Mondi is testing a different approach to decorating flexible packaging: applying artwork with laser marking during converting rather than relying on conventional decorative printing and printing plates.

The new concept combines a corrugated outer box with recyclable flexible packaging and is aimed initially at e-commerce and bag-in-box applications.

According to Mondi, the technology can be used across different flexible packaging formats, including reels, premade pouches and larger bags, while giving brands greater freedom to change artwork without preparing conventional printing plates.

At first glance, this may look like another recyclable flexible-packaging development.

But the more interesting part is the connection between packaging design and production flexibility.

For converters and brands managing growing numbers of SKUs, seasonal designs or shorter product runs, changing the artwork can create its own production and inventory challenges.

Laser marking could change that part of the process.

Artwork Is Applied During Converting

In Mondi’s concept, laser-marking technology creates the artwork directly on the flexible packaging during converting.

The company says this eliminates conventional decorative printing and the associated printing plates.

That can make artwork changes faster and allows greater personalization, particularly where a brand needs multiple designs or wants to modify packaging at shorter notice.

For conventional printed flexible packaging, artwork changes can involve plate preparation, print scheduling and coordination between printing and downstream converting.

Laser marking does not necessarily replace conventional printing in every flexible-packaging application.

High-volume branded packs with complex graphics, multiple colors or specific print requirements will still have their own production considerations.

But for suitable applications, removing the plate-dependent decoration stage could give converters another way to handle version changes.

That may become particularly relevant as brands manage more product variants while trying to avoid holding excessive volumes of preprinted packaging.

Mondi Applies the Concept Across Several Flexible Formats

The technology is not tied to one pouch design.

Mondi says the concept can be adapted from flexible packaging supplied on reels to premade formats including its re/cycle StripPouch and larger re/cycle FlexiBag.

The re/cycle FlexiBag, for example, uses an MDO PE-based duplex or triplex laminate and is certified recyclable by Germany’s cyclos-HTP institute.

Mondi says the laser-marking approach can support design for recycling by simplifying packaging structures and reducing decorative elements.

Depending on the application, the company can also incorporate bio-based feedstocks or post-consumer recycled content.

This distinction is important.

Laser marking itself does not automatically make a pouch recyclable.

Recyclability still depends on the underlying packaging structure, including the polymers, barriers, adhesives and other components used in the pack.

The value of the concept is that Mondi is considering the decoration method alongside the material structure instead of treating printing as a completely separate part of packaging development.

Bio-Based StripPouch Shows Lower Carbon Impact in Mondi Assessment

Mondi also evaluated the environmental impact of one version of the concept through its internal Product Impact Assessment.

The company compared a mono-material polyethylene re/cycle StripPouch made with bio-based feedstock and laser marking against a conventional fossil-based, printed and laminated polyethylene stand-up pouch.

Mondi says its assessment indicated a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions for the bio-based laser-marked option.

However, Mondi has not published a percentage reduction in its announcement.

That makes the comparison basis important.

The result is not simply measuring laser marking against printing.

The assessed packs also differ in feedstock and construction, with the Mondi version using bio-based material and a mono-material structure.

The reported carbon reduction therefore should be understood as the result of the complete packaging configuration, rather than attributed to laser marking alone.

Could Laser Marking Help With Shorter Packaging Runs?

This may ultimately be the part of the concept with the greatest commercial interest for converters.

Flexible-packaging plants traditionally work most efficiently when production runs are long enough to absorb setup, printing and changeover requirements.

But brands increasingly manage more formats, product variations and market-specific designs.

That creates tension between production efficiency and artwork flexibility.

Removing printing plates from certain decorative applications could potentially make smaller batches or more frequent design changes easier to manage.

Mondi specifically highlights shorter lead times, faster artwork updates and greater supply-chain agility as benefits of the concept.

There could also be implications for packaging inventory.

When artwork is fixed earlier in the supply chain, packaging produced for an old campaign, discontinued SKU or changed regulatory message can become unusable.

Moving some customization closer to the converting stage may give packaging producers and brands more room to postpone final design decisions.

How significant that benefit becomes will depend on production volumes, laser speed, artwork complexity and the economics of individual applications.

Mondi has not published those operational figures, so it is too early to conclude that laser marking will replace established printing processes on a broad scale.

Corrugated and Flexible Packaging Come Together

Another notable part of the development is the combination of Mondi’s flexible-packaging and corrugated businesses.

The concept places the recyclable flexible pack inside a corrugated outer box, giving Mondi the ability to offer customers a more complete bag-in-box or e-commerce packaging system from one supplier.

That could be particularly relevant for applications where the two packaging layers perform different jobs.

The flexible inner pack can provide product containment and barrier properties, while the corrugated box provides structural protection, handling strength and a shipping surface.

Rather than optimizing each component separately, suppliers increasingly have an opportunity to examine how the complete packaging system works across filling, distribution, consumer use and recycling.

That system-level approach is especially important in e-commerce, where packaging has to survive a distribution environment very different from a conventional retail shelf.

German Packaging Award Recognizes the Concept

The development has already received external recognition.

Mondi Consumer Flexibles and Mondi Halle were named among the 2026 German Packaging Award winners for their “laser-marked e-commerce packaging concept with reduced CO₂ footprint.”

The German Packaging Institute classified the entry under Sustainability – Overall Concept.

The 2026 competition attracted more than 200 entries from 17 countries, with 36 solutions selected across ten categories.

The award is significant because the jury recognized the complete packaging concept rather than laser marking as an isolated technology.

That reflects what may be the more useful lesson for the packaging industry.

Sustainability improvements increasingly depend on several decisions working together: material selection, package structure, decoration, converting efficiency, logistics and end-of-life considerations.

Commercial Scale Is the Next Question

Mondi is currently working with customers and partners on broader commercial implementation.

The company has identified pet food, home and personal care, and e-commerce packaging among the potential applications being explored.

That means the development should still be viewed as a concept moving toward wider commercialization rather than an established replacement for conventional printed flexible packaging.

For converters, several practical questions will be worth watching:

• Which packaging films and surfaces are best suited to laser marking?
• How does marking speed compare with existing print and converting operations?
• What level of graphic complexity can be achieved economically?
• At what run length does the absence of printing plates provide the greatest advantage?
• How easily can the technology be integrated into existing flexible-packaging lines?

Mondi has not disclosed answers to those production questions yet.

But the concept points toward a useful shift in flexible-packaging development.

The discussion is no longer only about replacing one material with another.

How late in the production process a package can be customized — and how easily that design can change — may also become part of the sustainability and efficiency equation.

Last Updated on 01/09/2026 by Jota Machinery