October 5, 2026
We encounter packaging every day, from the coffee cup we get at the café, the box an online order arrives in, to the countless bottles and boxes of food in our kitchens. While many of those packages will end up in a landfill, there are individuals, businesses, and organizations working to change that reality so that a package's end of life does not harm the environment. Packaging designed with circularity in mind is intended to be reused, recycled, or composted. In addition to packaging material design, there are innovations to support infrastructure for reuse and technologies to divert recyclable materials from landfills, supporting the growth of the circular economy. In the Great Lakes region, substantial work is underway to create an ecosystem supporting the individuals and companies driving circular packaging innovation.
A new evaluation from the Upjohn Institute's Senior Director of Regional Economic and Community Development Iryna Lendel and Research Analyst Chloe Wieber examines a program designed to advance sustainable packaging innovation by supporting companies that develop and sell it. The SHAPE Sustainable Packaging NextCycle Accelerator is a special cohort within the NextCycle Accelerator model, a program that provides technical assistance, coaching, networking, and increased visibility to participating companies.
In its pilot year, 2025, the accelerator supported a diverse group of seven ventures while strengthening the Great Lakes region's standing as a hub for sustainable packaging innovation. The sustainable packaging accelerator cohort under evaluation is co-funded by the Solutions Hub for an Alternative Packaging Ecosystem (SHAPE), a Michigan-Ohio partnership operated by the Michigan State University Research Foundation as part of a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine. The evaluation draws on program data and interviews conducted in March 2026 with participants, program facilitators, and regional stakeholders to understand the role the accelerator played in shaping the trajectories of individual companies, as well as how the program contributes to growing the region’s sustainable packaging ecosystem.
Companies selected to succeed
Of 15 applicants, seven teams were selected for the 2025 cohort through a joint review by program leadership and a multidisciplinary advisory board of university, industry, and ecosystem leaders. The selected ventures, spanning diverse geographies and business models, were beyond the proof-of-concept stage, with technologically feasible products, allowing the program to focus primarily on supporting teams in overcoming commercialization challenges and paving the way for their products to reach the market. The main challenges included navigating materials management regulation, confirming material compostability or recyclability, and entering new markets.
By the end of the program, all seven teams successfully completed the accelerator. Six of the seven reached a Technology Readiness Level of 5 or higher, and every team either entered the market or increased sales. Combined, the companies secured $3.8 million in grants, contracts, and private investment, and created or maintained 132 jobs. Regarding environmental impacts, the cohort diverted or redesigned approximately 50,000 pounds of packaging material, and five of the seven teams reported extending circular practices into their own partnerships and supply chains.
Participants consistently pointed to coaching as the most valuable activity in the accelerator, especially as coaches facilitated connections that participants claimed likely would not have been made on their own. Participants also found particular value in the final event, the Pitch Showcase, where they presented to an audience of investors, partners, and industry leaders. The process of preparing their pitch helped them improve how they communicate their business value and focus on their future business plans and goals.
Promising opportunities for Michigan and Ohio: A region with a strong foundation to build a circular packaging culture
Participants pointed to the region's strong manufacturing base, engineering talent, circular packaging ecosystem, and existing sustainability initiatives as assets for validating and scaling their products. The establishment of SHAPE is itself a meaningful contribution to the region's circular economy, as it has successfully brought together industry partners, government agencies, and universities to grow the region’s circular packaging economy.
Accelerator participants expressed that sustaining their commitment to the region will depend on continued commercial traction and policy adoption, particularly for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Stakeholders expect Michigan to adopt EPR gradually over the next two to seven years, driven largely by rising municipal recycling costs, and they view that trajectory as a positive force for the region's circular packaging economy. SHAPE, with its connections to Michigan State University's packaging program, is well-positioned to help lead EPR discussions in the region, as it has the capacity to inform packagers directly about materials-management challenges and to convene relevant entities to host the public-private dialogue needed to move policy forward.
The evaluation found that the SHAPE Accelerator successfully tested a new way to bring organizations and industry partners together to support emerging businesses. This gives SHAPE a foundation to build on in future cohorts. Participants offered ideas to improve the accelerator for future cohorts, including stronger onboarding, more peer-to-peer engagement among cohort companies, and more frequent, tailored coaching sessions. Since this pilot had a smaller budget than typical NextCycle Michigan cohorts, this would be an easy fix with additional funding. Even with those limits, all participants spoke positively about their experience, and several said the program helped move their businesses forward.
The evaluation also identified ways to strengthen the broader SHAPE initiative. SHAPE could work more closely with state agencies, regional initiatives, and other universities, especially if more resources become available to the engine. In the future, the accelerator could also help connect businesses with the policies, infrastructure, and industry partners SHAPE needs across the Great Lakes region. The first cohort showed how the program can support companies developing circular packaging and addressing environmental challenges. While it is difficult to attribute ecosystem-level changes to this single cohort, impacts are expected to grow as more cohorts participate in the SHAPE Accelerator.
Experts
