake in packaging applications, particularly in foodservice and beverage-related formats.
Show highlights
A strong focus across Chinaplas 2026 was the continued shift towards recyclable packaging systems, higher production efficiency and greater integration of recycled and bio-based materials. Exhibitors increasingly positioned material innovation alongside processing performance and cost reduction, reflecting a more system-level approach to packaging design and manufacturing.
Flexible packaging development was one of the most visible themes. Windmöller & Hölscher highlighted mono-material PE and PP structures designed to improve recyclability while reducing material usage. Among the concepts shown were sealable blown machine-direction oriented (MDO) PE pouches reported to be up to 30 per cent thinner than conventional frozen food formats, alongside high-barrier sachets developed as alternatives to metallised multilayer structures.
The company also presented a cast MDO PP pouch concept combining barrier performance with a single material structure, supported by solvent free printing and converting technologies aimed at improving end-of-life recyclability.
Circular materials and chemical recycling were also strongly represented. SK Chemicals showcased more than 100 finished products made from recycled and bio-based polymers across cosmetics and food and beverage packaging applications. Its depolymerisation-based PET and copolyester platforms were positioned as a route to producing higher clarity and more consistent recycled grades suitable for more demanding packaging uses.
The company’s chief executive Ahn Jae-hyun said he and his colleagues wanted to make it clear that the adoption of recycled plastics is not a distant future goal, but a solution that is ready to be deployed today.
“By actively communicating our technologies across the entire value chain, from feedstock to finished materials, and the progress we have achieved in a wide range of applications, we will further solidify the global standing of Korea’s circular recycling solutions,” Jae-hyun explained.
Recycling infrastructure and processing efficiency were another key focus. Coperion introduced a standardised PET recycling system covering capacities from 500kg per hour to 10t per hour. Designed for bottle to bottle, bottle to sheet, and tray recycling applications, the system can also integrate solid state polycondensation to produce food-contact compliant rPET.
The company additionally highlighted twin screw extrusion technology aimed at improving compounding efficiency, throughput and consistency in recycled polymer processing.
Additive technologies were presented as a further lever for upgrading recyclate quality. Evonik showcased systems designed to remove inks, labels and odours during mechanical recycling, enabling contaminated waste streams to be upgraded into higher value recyclates. It also highlighted per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances-free processing aids designed to improve processing stability and surface quality in packaging production.
On the machinery side, suppliers focused on productivity, energy efficiency and high volume stability. Engel demonstrated high-speed injection moulding of PP closure caps in a 48 cavity system with a 12-second cycle time, emphasising all electric energy efficiency and compact production cell design.
Husky Technologies highlighted integrated systems for high-output packaging applications, including PP yoghurt cup production and PET preform manufacturing, with increasing use of recycled content, lightweighting strategies and evolving closure designs.
“Our longstanding presence in this region has enabled us to closely understand the day-to-day challenges and priorities of local food, beverage, consumer packaging, and medical device producers,” said Robert Domodossola, Husky’s president and chief executive.
“Chinaplas is an important opportunity for us to engage directly with customers, both existing and prospective, to listen, collaborate, and ensure our solutions are aligned with their goals as they compete in one of the world’s fastest-growing packaging markets.”
The common thread across the show was the alignment of material innovation with real manufacturing constraints, particularly recyclability, process stability and cost-effective high-volume output.
Future outlook
A consistent message from Chinaplas exhibitors was that cost remains one of the main barriers to scaling circular plastics in packaging applications. Polyolefins producer LyondellBasell noted that improving competitiveness depends first on improving infrastructure, particularly feedstock availability.
“The most important factor is improving the cost efficiency of circular materials,” said Wang Chen, the company’s sustainability director for olefins and polyolefins in China, who added that this relies on “strengthening the basic infrastructure, especially increasing feedstock supply through improved collection and sorting systems”.
Alongside economics, packaging production is undergoing a rapid shift towards digitalisation and automation. Machinery suppliers pointed to increasing use of connected systems and data-driven optimisation across production lines. “One of the next major challenges is data,” said Maximilian Cluesserath, president director at Windmöller & Hölscher Indonesia.
“It’s no longer only about machines and hardware, but about how to use data effectively. The key is to turn it into actionable insights.”
The company also highlighted the development of AI-enabled platforms aimed at improving benchmarking and production performance, reflecting a wider move towards more autonomous manufacturing environments.
Material design is also evolving, with increasing focus on recyclability by simplification. The industry is witnessing greater interest in mono-material structures and reduced use of colours to improve recycling outcomes.
Martin Spiegel, chief executive of Eisbär Trockentechnik, a German engineering company specialising in drying technology for plastics processing, noted that “one key opportunity is to move towards more mono-material systems, which makes recycling much easier”, adding that simplified material streams could significantly improve system efficiency.
At the same time, chemicals firm Evonik pointed to the challenge of increasingly complex packaging structures, noting that multilayer formats and advanced printing can make recyclability more difficult and will require continued innovation in additives and formulation technologies.
A further structural theme emerging from industry discussion is the need for greater coordination across what remains a fragmented value chain. Brands owners, converters, recyclers and material suppliers continue to operate in separate parts of the system, limiting the pace at which circular solutions can be scaled.
This challenge is increasingly being addressed through industry platforms focused on collaboration and communication. The Plastic is Fantastic Association, which recently expanded its presence into Asia and appointed Sandy Lin as cluster director for the region, aims to promote more fact-based dialogue around plastics and strengthen cross value chain engagement.
“The industry has traditionally been quite fragmented, with brands, converters, additive suppliers, recyclers and virgin material producers all operating separately,” said Lin. “There is no single way to streamline the entire system today. Our aim is to better connect the full value chain and create a more collaborative platform where all stakeholders can contribute.”
Alongside structural integration, the association also highlighted the importance of localisation and education, particularly in Asia, where market conditions and consumer perceptions vary significantly.
Improving understanding of plastics, particularly among younger generations, is seen as part of the longer term transition towards more informed material choices and circular systems.
