Metal packaging materials remain fundamental across food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and technical sectors owing to their combination of mechanical robustness, total light and gas barrier performance, thermal resistance, and established recyclability. Aluminum alloys, tinplate, tin-free steel (TFS/ECCS), stainless steels, metal-matrix composites (MMCs), and metal-polymer or metal-paper laminates define distinct metal-based packaging architectures whose metallurgical and interfacial design governs forming behaviour, corrosion and migration pathways, coating integrity, and mechanical reliability. In this review, these architectures are examined from a materials- and systems-oriented perspective, linking composition, microstructure, processing routes, and surface engineering to functional performance across rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible formats. The analysis also considers the ongoing transition from bisphenol A (BPA)-based epoxy linings to BPA-free and hybrid coating chemistries, the use of nano-structured metallic and metal-oxide surfaces, and the role of composite laminates in which thin metallic foils are combined with polymeric or paper-based structural layers. These material and architectural aspects are discussed together with safety, regulatory, and circularity considerations that increasingly influence the design and selection of metal-based packaging. Ion migration, coating degradation, and corrosion under realistic storage environments are considered in relation to EU, FDA, ISO, and sector-specific requirements, while attention is also paid to the contrast between well-established closed-loop recycling infrastructures for aluminum and steel and the more complex end-of-life management of coated metals and multilayer laminates. The review provides a unified framework connecting materials selection, metallurgical design, processing, performance, regulatory compliance, and sustainability in metal-based packaging systems. Applications spanning consumer Applications spanning consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and advanced electronics are integrated to support an overall understanding of how metallic and hybrid metal-based architectures underpin functional reliability and life-cycle sustainability. metallic packaging aluminum cans tinplate food-contact materials corrosion and migration surface coatings regulatory compliance circular economy recyclability sustainability This research received no external funding. Early metal packaging technologies relied on essentially monolithic metal containers—such as steel cans and tinplate formats—whose performance depended primarily on the bulk properties of the metal and relatively simple surface treatments [ 2 , 3 ]. Over time, however, increasing demands related to product safety, functional performance, material efficiency, and regulatory compliance have driven a progressive evolution toward system-level packaging architectures [ 2 , 7 ]. Across Bronze Age, classical and medieval contexts, containers made of bronze, copper or pewter served as durable vessels for liquids, spices, ointments and ceremonial substances, while metal caskets and boxes protected jewellery, documents and other valuables during transport. Although these artifacts were not “packaging” in the contemporary industrial sense, they already fulfilled the essential functions of containment, mechanical protection and controlled storage that would later be formalized in industrial metal packaging technologies. Residual oxygen, moisture and reactive species present in the headspace can accelerate corrosion processes at exposed sites, especially when thermal cycles or long storage times promote desorption and redistribution of adsorbed species from internal surfaces. Experimental investigations on metal packages demonstrate that even minor variations in process parameters affecting residual gas content can significantly influence corrosion susceptibility at coating defects, highlighting the coupled role of surface chemistry and internal atmosphere in hermetic tinplate systems [ 29 ]. Elevated temperatures and subsequent cooling cycles promote stress relaxation, redistribution of residual stresses and changes in the internal atmosphere of sealed containers. Experimental studies demonstrate that process parameters influencing Thermal disengagement routes have been proposed and experimentally demonstrated for polymer-laminated aluminum packaging, enabling recovery of aluminum together with carbonaceous coproducts, while highlighting the strong sensitivity of recycled-metal quality to laminate composition, time–temperature conditions, and atmosphere control [ 77 , 78 ]. In practice, these constraints make laminated metal-based packaging less compatible with true closed-loop metallic recycling and more likely to follow secondary pathways or downcycling routes [ 75 ]. Although aluminum, low-carbon steel, stainless steel, and metal–matrix composites may serve similar packaging functions, their mechanical properties arise from fundamentally different micromechanisms. 3.1.1. Aluminum Alloys Aluminum alloys used for cans, closures, and foils derive their behaviour from solid-solution strengthening and strain-hardening. Rolling and annealing generate strong Cube and Goss textures, producing anisotropic deep-drawing behaviour and controlled thinning during ironing. Interactions with lactic and acetic acids, observed in certain fermented beverages, have been reported to promote corrosion during aluminum beverage can storage, with dissolved Al and visible liner degradation increasing with organic-acid content and decreasing pH; in this context, liner type may not prevent corrosion if aggressive chemistry is sustained [ 17 ]. Similar corrosion and migration phenomena have also been reported for aluminum cans exposed to alcoholic beverage matrices, where coating ageing and electrolyte permeation progressively reduce barrier performance and increase metal release [ 84 ].