2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap up

The AIP Australasian Packaging Conference 2025 and Beyond kicked off with keynote speakers delivering a strong message around the need to balance the scale between reducing unnecessary packaging but maintaining its ability to reduce food waste.

The conference, held on 28 and 29 March, saw industry leaders share their insights and exchange ideas on how to better align with the upcoming 2025 targets for sustainability. Some 280 delegates gathered to hear from 70 speakers across the two days.

In case you missed the event, the PKN Podcast team conducted livestream interviews with speakers and delegates at the conference, you can find links to the interviews on page 97 of this newsletter.

Jason Fields, president of the AIP, opened with a warm welcome and asked the participants to take the opportunity to learn from each other and to network, stating that it has been the first time to meet face to face for a long time. He played a short video from sponsor Aleks Lajovic, MD of Impact International, that showed that for each participant who attended, a native tree has been planted along the bank of Five Mile Creek, just outside of Canberra at Impact's carbon offset forest. This will improve soil retention, reduce flooding and droughts, and provide shelter for native wildlife.

Pierre Pienaar, president of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) made an impassioned speech on our collective desire to preserve the planet for our future generations. “It’s not about us, it’s about the generations to follow,” he emphasised. Pienaar joked that throughout his extensive travels around the world, people always want to take him to dumpsites. But the reality of that was that he gained much insight into the peril we are all in. His insight from this was that EPR is the most effective tool in combatting plastic waste. He noted that 70 per cent of all packaging could be converted to mono-material right now, the technology already exists. He said we should not focus on the remaining 30 per cent, because 70 per cent will make a significant change to the current waste situation.

Nerida Kelton, vice president of WPO reinforced much of Pienaar’s opening message, while explaining that the WPO has three main goals, which are reducing food waste, reducing packaging waste and reducing problematic materials. Kelton said that what is important to remember, is that there must be a balance struck between packaging which can effectively protect the products inside, while also reducing the unnecessary materials that can make them up. This, she said, should be done through designing with these three prerogatives in mind.

From left, Pierre Pienaar, WPO president; Nerida Kelton, WPO VP Sustainability and Save Food Packaging; Jason Fields, AIP President.

AIP conference keeps sustainability in sharp focus

AIP conference keeps sustainability in sharp focus

Gian De Belder, technical director of Procter & Gamble, greeted us online from Belgium, where he had stayed up until 1:30am to talk to the gathering about technological developments the company has been making in streamlining recyclability of materials in Europe, the digital watermark initiative called Holy Grail.

Digital watermarks are invisible to the naked eye but are embedded into either the design on a product, or directly into the material itself, and allow a camera to scan them upon entering a recycling facility so it can be more effectively sorted into the appropriate stream.

While this technology is currently in its testing phase, it is expected to be rolled out in France in 2024 with 30-50 units set up in recycling centres to test how well it can cope with large volumes of waste in

real time. As France has particularly aggressive waste-reduction targets, this technology is expected to accelerate movement towards them.

In the two days of interesting and thoughtprovoking discussions that followed, a very strong message around the need for collaboration emerged, with presenters and delegates of one mind that innovation, and infrastructure development required calls for a united industry effort across the value chain.

This article was published with permission by PKN Packaging News

Gian De Belder, Technical Director, Procter & Gamble (P&G)

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

The AIP Australasian Packaging Conference saw close to 300 people in attendance for the first physical conference since before the pandemic. Over the two days more than 70 expert speakers discussed 2025 and Beyond and provided insights in to everything from the future of fibre and renewable materials, food waste, save food packaging, the future of retail, closed loop collection, the ARL marketplace, kerbside recycling, mono material advancements and more.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

Thank you AIP for the 2023 Australasian Packaging Conference where so many interesting and relevant case studies were shared, so many rich conversations were held, so many different ways of doing things were put on the table and the emphasis of making facts-based decisions and collaborate together as industry participants was highlighted. How as competitors, suppliers, customers, retailers or even consumers ourselves, we can tackle the challenges of our time, for raising awareness of the things that matter and bringing speakers from many different positions in the packaging value chain and regulatory bodies to listen to each other’s point of view and encourage one another as peers in this journey to take ownership and lead the future of packaging in Australia and the world.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

Ball & Doggett was proud to experience our first AIP Conference and PIDA awards as not only a Silver Sponsor but also a Gold Corporate Sponsor of the AIP. A extremely well delivered conference and award campaign that created an inclusive experience for all attendees. The well attended conference and awards is a testament to the Australian Institute of Packaging and their tireless efforts to provide access to exceptional speakers and workshops, supporting and educating members in the true light of being the peak body in this arena. The calibre of the speakers and the delivery of the both conference and awards was valuable to our team that attended. The networking and energy in the space was the epitome of our an industry comes together for the greater outcome of all. Congratulations to Nerida Kelton and the team at AIP! We look forward to our partnership in 2024!

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

In the second keynote session of the Australian Institute of Packaging’s (AIP) 2025 and beyond conference, chaired by AIP president Jason Fields, attendees heard from three large brand owners about the progress they are making towards meeting the sustainability targets.

Bill Heague, GM Mars Food, kicked things off by clarifying he was from Mars the company, not the planet, and said, “it’s great to be in a room of likeminded people who want to solve problems.”

Heague said that the familly-owned multinational Mars has so far invested $1 billion to sustainability, and plans to devote a further $2 billion over the next three years. Mars, he said, has already reduced its carbon footprint by six per cent, and has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement, with plans to one day totally source its power from sustainable means.

With regards to Mars’ progress on sustainable packaging goals, he said that the company still has a way to go, with currently only 20 per cent of packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable, although 43 per cent is designed with circularity in mind.

The company has a goal of moving that first figure up to 100 per cent, while also reducing the use of virgin plastic by 25 per cent and to incorporate 30 per cent recycled content into its plastic packaging.

Heague stated the importance of balancing the

need for more efficient use of plastics in packaging with reducing food waste. Although Mars is rolling out such innovations such as paper packaging for chocolate bars, he still believes that plastic is the best material for preserving foods. With this in mind, the key, he said, is to create a fully circular economy.

His closing statement to the audience was that this is a collective problem we have to solve and asked all those in attendance to start now with a long term view. “It’s happening and so the sooner you start to make a plan, the better.” Later on, PKN spoke to Heague on our podcast, where he gave the example of how one of the products Mars designed was nine years in the making, highlighting just why companies need to start planning early.

Brian McKay, head of packaging at Woolworths, echoed Heague's sentiments, and opened his presentation by conjuring a powerful image: “If we continue what we are doing there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2025.” He said the planet needs sustainable packaging and customers are demanding it.

Bill Heague: It's a collective problem we have to solve; the sooner we start, the better

l-r Bill Heague (Mars Food), Bryan McKay (Woolworths Food), Jason Fields (AIP president and moderator), Karunia Adhriputra (Nestle Oceania).

Customer surveys conducted by Woolworths have shown that customers have put 'less packaging' and 'more sustainable packaging' among their top demands. He said pressure is also coming from the government, and noted that Government is getting ready to step in if significant progress is not shown.

“Customers demand it, governments expect it, the planet needs it,” he stated.

McKay’s advice for other companies was to not design something into a packaging product unless you absolutely have to. He said there are simple things that can be done to reduce the use of unnecessary materials, citing the example of how one home care brand owner took laundry spoons out of their laundry detergent and saved 8000 tonnes of plastic.

In a follow up interview on PKN's podcast, McKay emphasised that all of this work towards using recyclable materials means nothing if there is no uptake, stating "we must close the loop". He also mentioned that Woolworths was proud to win the Gold Banksia Award for its sustainability efforts as a group. Later that evening, McKay went on to pick up two PIDA awards for Woolworths, gold for the Sustainability Award for Mono Material Advancements and bronze for Sustainable Fresh Produce Packaging.

Also joining this powerful session was Karunia Adhiputra, head of packaging Nestle Oceania, who shared the company’s journey so far towards its very ambitious targets.

Nestle has launched some packaging with innovative designs, Adhiputra said, citing the example of Nespresso pods which use 80 per cent recycled aluminium, and the recent paperisation of Smarties packaging. In addition, Nestle has recently trialled paper packaging for KitKat wrappers, as well as for 30% recycled content flexible wrappers produced via advanced chemical recycling. By trialling these kinds of innovations, Nestle hopes to gain insights into consumer acceptance, useability and producibility, among other aspects. During the PKN podcast interview afterwards, Adhiputra said that one of the biggest challenges with recycled material is the limitation of the barrier properties of the material to ensure freshness of the product. He said that it is important to also look beyond 2025 and consider the long term solutions for a fully circular economy. The focus right now, he said, should be on incorporating more recycled packaging materials back into new packaging, and to find opportunities to reduce material and make the entire supply chain more efficient.

Brian McKay: Design to reduce the use of unnecessary materials

Karunia Adhiputra: consider long term solutions

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

As a sponsor of the conference & awards we could not be happier with the level of exposure we received. The level of attendance and the quality of the attendees led to a very rewarding experience. The conference keynote/breakout sessions were extremely well attended and the partner area was a hive of activity and discussion through the 2 days. We had some great discussions with a range of packaging professionals from suppliers, customers and other key stakeholders. We got a real sense of industry collaboration and a key takeaway was the quality of conversations that were had. The conference and awards ticked all the boxes and to be honest exceeded expectations, we were very proud to be involved.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

I am so impressed by the AIP community, and the work that you and your committee put in to support and educate our industry.

Yates, OF Packaging partner on 60% rPE pouch

Garden care company Yates has partnered with flexible pouch manufacturer OF Packaging to develop a mono-polymer rPE stand-up pouch, with 60 per cent recycled content. PKN spoke to both companies about the development.

The new material development was discussed at the AIP Australasian Packaging Conference in Melbourne this week, where packaging innovation manager at Yates, Liza Vernalls, explained how OF Packaging’s film material had met Yates’ sustainability criteria.

“We were looking to improve the recycled content of our films, but the material had to meet or surpass the current barrier performance, work on existing forming equipment, and have sufficient rigidity to stand up,” she said, adding that the material also needed to be able to incorporate zipper closures, have no impact on print quality, and of course, meet current cost targets.

“OF Packaging’s highly engineered film with 60 per cent recycled content, which is a mix of postindustrial recycled (PIR) and post-consumer recycled (PCR), was the ideal solution,” Vernalls said.

“The films performed well on our forming equipment with no changes. Print looks phenomenal and as a result we have implemented this on five SKUs across our growing media range.”

Vernalls confirmed there are plans to implement this material across a further 26 SKUs in 2023, noting that Yates will continue to work with OF Packaging to increase the amount of PCR in the films going forward.

Jessica Ansell, marketing manager at OF Packaging, told PKN the company has been been working on redesigning and re-engineering flexible packaging film structures towards mono-polymer for the past number of years, removing problematic plastics that reduce recyclability.

“Having achieved great outcomes in this space, we’ve turned our focus onto achieving the use of recycled content in our packaging formats, which in the flexible space has greater challenges than other packaging formats,” Ansell said.

“Working with Yates on this 60 per cent recycled content, 100 per cent mono PE structure has been

a great milestone for both ourselves and Yates in the mission to decrease virgin material usage while maintaining functionality and shelf-appeal through the Aussie-converted bags,” she added.

“Through our Close the Loop Group network of partners and divisions, we have been trialling the recycling and reuse of Australian-sourced, PCR recycled content mixed from semi-rigids and soft plastics that we will continue to develop. This will allow sustainability-minded brands like Yates the opportunity to utilise higher percentages of Australian-sourced PCR materials for their ranges in the future.”

Vernalls concluded, “At Yates our ambition is to be the most sustainable garden care company in Australia and New Zealand, leading the way in reshaping the category. Scouting for new plastics and alternate materials; incorporating as much recycled content as possible; reducing plastics by lightweighting, resizing and removing unnecessary plastics; and designing plastic packaging to be recycle ready.”

Yates 60% rPE pouch breakthrough: (from left) Joe Foster, CEO Close the Loop Group; Liza Vernalls, packaging innovation manager, Yates; Jessica Ansell, marketing manager OF Packaging/ Close the Loop Group.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

I was absolutely astounded by the amount of passion people have for this space and the wonderful work that is already done toward our common goals. I can safely say I learned a lot just by understanding the packaging space outside of the food service bubble I look at every day. I gathered insights from experts in different industries. All the speakers were extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and provided valuable information on the latest trends, innovations, and best practices we should all be advocating. The conference also provided ample opportunities to network with industry peers, which helped me to expand my professional network and gain new perspectives on the challenges facing the industry. Overall, I left the conference feeling inspired and energised, with a wealth of new ideas and knowledge that I could implement back at work.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

A fantastic event, the passion to come together and collaborate for better outcomes was the key takeaway for me.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

What a great conference! It was so good to catch up and collaborate with past and new connections. There are some big challenges that we face as an industry, but I have every confidence that with the passion and talent that I have witnessed over the past few days, we will solve it!

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

The Milliken team was glad to have participated in the 2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference. As well as proud to be a bronze sponsor. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know fellow members of the the industry and learn about what the main areas the industry is concerned about, during this post covid era. The event was well organised by Nerida, and team and we will be looking forward to the next session.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

Women in Packaging panel on 'stepping up'

The second day of the AIP’s '2025 and Beyond' conference saw PKN’s own Lindy Hughson host a panel discussion with three inspirational women from the packaging industry. The discussion was aimed at celebrating the achievements of these women, as well as discussing some of the challenges they have faced and overcome in this traditionally male-dominated industry.

Hughson opened the discussion citing some statistics on gender disparity in the industry supplied by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. In 2022, within the food product manufacturing sector, women made up only 10 per cent of CEOs and 30 per cent of senior managers, but 66 per cent of clerical and administration staff; and across all of industry, women are paid on average $26.6k less than men a year.

She then handed the microphone over to the panellists to share their respective career journeys, after highlighting that not only were these successful professionals all women, but also (Hughson included) all migrants, which she said pointed to the value of diversity in the workplace and the contribution migrants can make.

Maria Becerril Roman hails from Mexico and originally came to Australia to study a master’s degree in 2019. She became a member of the AIP a year later and is currently working for Mondelez International at the Cadbury factory in Ringwood, focusing on packaging innovation. In 2022 she won a silver award in the 2022 Packaging Innovation Design at the PIDA Awards for her Cadbury Roses packaging design.

Anhelly Millan is originally from Venezuela, and having had a colourful career in multiple fields including packaging, has now turned her attention to education. In early 2022 she founded Sustainability for Kids and launched her first book – The World Behind Recycling – which is aimed at educating children on how to bring sustainability to their day-to-day activities.

Azadeh Yousefi migrated to Australia in 2017 from Iran, driven by her strong passion for working in the packaging industry. She told of how in her home country there were

many barriers for women in this field, despite having a master’s degree from a top university. She now works full time at Production Packaging Innovations and has won two PIDA gold awards for her designs.

Roman’s main takeaway message was that she wants to encourage more women to get involved in packaging, and that with the 2025 deadline for sustainability looming, there is huge opportunity for innovators to get involved in the industry.

Millan expanded on this by stating that women have an obligation to “step in and step up”, adding that as a woman you will encounter those that want to keep you down, and so you should surround yourself with those who will support and mentor you.

Yousefi felt that many women, despite having excellent credentials, may feel hesitant to apply to work in a company that they perceive as male dominant. However, it is important to be “brave enough and strong enough” to convince an employer you are just as competent as anyone else.

The upcoming print edition of PKN magazine will dive deeper into the insights these amazing women have all shared, including their experiences as migrants, and how that helped them bring new ideas and innovations to the table.

You can hear more from the panel in our PKN Podcast interviews on page 97 of this newsletter.

Women in Packaging share their journey

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

I met so many amazing packaging professionals and go to see in person lovely collaborators and friends I had not seen in such a long time. I learnt so much and got inspired by all of the stories and out of the box projects that were shared over the two days. I really look forward to what is coming in packaging design and innovation and of course within sustainable design. Thank you AIP for organising!

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

The level of willingness to collaborate was off the charts this year. Everyone knows we can’t solve the challenges we face without working together. The conference was very inspiring.

2025 and beyond: Leaders discuss next steps

Apanel discussion with leaders of peak industry bodies at the recent Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) 2025 and beyond conference, looked at progress towards the 2025 targets, and important next steps.

The panel comprised Rebecca Gilling, CEO of Planet Ark; Geoff Parker, CEO of the Australian Beverages Council; Greg Griffith, CEO of the National Retail Association; and Chris Foley, CEO of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation.

Gilling kicked things off by talking about the hierarchy of the three Rs, saying that the top of the list should add a “refuse”, meaning that use of materials should be the first concern – not only refusing a product in its entirety but refusing to have virgin materials within a product.

Redesign should then come second on the list, as in rethinking how packaging is designed to consider the whole of life of the packaging, from creation to use to reuse, she said. Recycling comes further down the list, and recovery is at the bottom.

Parker spoke with enthusiasm about Container Deposit Schemes (CDS). He said that once Victoria and Tasmania get on board then next year Australia will be the only country to be totally covered by such schemes.

The main hindrance to progress, in his view, is the “patchwork” of different policies across the country and even within each state. It is localised policies, he says, which is slowing down progress.

Foley spoke of the need to focus on the long term, beyond 2025, and that a reset was in need. He said a whole of systems approach is necessary, with collaboration across the board in order to tackle the current problems.

Foley later told PKN in a live podcast interview: “There needs to be a reset across the system as far as who takes accountability, how we actually bring product stewardship to life for packaging, and have the right economic levers being pulled to recover the cost or to put money back into the system, to be able to capture, recycle and reuse those materials. Packaging needs to be seen as an asset.”

Griffith explained that the National Retail Association’s purpose is to support smaller retailers and help them to navigate and understand the expectations of government and industry. He said that a lot of retailers are making good decisions, and have positive intentions, however, there is a lot of nervousness around the costs associated with sustainability, especially for those whose business is smaller.

The presentations were followed by a Q&A session, where attendees had the chance to ask their most pressing questions. The AIP’s Jason Fields asked Gilling a short but pertinent question, “paper or plastic?”

l-r: Rebecca Gilling, Geoff Parker, Greg Griffith, Chris Foley

Rebecca Gilling: Refusal should be added to the waste hierarchy

2025 and beyond: Leaders discuss next steps

She responded by saying that despite the increasing demonisation of plastic, it is in fact a “fantastic material” for preventing food waste. She said there is much confusion among the community about this, due to messaging around plastics polluting the ocean.

As a result, she said, there has been an increase in fibre-based packaging, which she maintained can leak toxins into food products via the chemicals in the barrier layer added to make the packaging grease and water proof.

Gilling proposed that rather than abandoning plastic, we should instead focus on using it more sustainably. Foley chimed in and said that plastic is definitely a part of a sustainable economy, but more infrastructure is needed to make it so, and this comes with a cost.

Another attendee said he had to address the elephant in the room and asked Foley for an update on the soft plastics recycling scheme, with reference to the Soft Plastics Taskforce. Foley’s response was guarded, noting that APCO was not actually involved in the taskforce but was an observer.

He said there is a lot of work underway to develop short term fixes over the next 12 months, and there are meetings currently being held with the Australian Food and Grocery Council to engage with the ACCC to finalise a playbook on filling the gap left by REDcycle. Foley stated that in the coming weeks we will hear more about this.

The major challenge, according to Foley, is building confidence that the system will work, especially with investors. “There is also a need for better governance, and so APCO will move in to try to gain access and make sue the scheme actually does

what it says it does, ensuring brands can go in with confidence,” Foley said.

Foley added that they are working on various stewardship schemes to work out who will front the costs, to which Griffith responded that those costs can’t just be put on the consumer.

Closed the Loop Group’s CEO Joe Foster asked whether the targets for soft plastics will be changed if we can’t meet them, to which Foley responded that they won’t.

“The numbers aren’t ‘new news’, and progress is slow at best. The government is looking at it and saying if industry doesn’t engage and support stewardship schemes, they will get involved,” Foley stated.

Gilling noted that she has observed in Australian businesses less willingness to collaborate than in their European counterparts. Her comment came as a pertinent reminder of the crucial need to collaborate, which all speakers mentioned in their closing remarks.

Geoff Parker: The challenge for CDS lies with the "patchwork" of different policies across Australia

Greg Griffith: Supporting smaller retailers This article was published with permission by PKN Packaging News

Chris Foley: The targets won't change

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

Wow, what a great (and fully loaded) session we had on the ‘Future Of Fibre’ facilitated by the legendary Keith Chessell. As speakers, we couldn’t have asked for a more engaged audience and the quality of questions reflected that. The opportunity to speak and share information face to face has of course been rare these last few years and for that reason the session was doubly enjoyable. Thanks to the AIP for organising such an awesome event and the opportunity for us to speak on a topic very dear to our hearts. Congratulations to all those who contributed as collectively we delivered a memorable event….certainly a hard (but not impossible) act to follow in 2025.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and your team on an excellent AIP conference. It was a privilege to be part of such meaningful discussions particularly the panel with the three inspirational women from the packaging industry. Thank you for using that platform to amplify women’s voices and to celebrate migration journeys

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2025 and beyond Sessions: The future of plastics recycling

The final keynote session of the Australian Institute of Packaging’s (AIP) conference 2025 and beyond saw leaders from industry and government come together to discuss the future of plastics recycling. The session was moderated by AFGC sustainability director Barry Cosier.

Andrea Polson, marketing director of Licella, opened the session by stating the importance of advanced recycling in order to meet the demands for the 2025 targets. She cited the example of the paper recycled content KitKat wrapper prototype, in which Licella played an integral role, saying that this validated what is possible when collaboration takes place.

Polson explained the benefits of Licella's Hydrothermal Liquefaction technology and outlined Licella's plans for scaling up its advanced chemical recycling capacity, which will see the first Australian commercial-scale facility built in Altona-Victoria.

Target feedstocks are end-of-life PE and PP from postconsumer packaging, mechanical recycling rejects, and product stewardship schemes.

The facility will be built in three stages, starting with 20,000 tonnes per annum capacity in stage one, and achieving 120,000 tonnes per annum by stage three. Licella is targeting commissioning in the second half of 2024.

Stop calling it waste, it's a resource

In his opening remarks, Darren Thorpe, managing director of APR Plastics, APR Kerbside and Australian Paper Recovery, summed up the entire conference, saying “the major word I have heard here is ‘collaboration’ and I am in the same space,” and then went on to suggest to attendees to “stop calling it waste, it’s a resource… we are not in the waste industry, we are in the resource industry.”

A changing of words may sound simple, but Thorpe’s comment had powerful connotations for how plastics are viewed. He claimed that Victoria alone could potentially see over 100,000 tonnes of plastics being recycled.

APR Plastics is currently engaged in pilot trials with the AFGC's National Plastics Recycling Scheme, converting post-consumer plastic to recycled oil using the pyrolisis process.

Julie Russ of Victoria's Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action concurred with Thorpe that Victoria is a state on the front foot. She said that Victoria is the first state to talk about the need for harmonisation, citing its ban on single-use plastics, introduction of a container deposit scheme and standardisation of household recycling with a four-stream system. She suggested that soft plastics may also be accepted into the recycling stream at a later date, as well as beverage cartons.

Collecting from kerbside would achieve greater uptake

Andrea Baldwin, team leader for waste management at Albury City Council, shared a pilot program undertaken across Albury and Wodonga, in which households have been provided with a flat pack of 15 bags for disposing soft plastics. The bag is then placed in the regular recycling bin and collected fortnightly. If this was rolled out to 70,000 households, Baldwin said that would equate to 9.3 tonnes or 18,000 bales of soft plastic collected annually.

l-r Barry Cosier, Andrea Polson, Darren Thorpe, Andrea Baldwin, Julie Russ, Richard Smith

2025 and beyond Sessions: The future of plastics recycling

One pertinent point Baldwin made is that people generally don’t like the process of having to take all their soft plastics to the supermarket for collection. Being able to collect from kerbside, in her opinion, would see a much greater uptake.

Against the backdrop of successes Amcor has already achieved in terms of design for recycling – 95 per cent of what Amcor places on market is now meeting APCO guidelines for design – Richard Smith, director sustainability at Amcor Flexibles, said his number one goal in his role is to get plastics out of the environment and oceans.

He believes that advanced recycling is the only pathway available to us today to produce food-grade recycled content, and since the material has the same properties as virgin resin, it enables a drop-in solution. He said the certification Amcor is pursuing for PCR-content materials will mean brand owners can make credible claims on the packaging's recycled content, building consumer confidence in the value

chain.

Smith cited several initiatives the company has invested in of late, saying that Amcor is “trying to demonstrate that a circular economy is possible with circular plastics.”

"At the end of the day, for us it's really all about local waste [resource] going back into packaging."

Smith ended his talk by alerting the audience to the need for collection infrastructure to get up to speed in time for all the projected recycling capacity that will be coming on stream by 2024/25. Without sufficient feedstock, these plants will not be viable, and the recycling system as a whole will not be sustainable, he warned.

As the event wrapped up, everyone concurred that collaboration across the value chain is the cornerstone of building a smarter circular economy, together.

This article was published with permission by PKN Packaging News

THE AIP WANTS TO HEAR FROM ALL OF OUR MEMBERS

2023 will be a very special year for the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) as we will be celebrating 60 years as the peak professional body for packaging training and education in Australasia.

We are inviting all of our Members to help us celebrate by finding out what you have seen change in the industry, what you have learned along the way and more.

We ask that you please complete the survey using the link below.

Should you have any photos from over the years that you would be able to share please scan them and send them as well.

Thank you in advance

https://forms.gle/58hQKuCziZbR4Qz26

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to share our journey as an SME with the delegates. Attending the conference has been extremely helpful for us to understand what we should be focusing on now - thank you!

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

The AIP 2023 Australasian Packaging Conference was a great opportunity to extend my understanding of the complexity of the challenges facing the Packaging Industry and appreciate how many groups are working so hard to actively solve these problems.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

The 2023, post-COVID edition of the AIP Conference was a valuable learning opportunity as well as a delightful chance to catch up with colleagues. Many colleagues I had only met online so having the chance to meet in person was a treat! The organisation of the event was faultless and the array of information stands was impressive. Overall a great event.

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

2023 AIP Australasian Packaging Conference Wrap Up

PKN Podcast LIVE returns at AIP Conference

The PKN Podcast LIVE set up its studio at the recent AIP Australasian Packaging Conference 2025 and Beyond to sit down with industry leaders, and those at the forefront of innovation, to discuss key take-outs from the conference.

Once again, the industry response to the PKN taking its podcast live to an event floor was resoundingly positive, with participants eager to join the conversation to share their news and views on all the latest in the sector. The podcast sessions were sponsored by PKN's partner, Ball & Doggett.

The PKN Podcast LIVE video interviews, conducted by managing editor & publisher Lindy Hughson, and produced by Southern Skies Media’s managing director, Grant McHerron, can be found on pages 95-97, in order of appearance.

Lindy Hughson talks with Nerida Kelton FAIP, Vice President Sustainability & Save Food, World Packaging Organisation

Lindy Hughson talks with Ian Hayes FAIP, Packaging Specialist, APCO

Lindy Hughson talks with Prof. Pierre Pienaar FAIP, CPP, President, World Packaging Organisation

Lindy Hughson talks with Bill Heague, General Manager, Mars Food Australia

Lindy Hughson talks with Chris Foley, Chief Executive Officer, APCO

Lindy Hughson talks with Karunia Adhiputra MAIP, Head of Packaging Oceania, Nestle Australia

Lindy Hughson talks with Sally Williams, Choice for Life

Lindy Hughson talks with John Bigley MAIP, Chief Executive Officer, Zipform Packaging

Lindy Hughson talks with Brendon Holmes, Managing Director, Caps & Closures

Lindy Hughson talks with Lou Tsoukalas, National Manager for Flexible Packaging, Ball & Doggett

Lindy Hughson talks with Maria Becerril Roman AAIP, Packaging Technologist

R&D Packaging, Mondelez International

Lindy Hughson talks with Anhely Milan MAIP, Founder, Sustainability 4 Kids

Bryan McKay FAIP, Head of Packaging, Woolworths Food Company

PKN Podcast LIVE returns at AIP Conference

Lindy Hughson talks with Azadeh Yousefi AAIP, Packaging Designer, Production Packaging Innovations

Lindy Hughson talks with Austen Ramage AAIP, General Manager, Martogg Group and Ben McCulloch AAIP, Account Manager, Martogg Group

Lindy Hughson talks with Michael Dossor MAIP, General Manager, Result Group

Lindy Hughson talks with Dr Nicole Garofano, AAIP, Head of Circular Economy Development, Planet Ark

Richard Smith FAIP, Director Sustainability – Asia Pacific, Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific

Jessica Ansell AAIP, Marketing Manager, Close the Loop Group and Liza Vernalls MAIP, Packaging Innovations Manager, Yates