In recent years, the food, pharmaceutical and many other industries have seen several changes in packaging technology and applications because of new consumer demands and market trends. These drivers can be summarized as requirements for high quality, freshness and extended shelf-life of products, with easy-to-use and resistant packaging made with lighter, cheaper and sustainable-recyclable materials. Additional challenges associated with the impact of plastics on the environment added incentives and priorities to recyclability and/or compostability-degradability. In this presentation, recent studies directed towards addressing the performances concerns will be discussed as well as some of the challenges associated with sustainability and recycling. More specifically, nanocomposite films, barrier coatings, antibacterial functionality and sensing will be adressed.