Portugal’s Packaging Market: Growth in Fresh Food, Recycling as a Constraint

Portugal’s packaging market is currently shaped by three developments that partly pull in different directions: key material segments are seeing moderate growth, demand in the fresh food segment is rising mainly due to exports, and at the same time collection and recycling systems are coming under increasing pressure.

Some segments are growing steadily, and fresh supply chains are generating additional volumes. At the same time, it remains unclear whether sufficient suitable waste and material streams will ultimately be available to enable high-quality recycling.

This assessment is based on forecasts for plastic, glass and fresh food packaging, as well as data on the collection of packaging waste.

Plastic Packaging on the Rise

In the plastic packaging segment, the study “Portugal Plastic Packaging Industry Outlook 2022–2026” expects revenues to increase to just under €914 million by 2026. This corresponds to average annual growth of 1.6% since 2013. In 2024, Portugal ranked 12th worldwide with sales of €834.46 million, placing it behind Greece, which recorded the same figure.

Foreign trade is also expected to post moderate growth. Exports of Portuguese plastic packaging are forecast to rise to US$326.68 million by 2026, reflecting average annual growth of 2.2% since 1993. In the previous year, Portugal ranked 30th globally with exports of US$287.78 million, again just behind Slovakia.

Imports are also expected to continue increasing. For 2026, the study forecasts imports of US$374.08 million, likewise with average annual growth of 2.2% since 1993. In 2021, Portugal ranked 33rd worldwide with imports of US$330.69 million, behind India.

Fresh Food as a Growth Driver

Innovation pressure is particularly high in the fresh food segment because packaging directly affects shelf life, waste, food safety and logistics performance. This segment is especially important for Portugal given its substantial food exports. Grand View Research estimates the Portuguese fresh food packaging market at US$370 million in 2020 and expects it to grow to US$490 million by 2028. The reported growth rate is a CAGR of 3.6% (2021–2028).

Two demand drivers stand out. First, according to the EU Fish Market Report, Portugal is Europe’s highest per-capita consumer of fish and seafood (53.61 kg in 2023). This makes fresh, chilled and partly processed seafood categories a key field in which packaging is critical for product quality, shelf life and food safety.

Second, export-driven fresh supply chains are increasing demand for standardized, robust packaging solutions. Portugalglobal reports that in 2024 more than 1.8 million tonnes of fruit, vegetables and flowers were exported, reaching a record value of €2.5 billion. In volume terms, exports increased by 2.4% to 1,816,807 tonnes. The European Union is the main destination for these products, accounting for 81% of exports by value. Spain stands out (37.6%), followed by France (13%), the Netherlands (9%), Germany (7.9%) and the United Kingdom (6.8%).

Paper Still Has Room to Grow

Paper- and board-based packaging remains a central pillar of Portugal’s packaging value chain. IBISWorld lists 242 companies in the “Paper and paperboard packaging manufacturing” industry in Portugal. The market size of the “Paper and paperboard packaging manufacturing” industry is put at €1.7 billion for 2026.

At the same time, the analysts report a decline over the 2020–2025 period, pointing to cost and efficiency pressures as well as structural change. In practice, growth is therefore driven less by overall volume expansion than by specific applications: transport-optimized corrugated solutions, high-quality folding cartons, and recycling-compatible barrier and coating concepts.

IBISWorld puts the market size of the upstream “Paper and paperboard manufacturing” industry in Portugal at around €4.9 billion.

Beverage Demand Supports Container Glass

Portugal’s container glass market is growing moderately but steadily. According to Mordor Intelligence, market volume is set to increase from 2.02 million tonnes in 2025 to 2.08 million tonnes in 2026, and is expected to reach around 2.41 million tonnes by 2031. This corresponds to a CAGR of 2.95%.

Beverages remain the largest end-use segment with a 56.2% share. Sustainability requirements and rising recycling rates are shaping market development, while energy prices remain a key cost and competitiveness factor. On the production side, the market is largely concentrated in the Marinha Grande cluster; leading suppliers include Verallia, Vidrala and BA Glass.

Portugal Recycles too Little

The biggest structural challenge remains recycling performance. Sociedade Ponto Verde reports only a 2% increase, or 4,009 tonnes, in the selective collection of packaging in the first half of 2025. In total, 231,000 tonnes of packaging waste were sent for recovery and recycling.

The glass stream is particularly critical: in the first half of 2025, 99,321 tonnes of glass were collected, around 1,300 tonnes less than in the comparable period. Up to the end of September, selective collection growth also remained at around 2%. Beverage cartons (ECAL) also declined to 4,044 tonnes, down 9% (405 tonnes less). By contrast, paper/cardboard rose to 78,486 tonnes (+4%), plastics to 42,844 tonnes (+3%) and aluminium to 1,030 tonnes (+1%), although aluminium is still considered a problem area despite the increase.

The regulatory framework is clear: by the end of 2025, at least 65% of total packaging waste (by weight) must be recycled; by 2030, the target increases to 70%. In parallel, the new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) tightens requirements for design, recyclability and extended producer responsibility. It entered into force on 11 February 2025 and generally applies from 12 August 2026.

 

Author: Alexander Stark, Editor FACHPACK360°