Amcor’s 2025 Bottles of the Year Redefine the Future of Packaging Through Design, Innovation, and Responsibility
On National Packaging Design Day, Amcor, a global packaging leader known for pioneering responsible and innovative solutions, introduced its 2025 Bottles of the Year—a curated collection of five forward-thinking conceptual bottle designs spanning beverage, spirits & wine, food & dairy, home & personal care, and healthcare segments. This annual showcase represents not just creative brilliance, but also the industry’s rapid response to evolving consumer demands, environmental priorities, and advances in PET plastic packaging.
Each year, Amcor Rigid Packaging (ARP) leverages its design, R&D, and sustainability expertise to honor packaging that embodies cutting-edge aesthetics, enhanced functionality, and tangible environmental benefits. The 2025 collection does just that—offering an inspiring look into what tomorrow’s packaging may look and feel like while addressing the very real concerns brands and consumers face today.
Celebrating the Art and Impact of Packaging
“The Bottles of the Year program celebrates the best in packaging design,” said Terry Patcheak, Vice President of R&D, Sustainability, and Project Management at Amcor Rigid Packaging. “Our designers are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible with packaging, and we are proud to highlight that thinking through this program.”
This celebration is more than aesthetic. The program exists to demonstrate how advancements in plastic technology—particularly PET (polyethylene terephthalate)—can be harnessed to create innovative, scalable packaging that’s aligned with current trends in sustainability, portability, reusability, and design clarity. According to Patcheak, “With Bottles of the Year, our goal is to illustrate how evolving consumer trends and the latest technology in PET plastic packaging can drive advancements in eye-catching designs, improved consumer experience, and responsible packaging choices that meet new minimum PCR [post-consumer recycled content] standards.”
Each of the five conceptual bottles showcased this year is more than just a prototype. These bottles are primed for commercial development—ready to be refined and manufactured at scale based on brand partnerships and market interest. Together, they reflect a commitment to turning design into value, both for brands and for the consumers they serve.
Five Markets, Five Visionary Bottles
This year’s Bottles of the Year collection speaks directly to key sectors where Amcor has long held a leadership position: beverage, spirits & wine, food & dairy, home & personal care, and healthcare. According to the company, each of the designs not only meets segment-specific performance needs, but also directly addresses some of the most urgent concerns expressed by both customers and consumers.
For example:
- Home and Beauty Bottle: In response to growing discomfort around single-use disposable packaging, Amcor’s design team created a packaging solution built around refillable pods. This model supports a circular consumption pattern—where consumers can continue reusing a primary container while simply purchasing concentrated or replaceable refills. The bottle itself embodies elegance and a premium feel, aligning with beauty branding while reducing environmental impact.
- Healthcare Bottle: Designed with emotional comfort in mind, this bottle takes inspiration from vintage apothecary designs, offering both nostalgic appeal and contemporary utility. It supports consumer empowerment by evoking a sense of trust and reliability—factors that are essential in health-related purchasing decisions.
Each design reflects a larger shift: packaging as a storytelling medium, one that not only contains but communicates—delivering tactile cues about quality, sustainability, and lifestyle alignment.
Consumer Trends Driving the Designs
The Bottles of the Year aren’t arbitrary concept pieces—they are rooted in substantial consumer insight. According to Amcor, the 2025 collection aligns with three key macro-trends that are shaping the packaging industry in real time. These trends—validated by Mintel’s Global Consumer Trends 2025 and Amcor’s own market research—are defining how brands need to think about design, performance, and purpose.
1. Modern Nostalgia: Reimagining the Past with Purpose
This trend celebrates a return to vintage forms—retro bottles, glass-like silhouettes, and historic branding cues—but with a distinctly modern twist. Sustainability and functionality are paramount.
- The Healthcare Bottle, for instance, draws on the emotional familiarity of apothecary bottles but introduces new PET technology that enhances shatter resistance and recyclability.
- Similarly, the Food Bottle leverages intuitive ergonomics and design familiarity while meeting today’s safety and reuse standards.
This blend of form and function allows brands to tap into emotional connections while delivering tangible benefits—a compelling combination in a highly competitive retail landscape.
2. Portable Meets Premium: Mobile Elegance and Utility
Consumers today want to carry their lives with them. That means packaging must be not only durable and portable but also reflective of the high-end experiences associated with the products inside.
- The Health and Beauty Bottle of the Year is a model example. It presents a sophisticated, high-aesthetic form that feels at home in a luxury retail setting or on a vanity, while also being lightweight and sustainable enough for on-the-go use.
- This bottle also showcases Amcor’s strength in multi-use and refill systems, positioning it as a real-world alternative to single-use containers without compromising on branding or user experience.
3. Clear is Credible: Transparency as Trust
In an era when consumers are scrutinizing the sourcing, safety, and sustainability of the products they buy, clarity in packaging serves as a metaphor for brand integrity. That’s why designs that showcase the actual product—using clear PET and minimalistic labeling—are gaining traction.
- The Spirits & Wine Bottle is a great illustration. It reinvents the traditional ready-to-drink (RTD) aluminum can, offering a clear, shatterproof, and customizable PET bottle. This new format is ideal for cocktails, portable wine options, or beverage events like music festivals where portability and safety are key.
- Likewise, the Beverage Bottle emphasizes both personalization and sustainability with a design that integrates refillable powders or sachets, reducing the need for traditional liquid transport and reducing emissions related to weight and packaging waste.
Together, these designs signal a new norm: one in which packaging is not just protective, but expressive—an active extension of brand values and consumer ideals.
ScorCreative™: Amcor’s In-House Innovation Engine
Integral to the Bottles of the Year program is ScorCreative™, Amcor Rigid Packaging’s in-house design studio. The team operates at the intersection of marketing insight, industrial design, and technical product development. Their role is to transform abstract ideas into functional realities—bridging the gap between aesthetic aspiration and manufacturable output.
“The bottle designs featured in the Bottles of the Year program are the result of cross-functional collaboration,” said Patcheak. “Teams from marketing, design, and development work in sync to generate concepts that not only look great but are engineered for real-world feasibility.”
This collaborative approach has made Amcor a go-to innovation partner for many of the world’s leading CPG brands, particularly those looking to improve recyclability, reduce plastic use, enhance shelf presence, or launch new product formats.
A Focus on Sustainability and PCR Standards
At the core of Amcor’s innovation strategy lies a deep commitment to sustainability. All five bottle concepts in the 2025 collection are designed with an eye toward reducing environmental impact, whether through lightweighting, recyclability, or the incorporation of minimum post-consumer recycled (PCR) content—a growing requirement across markets.
With global regulators tightening expectations on packaging waste, Amcor’s emphasis on commercially viable solutions that meet or exceed sustainability targets is more than timely—it’s strategic.
By showcasing these designs, the company is sending a clear message: sustainability does not require compromise. Aesthetic appeal, consumer convenience, and environmental stewardship can—and should—coexist.
Setting the Stage for What’s Next
Amcor’s 2025 Bottles of the Year aren’t just prototypes—they are blueprints for what’s possible in the future of packaging. As brands seek differentiation and consumers demand smarter, greener choices, the role of design has never been more critical. These bottles offer a glimpse into a future where sustainability meets storytelling, and where packaging elevates the product inside.
Whether it’s a refillable pod that revolutionizes personal care packaging, a retro-inspired healthcare container that builds trust, or a cocktail-to-go bottle ready for the next outdoor music festival, Amcor’s latest innovations prove that thoughtful packaging design can help brands stand out while still doing what’s right for the planet.
