The Greek packaging industry is currently undergoing a phase of structural realignment. According to Grocery Trade News, manufacturers have expanded capacities, modernised production lines and aligned themselves more closely with the requirements of international private-label programmes in recent years. The market is driven primarily by flexible packaging, corrugated board and metal packaging. The main growth drivers are rising food exports, demand for chilled products, tourism and the expansion of private-label programmes.
A particularly significant development is the loss of domestic glass container production. Following the permanent closure of BA Glass’s Egaleo plant in 2024/2025, Greece no longer has its own production facilities for glass containers. All commercial glass packaging used by Greek beverage producers and FMCG manufacturers is now imported, mainly from plants in Bulgaria and Romania. This structural shift affects lead times, logistics planning and the resilience of supply chains in product categories that depend on glass packaging.
The Greek food and beverage industry is one of the main pillars of the manufacturing sector and at the same time a key sector for the packaging market. As one of the country’s largest industrial buyers, it shapes demand for primary, secondary and transport packaging across large parts of Greece. The sector is closely linked with agriculture, tourism, gastronomy and hospitality, and maintains a strong presence in European and international markets. In 2022, it accounted for 27.7 percent of all industrial enterprises in Greece, 23.2 percent of manufacturing turnover and 21.9 percent of production value. The sector also carries considerable weight in foreign trade: the share of processed food and beverages in the country’s total goods exports rose to 14.0 percent in 2024, up from 13.4 percent the previous year. Exports are driven mainly by fruit and vegetables, dairy products, and oils and fats, which together account for around two thirds of the sector’s exports. For the packaging industry, this means sustained demand for product-specific, logistics-ready and export-suitable packaging solutions. Added to this is Greece’s favourable logistical location as a hub between Europe, Asia and North Africa, which supports both the export of packaged goods and the import of packaging materials.
This demand is reinforced by tourism, which significantly increases seasonal consumption of beverage, foodservice and HoReCa-related packaging. ELSTAT (Hellenic Statistical System) reported around 29.5 million arrivals and 116.9 million overnight stays in hotels and similar establishments for 2024, both above the previous year’s level. This is relevant for the packaging market because seasonal peaks increase demand for quickly available, logistics-ready packaging solutions.
For 2023, Greece is reported to have generated 107.65 kg of packaging waste per capita, with a recycling rate of 48.0 percent (51.7 kg per capita). This leaves Greece well below the EU level: in 2023, the EU recorded 177.8 kg of packaging waste generated per capita and an overall recycling rate of 67.5 percent.
The material mix of packaging waste generated in Greece in 2023, by share of total weight, is heavily dominated by paper-based solutions: paper/cardboard about 39.7 percent, plastic about 23.5 percent, glass about 13.8 percent, wood about 13.6 percent, metal about 9.2 percent, and other materials about 0.2 percent. Compared with the EU average, Greece has a higher share of plastic and a lower share of glass.
Greece presumably failed to meet the 2025 target for preparing municipal waste for reuse and recycling and is at risk of missing the recycling target for total packaging waste. The same applies to the target of limiting the landfilling of municipal waste by 2035.
The market is therefore under pressure to modernise packaging systems more decisively. The EEA (European Environment Agency) lists a number of ongoing or planned levers in Greece, including pay-as-you-throw schemes, a nationwide single-use deposit approach for certain packaging formats, and a gradual increase in landfill charges to €55 per tonne by 2027. For packaging manufacturers and brand owners, this means that design for recycling, separated material streams and data-capable EPR compliance are becoming increasingly important.
Particularly important for packaging suppliers is the upcoming reorganisation of the deposit system for beverage packaging. Greece is preparing to introduce a nationwide deposit-return system for plastic bottles and aluminium cans. The rollout is expected to begin in 2026 and be extended nationwide over a period of two years. The introduction has been postponed several times in Greece. A planned launch at the end of 2025 did not take place, and implementation was delayed by legislative, administrative and operational hurdles. The originally discussed inclusion of glass bottles and beverage cartons has reportedly been dropped. The plan provides for more than 4,200 reverse vending machines and around 9,700 manual return points in supermarkets, small shops, kiosks and the hospitality sector. The new system is intended to create return incentives through a deposit of €0.10 for containers up to 0.5 litres and €0.15 for larger sizes. The target is a collection and recycling rate of 90 percent by 2028.
This is relevant for the packaging industry for several reasons. First, PET and aluminium beverage packaging will in future be deliberately removed from the existing Blue Bin system. This is likely to improve the quality of collected recyclables, but it will also change material flows and revenue structures in the existing packaging recycling system, because plastic and aluminium are among the more valuable fractions.
The direction is clear: the Greek packaging market is not simply continuing to grow, it is being reshaped. The winners will be those suppliers that bring together supply security, recycling and regulatory requirements at an early stage — and turn restructuring into a competitive advantage.
Author: Alexander Stark, Editor FACHPACK360°
