Packaging Europe Issue 13.4

VOLUME 13.4 – 2018

THE CHINESE E-COMMERCE REVOLUTION: COMING SOON TO EUROPE? SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS 2018 PERSPECTIVES • OVENABLE PACKAGING • DIGGING DEEPER INTO DESIGN

Head of Content Tim Sykes

Editors

Head of Commercial Operations

VOLUME 13.4 – 2018

Jesse Roberts

Elisabeth Skoda Libby White

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Head of Studio

Senior Sales Executive

Gareth Harrey

Dominic Kurkowski

Production Manager

IT Support

Paul Holden-Abbott

Syed Hassan

Kevin Gambrill

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Andrew Wood

Executive Assistant Amber Dawson

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ISSN 2516-0133 (Print) ISSN 02516-0141 (Online)

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Editorial Tim Sykes JD.com Chinese e-commerce changing the world Sustainability Awards 2018 Meet the judges Marianne Klimchuk Packaging as cultural anthropology Avery Dennison Packaging must not cost the Earth Ovenable Packs A market that's heating up Mondi Developments in sustainable flexibles Tray sealing What's driving innovation?

Fachpack Anticipating the autumn's key show Innovation Spotlight OCSiAl & the new nano era Achema A focal point for process Rockwell Automation Sustainability 4.0 Automatica Designing the future of production Glass design The impact of geography, fashion & value Borealis Recycling 2.0 Innovation Spotlight An affordable hi-res solution Sustainability Awards Discover who's in the running Digital Nomad Navigating the Amazon effect

EDITOR

I pen this month’s editorial aboard a flight back to Europe from Houston, where I had the honour of serving on the jury of Dow’s 30th Awards for Packaging Innovation.

T

he renowned competition, formerly run by DuPont, deserves its reputation for rigour. Across two and a half gruelling days, more than 200 entries from six continents (regrettably, Antarctica was unrepresented) were scrutinised and debated by the 14 judges, adroitly guided by Mintel’s David Luttenberger. We emerged not just with a list of winners, but a snapshot of current global innovation in all its vigour and breadth. From breakthroughs in materials and converting to groundbreaking applications of new tech and creations of pure ingenuity, the competition reminds us that packaging never sits still.

As for the impetus for development, no one will be surprised that sustainability emerges again and again as the driver. Many innovations focus on enabling easier recyclability or compostability, others on resource efficiency across the product lifecycle; some of the most impressive succeed in negotiating the challenges to deliver both. Meanwhile, the competition underlined the degree to which the packaging community is grappling with e-commerce. An unfolding revolution in how we purchase and receive goods is eliciting a profound rethink of the methods used to protect, preserve and present them. The thrilling thing is that obviously there’s much, much more to come in this space.

You’re strongly recommended to keep a future eye on the Awards for Packaging Innovation, as it attracts such a wide field of competitors and goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the victors genuinely earn their plaudits. As for this year’s competition, I can exclusively reveal that the winner is… to be announced by Dow later this summer.

Many of the issues associated with the competition are also reflected in this magazine. First and foremost, as we embark on the judging stage of our

own initiative – the Sustainability Awards 2018 – we present perspectives on environmentally responsible packaging from some of our judges and sponsors. You can peruse the full list of the 109 submissions that made the cut at the end of this edition.

In our lead article we explore the future of e-commerce, as imagined in China, with Lori Chao of JD.com – world pioneer in the use of AI, drones and robots in the home delivery supply chain. Meanwhile, Professor Marianne Klimchuk of the Fashion Institute of Technology (and my fellow Dow Awards jury member) shares her vision of design, where packaging both reflects our cultural superstructure and enriches it by contributing new stories.

Coming from a slightly different angle, O-I’s Marie-Laure Susset explores the influences of product heritage and geography on the trends and signifiers in container glass design.

In addition, we assess key pockets of innovation across the industry, from tray sealers to nanotubes and from ovenable packaging to high resolution ink-jet, and preview three essential upcoming German shows. We hope to see you there – and we really hope to see you at the Sustainability Awards and Sustainable Packaging Summit on 23 October at Scanpack!

Tim Sykes Tim Sykes Head of Content @PackEuropeTim

Packaging Europe | 3 |

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE Fortune Global 500 listed company JD.com is one of China’s big two online retailers and recognised as the world leader in the introduction of AI and hightech delivery using drones, robots and autonomous technology. Now eyeing international expansion, the business looks set to introduce the next-generation retail channels to Europe and the rest of the world. Lori Chao, director of international communications, shares JD.com’s futuristic vision with Tim Sykes.

T L

IM SYKES JD.com is one of the world’s largest and most innovative e-commerce businesses. Could you tell me about your concept and development of drones, AI and robotic delivery?

ORI CHAO Being the largest retailer, online or offline, in a market where e-commerce penetration is high and still growing, means we need to be able to handle fast-growing demand. We’re investing in automation, robotics and AI because automation will be necessary in order to keep up with this demand in the next five to ten years, and beyond, while being able to fulfil our commitment to delivering the vast majority of our orders within the same or next day.

In addition to saving resources for delivery to more sparsely populated areas with lower shipping volumes, drones are important because they are enabling consumers in remote regions to access to e-commerce and high-quality goods and supplies for the first time.

TS

Are these smart delivery technologies already driving improved efficiency, or are efficiencies likely to be fully achieved as utilisation is scaled up?

Do you think they are likely to displace traditional delivery methods or co-exist with them?

LC

Logistics innovation is a continuous process that will never stop developing – so in some ways, efficiency will never be ‘fully achieved’.

We already use a high level of automation in our fulfilment centres, which are driving efficiency throughout the supply chain. This includes both hardware and software, and covers demand planning, optimised use of real estate and labour, inventory and transportation management, and more.

Lori Chao

Packaging Europe | 5 |

Newer technologies, like delivery robots, are going to complement the transportation methods we already use, with better optimisation for different settings.

They will also add to capacity as we fill out our delivery needs for new product categories. We are still in the process of deploying these new technologies, however, so they won’t realise their full potential until they have entered mass production and nationwide coverage.

TS LC

Do you have a vision of what the next wave of innovation in AI and robotic delivery will look like?

The use of robotics in delivery will make shopping online more convenient than ever, contributing to our vision of boundaryless retail, in which consumers can purchase whatever they want, when they want it, and where they want it. It should feel seamless to the consumer, but still be a viable business for retailers.

This actually starts further up the supply chain, well before delivery. We are going to see AI and robotics continue to get deployed throughout operations, optimising everything from ordering, to space management, route planning and other core retail functions. These innovations, at scale, will be the biggest drivers of change in global commerce because they will enable boundaryless retail.

As for the delivery aspect of it, what we see in China is that AI and robotics can efficiently and sustainably increase our ability to reach every household in China, no matter how remote. The advantages will be not only in speed, but in control and visibility.

TS

JD.com is expanding geographically. In what ways do the e-commerce markets and supply chains of Europe and North America differ from your core Chinese market? Is this an opportunity for JD.com to introduce to the rest of the world disruptive technologies which have been pioneered in China?

LC

By getting its start in China, JD.com had to develop infrastructure for retail and e-commerce where none previously existed. At first this made the growth of our industry more challenging than in the west. But now that we have such a massive in-house operation in place, and lead our own research | 6 | Packaging Europe

initiatives, we are able to pioneer and execute new innovations much more quickly. It also helps that, in China, our customers are much more willing to embrace new technology than consumers in mature markets. We already offer some of our technology and infrastructure to our partners and suppliers, including international companies, and will continue to do so.

TS

What are the most important demands on packaging for a modern online retailer like JD.com and what innovations in packaging have you adopted?

LC

As China’s largest retailer, JD.com is fortunate to have close relationships with brands, so we’re able to work collaboratively with them on packaging innovations. We are continuously looking at ways that packaging can evolve along with e-commerce.

One major effort for JD.com is the Green Stream Initiative, through which we’re looking to make our supply chain more environmentally sustainable. We’ve collaborated with partners including LEGO, Nestlé, Unilever and P&G to reduce the number of boxes used in our supply chain. We are moving toward recyclable and biodegradable packaging, and have slimmed down the tape to reduce e-commerce waste, saving roughly 100 million metres of tape in two years.

Packaging should be designed with its full life-cycle in mind. We can’t discuss packaging innovation in e-commerce today without considering how it the materials we use will be produced, circulated, used and disposed of or recycled.

We cannot emphasise enough that every single part of this process is important, at least to JD.com.

We see packaging as a major factor in the consumer experience as well. JD has a large luxury goods business. Alongside our luxury white glove delivery services, specialised packaging plays a major role in the way customers interact with brands.

Going forward, as we undergo the process of developing automation, packaging will also be important for JD’s traceability programs. Incorporating RFID and other technologies into packaging will help us expand our blockchain program for visibility in production and logistics. It will also play a role in enabling new forms of picking by helping our robots recognise unique products, and to handle them with the appropriate care.

Platinum Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

SUSTAINABILITY‘S RACE TO THE TOP Following a glut of submissions from all over Europe, the focus of the Sustainability Awards now switches to our live event at Scanpack, on 23 October in Gothenburg. In addition to the winners‘ announcements and presentations, we will be hosting high-level discussion of the central environmental challenges at the co-located Sustainable Packaging Summit. In the meantime, however, our panel of seventeen wonderful judges will spend the summer analysing and grading the 109 entries to this year’s competition. Here some of the judges share their perspectives on the initiative and on sustainability in general.

Thomas Reiner

Kevin Vyse

Tracy Sutton

Thomas Reiner Chair of Deutsches Verpackungsinstitut and CEO of Berndt+Partner GmbH Packaging is fundamentally an answer to sustainability issues, as well over 90 per cent of the carbon footprint is in the products. Packaging protects these products from loss and spoilage with a comparatively minimal footprint of its own, which makes it is an extremely efficient (and indispensable) advocate for sustainability.

One of the biggest challenges of the moment is littering. An important factor is that around three quarters of people do not have access to collection and recycling systems. One of the most pressing tasks in the coming years will be to close the loop. That is our responsibility

Virginie Helias

Antro Säilä

Sanjay Patel

too. Whoever brings products to the market globally must also assume global responsibility.

It will also be necessary to dial back on material minimisation and complexity, because it ultimately comes at the expense of efficient recyclability. Another key point: We need the expertise of the entire value chain. In the pioneering days of environmental services 30 years ago, we brought together stakeholders and experts from all areas to find solutions for individual topics and applications.

That's what we have to do again.

The Sustainability Awards is a wonderful project, which I am very happy to support. We urgently need innovations in this area. I particularly like the fact that all levels of the market are covered. It is not just about the circular economy and design for recycling, but also about other aspects.

Packaging Europe | 11 |

Kevin Vyse Senior packaging technologist & Circular Economy Lead, M&S As we move into an era of opportunity to reset the world of packaging this is a great opportunity to showcase those who have embraced change and are already working towards a sustainable future. Never before have we had the challenge and resources to do something about leaving the world in a better place than we find it.

Tracy Sutton Founder of Root I’ve been passionate about packaging, design and the environment since studying Sustainable Product Design at university over 15 years ago. I set up Root to live my purpose of improving the world through responsible packaging design so I’m excited about the creation of these awards.

The Sustsainability Awards are part of a much needed drive to incentivise progress and reward good practice in both technical development and designing towards a more resource efficient future. I was pleased to be asked to join the excellent, multifaceted panel of judges who represent all angles of the industry.

This truly holistic experience is absolutely essential to reflex the complex packaging value chain.

‘Design for Life’ is the strategic approach embedded within all of the projects I deliver at Root. It’s principles will be some of the things I’ll be looking for

in the entries, they include; intelligent design thinking, reference to academic life cycle methodologies and integration of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Virginie Helias VP Global Sustainability, P&G There is a race to the top on sustainability – which is a very good thing! Many companies are making bold statements. These Awards will help celebrate those who put their words into actions and truly make a difference. As Procter & Gamble VP of Sustainability, I am delighted to join the Panel and be inspired by innovative solutions. This will raise the bar for all of us and confirm that innovation and collaboration are the only ways to drive positive impacts on the planet and society.

P&G has been working on sustainable packaging for decades. We are actually celebrating this year the 30th anniversary of the use of Post Consumer Recycled plastic in our detergent bottles. Our recently released 'Ambition 2030' includea ambitious goals on packaging as we are committing to find solutions so that no P&G packaging will find its way to the world’s oceans by 2030.

Sustainability is the focus of my job. I am particularly proud of what we are doing to drive sustainable packaging – from upstream technology like the one our scientists invented to turn recycled PP into virgin-like state (licensed to PureCycle) to brand partnerships such as the ones we are doing with Terracycle to make our difficult-to-recycle packaging 100 per cent recyclable

Packaging Europe | 13 |

or to include recycled beach plastic in our bottles as a way to raise consumer awareness on the necessity to recycle.

Antro Säilä MD, Suomen Pakkausyhdistys ry, the Finnish Packaging Association Sustainability is becoming so important a thing that instead of being a potential source of competitive advantage it’s more of a licence to operate. Sooner rather than later it becomes a prerequisite.

My personal definition of sustainability consists of two aspects: 1. The need to move towards renewable resources and I think that’s the direction we’re going in – in a determined if not exactly rapid way.

2. All packaging should be either biodegradable or recyclable.

We speak a lot about plastic packaging and related problems.

Globally plastics and wood fibre have roughly similar shares of the packaging market. However, here in Finland it’s around 70 per cent paper-based, reflecting the fact that there’s a lot of Finnish innovation around enhancing the properties of fibres.

Sanjay Patel Founding partner of The Packaging Collective Packaging sustainability has always been important… from a business perspective packaging costs so why would you over-package without good reason?

Recently, media attention has highlighted the need for us to do more directly | 14 | Packaging Europe

and indirectly as a set of industry professionals and beyond that, inspire general society to play their part in the correct disposal and facilitation of packaging materials’ second life.

At the Packaging Collective we are looking to provide thought leadership to help steer the industry and the broader conversation in four main areas: education, networking/events, awards and the provision of a home for the approximately two million people associated with packaging design, development and production. Sustainability underpins all four of these areas of competence.

Through more thoughtful awards initiatives, such as Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards, with a more rigorous definition and assessment of actual (rather than perceived) sustainability gains and channelling the competence of the judging panel, we can help inspire the next generation of talent and recognise those professionals and organisations already striving to make a positive difference. Most importantly, we can show the broader global community that by leveraging the collective capability of our industry, we can make a difference.

Now is the time to come together to collectively address the call for action. This is in fact the founding impulse of the Packaging Collective: there’s a profound need for a collaborative input from the silent community of trained packaging professionals. We need them to contribute, comment, steer, advise. We can’t afford to sit back and wait for top-down legislation to force compliance. Now is our golden chance to make a valuable contribution to this packaging debate.

On a personal level, I am honoured to have been asked to be a judge for this year’s Sustainability Awards and I am looking forward to the difficult task of helping identify the winning entries from what I expect to be a high calibre set of submissions.

‘PACKAGING DESIGN IS CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY’ Professor Marianne Klimchuk of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) has made a career out of thinking deeply about the dialogue between packaging and society – and passing it on to the next generation of designers. In conversation with Tim Sykes, Marianne shares some of her insights.

Tell me about your work in the packaging sphere and how you’ve come to approach the question of packaging design.

I

head the only BFA in Packaging Design Program in the United States. This rigorous program mirrors FIT’s mission of being an academic institution that builds adaptable academic curriculum, experiential learning opportunities, industry partnerships, and a commitment to research and innovation.

I have been interested in packaging since graduate school, when I realised that there are different cultural components to creating packaging, and that different nations find acceptance in different standards of beauty. I realised that consumers have emotional connection, as do transportation, containment, and protection, with brands and products.

My career has been dedicated to educating the next generation of industry professionals. In this capacity, I have developed deep and longstanding relationships with leading industry professionals across the globe. This includes owners of agencies, global heads of creative, design directors, industrial designers, researchers, photographers, manufacturers and conference organisers. I learn from both students, faculty and industry colleagues every day.

We provide students with a global perspective in a number of ways. We bring students abroad (Amsterdam, London, Paris) to visit consumer brand and packaging design agencies, we recently initiated an exchange program with a university in Finland, and are developing collaborative online experiences with design schools in Cuba and Italy. All of these offerings provide students the opportunity to interact with design firms, understand the global, regional, and cultural differences and see themselves within the larger world of design and society.

There have been massive changes to the way people consume and interact with packaged goods over the last two decades. Looking back, what have been the most significant shifts?

As I mentioned, when I was in grad school I was interested in how packaging design reflected the culture in which it exists. Packaging design is a piece of cultural anthropology. A consumer can visit a market anywhere in the world, and by examining the packaging design – aesthetics, ergonomics, materials,

How do you see the role of FIT’s packaging design department and what’s distinctive about its approach to teaching the next generations of packaging designers?

Today in the packaging design profession, certainly on the East Coast of the US, design agencies and in-house design teams are filled with alumni from the FIT Packaging Design BFA. They are principles, senior design managers, global brand designers, creative directors, art directors, brand strategists, digital creatives, and UX designers. These alumni and our education is completely connected to our profession. Our adjunct faculty are full time design professionals (there are two full time faculty), this combined with our alumni involvement, which is weekly, and our industry partners, enables us to bring the profession into the education every day. This is key.

By the time our students graduate, they have a network and an education that enables them to be value added from day one. We stay focused on the changing demands and to adapt our curriculum to ensure that graduates are well prepared. We are proud that each Spring, many of our seniors are offered full time employment before they graduate. In fact, last year over a third of the class had job before graduation. This year is looking pretty impressive as well.

Employers know what they can expect from a FIT Packaging Design student.

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production, retail setting, etc. – they can learn about the values of the culture and the region.

With globalisation and mass branding, these cultural differences, in the broad Western marketplace, started to disappear. It has been exciting to see that packaging designs the communication of a brand story that is unique and often culturally connected. Perhaps the direct connection to regional values is not there but there are some creative designs that communicate brand narratives in unique ways. The reflection of consumer values is always key.

Turning 180º, what do you see as the new drivers and the packaging landscape they will create?

This is pretty obvious but e-commerce is the driver. Social media plays an important role in the marketing of products to the YUCCIE (young urban creatives) consumer. On the other hand, we have to consider that packaging design must meet global needs. Supply chain resilience, health and food safety and innovation, and packaging for less developed countries are each critical to the future of packaging.

How should the industry navigate the other big pressure – sustainability?

Professor Marianne Klimchuk | 18 | Packaging Europe

Our industry needs to take part in a PR campaign. There are so many areas where we fail to educate the consumer about all that goes into getting a product into their hands. They think that all packaging is bad unless it is made from paper pulp. They have never been informed about the science and engineering that goes into each and every packaging. That their packaging helps preserve and protect their products and that without the packaging many of their food products would be wasted.

There are so many teams of professionals across diverse industries involved in each product, yet the great majority of consumers have no idea how packaging is developed. We expect the public to know how to recycle but we do not really educate them. There are so many impressive sustainably focused brands and yet their stories go untold.

On a personal level, are there any recent innovations in packaging formats or technologies that you consider especially important? Do you have any favourite concrete examples of packaging design? Or any design hates!?

I have very high expectations of packaging and search to find innovation. Recently, I saw a student project (not from FIT) of a pharmaceutical packaging that addresses opioid addiction. It’s easy to separate novel approaches from true innovations. The 19 Crimes wine label is an interesting example of truly communicating the brand story. Developing technologies will add immense value for packaging. I have a lot of hates – right now it is packaging that is not refillable. I am impressed by L’Oreal whose sustainability missions have raised the bar for all competitors. The new line Seed Phytonutrients is interesting.

Packaging design is part of a 360º integrated brand story. The demands and expectations are greater than ever before. Packaging design is complex. It should elevate the consumers experience, be innovative, ergonomic, experiential, able to meet the challenges of ecommerce, connect to the consumer on social media and multiple touchpoints, adapt to virtual and augmented reality, be intelligent, personalised, meet global regulatory requirements, oh and also not damage the environment.

WORKING TOWARD PACKAGING THAT DOESN'T COST THE EARTH Georg Mßller-Hof, VP marketing, introduces Avery Dennison’s sustainability vision to Packaging Europe.

What do you consider the key sustainability challenges for packaging and packaged goods?

We consider the by-products, or waste, as the key challenge. Recycling programs are in place but are not optimised yet and a lot of by-products still go to landfill or incineration if you look at the entire value chain. Each step in the chain faces different challenges, but we need to cooperate as an industry to tackle the waste issue and address the future of our planet together. We share the planet and the responsibility to take care of it, so it is obvious we should also work on a mutual solution we all benefit from.

What does the packaging value chain need to do in order to respond to these challenges?

With every step we take, with every innovation we achieve we should strive for more sustainable solutions. From raw materials procurement to transport of the final products to the consumer, we need to consider the process. Affordable alternatives are available, so let change start with yourself and reconsider the materials we use, the way we process them and the impact of the end-product we aim to sell.

Is working across the industry a prerequisite for achieving the necessary progress?

Cross-industry collaboration is the only solution for this global industry-wide issue. Avery Dennison is working with parties across the entire value chain to help us reach our sustainability goals, as we believe that a sustainable way of working is the only way to guarantee a long-lasting, healthy future for our business. We try to support our customers wherever we can, whether it is with finding recycling partners, offering more sustainable solutions or even getting FSCÂŽ certifications.

What are the key concerns specifically in the labelling segment?

The larger issues in labelling are the matrix- and liner waste. A future innovation with biodegradable or compostable materials would be a huge step in the right direction. However, the product adjustments alone will not be enough. Avery Dennison has recently installed a wind-turbine at one of our facilities, other facilities run on solar-panels. Alternative sources of energy and consequently reducing CO2 emissions are easy steps for all members in the value chain. It is a matter of prioritising and willingness to invest in the future.

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How do you view the plastic waste issue?

At Avery Dennison we try to minimise the use of plastics, we work with thinner liners (PET30. PET23, PET19) that can easily be recycled. For our filmic backings food contamination is not an issue. For the development of our adhesives we do need to take food contamination into account. Before we commercialise any adhesive for food labelling, pharmaceuticals, drinks or home and personal care labelling, we always obtain the necessary official testing certificates.

The trend we see coming our way is the ban on one-time use plastic bags.

This is nowadays already in place in Italy(1) and France(2) where we serve the industry accordingly. For instance, we offer Variable Information labels (the weigh scale labels for fruit and vegetables in your local supermarket) as a fully compostable label construction which then includes a compostable adhesive.

Although these solutions exist, we do not see a large demand yet, but legislation and regulations can help the industry to prioritise these types of sustainable solutions for the entire value chain. We often see a shift in demand when new legislation is enacted.

Could you tell us about Avery Dennison’s broader sustainability strategy?

Avery Dennison has set a very ambitious sustainability agenda with bold targets for 2025. We aim for the majority of our products to be sustainable, more than 70 per cent of our papers used will be FSCÂŽ Certified (Europe has already long surpassed this target), 70 per cent of our films to be recycled and 30 per cent of films to be sourced with recycled content, all chemicals to be managed through a restricted substance policy, we aim to reduce GHG emissions with three per cent year-over-year. Operations aim to be 95 per cent landfill free on a global level (100 per cent in Europe is already achieved) and 75 per cent of the waste to be repurposed. We aim for 70 per cent waste reduction in the value chain when the products leave our facilities, we cultivate a diverse, engaged and safe workforce and we will be transparent in the reporting of our progress.

To support these goals on product level, we have created the Avery Dennison ClearIntentTM portfolio. The ClearIntent portfolio is sourced responsibly, from FSC certified papers and films from renewable sources; products are thinner, so less consumption of resources and many products incorporate recycled content or elements that make the packaging and products more recyclable. The portfolio is continuously growing and product ranges extended.

Avery Dennison is dedicated to reaching its Sustainability Goals set for 2025 and we hope to inspire the value chain to create a healthy and sustainable future | 22 | Packaging Europe

| 24 | Packaging Europe

THE OVENABLE PACKAGING MARKET IS HEATING UP Elisabeth Skoda explores recent innovations in the area of ovenable and microwavable packaging, speaking with Toby Cottam and Simon Balderson, managing directors respectively of Terinex and Sirane, about striking the balance between offering consumers convenience, high quality food and sustainability.

R

ecent months have seen a host of new products brought to the market in this space. To take one example, KM Packaging has developed its ovenable Superguard film line in response to the growing demand for home cooked-style convenience food. The new ovenable flow wrap products ensure foodstuffs can make it from supermarket shelf to plate without needing to be directly handled. The new enhanced films are suitable for oven or microwave cooking, comfortably withstanding temperatures up to 225ºC. Manufactured from polyester based laminate with innovative ovenable adhesives and inks, the films can be printed using high definition flexo technology.

Meanwhile, Colpac has launched the ovenable Cookpac® range, which is an all-in-one dual-ovenable solution. The paperboard solution can be taken from the fridge or freezer and put straight into the oven or microwave, and features integral design elements to overcome issues relating to traditional ready meal packaging. Cookpac® has integrated heat resistant handles to ensure it is easy to take out of the oven, and features a self-ventilating film which releases slightly during the heating process to enable consumers to open the pack easily.

Terinex has introduced the new Q-Tex film, a heat sealable PET mono layer HD printed food grade ovenable film, which is suitable for freezer, microwave Packaging Europe | 25 |

and oven usage. The Q-Tex film has one layer instead of the two found in laminate alternatives, therefore offering material reduction and easier recyclability.

With the popularity of ‘meal kits’ growing, Sirane has recently launched individually-wrapped cooking bags, allowing a nylon roasting bag or a steamcooking bag, wrapped in a small sachet, to be easily included. Sirane has also been developing packaging which allows food to be flavoured by the packaging itself, for example oven/BBQ bags which include a perforated non-stick layer, below which sachets of dried herbs and spices can be placed, actively flavouring the food during the cooking process.

Meal kits Toby Cottam of Terinex has observed a growing demand from consumers for healthy, good quality food to be made available in more convenient straight to oven packaging, which not only aids in speeding up the preparation and cooking process but equally saves on washing up and oven cleaning, which in turn reduces energy consumption.

Sirane’s Simon Balderson agrees that there is a growing trends towards better quality products which produce a great end result. “The food retail market is so competitive that products have to be as good as the competition’s, if not better,” he remarks. “Convenience and ease of use is vital.”

He also observes a shift towards the ‘meal kit’ approach, where customers are provided with the components for a meal, and the means to cook it (i.e. a cooking bag) rather than a ready meal in a plastic tray: “Some ovenable packaging is there for the convenience of taking the food home and just cooking it, but other ovenable packaging can contribute and actually improve the food’s taste and texture – and in a crowded market it’s that packaging which is standing out.”

Mr Cottam believes that consumers are looking for a desirable product presentation and require clear on pack information, and most importantly confidence that the packaging is safe to put in their oven and will not detrimentally affect the quality, taste or smell of the food they are cooking.

“With the ever-growing focus on the environmental impact of packaging waste, more consumers are considering the packaging as much as the product,” he says. “Clear communication of the recyclability of the ovenable packaging is key to ensuring that recyclable materials which offer various benefits including environmental, do not get overlooked or tainted by the growing call for a reduction in landfill plastic packaging waste. It is vital that the supply chain and infrastructure to ensure recycling facilities for ovenable packaging materials is improved and made more widely accessible.”

Functionality and end result are the essential KPIs in the eyes of consumers, Mr Balderson suggests: “The product needs to be simple, easy to use, and clean. If its messy to open when cooked, it might put you off buying the product again. A ready meal needs to be simple – just cook it, not lots of steps to follow.

But ultimately it’s about how well it cooks the products. Does it deliver a more than satisfactory end result?”

Convenience vs sustainability How, though, does consumers’ hunger for an easier life sit against their other stated concern about environmental impact?

“It is key that wasteful and excessive plastic packaging is removed or reduced from our supply chains, however a proportion of the plastic packaging used provides a direct environmental benefit over the alternatives available,” Mr Cottam | 26 | Packaging Europe

states. “The plastic used in ovenable packaging is predominantly PET and is 100 per cent recyclable. The lack of infrastructure to effectively and widely recover, sort and recycle plastic packaging where possible is disappointing, especially when there is no need for the material to go to waste. The message Terinex is keen to spread is that plastic packaging and plastic ovenable products can and do have a value when used for the right purpose, especially when those materials can then be recycled.”

Mr Balderson similarly cautions against going too far down the ‘no plastic’ route but adds that where plastics used cannot be recycled, alternatives need to be developed. “Removing plastics isn’t necessarily the answer to everything, the key is making sure the plastics can be easily recycled by using less complex multi-layer packaging films,” he says. “Often what’s needed can be done, but there’s a cost – if the industry’s prepared to absorb the additional costs, convenience for the consumer can still be achieved.”

Sirane has introduced a plastic free food pouch (Earthpouch) for dry and moist foods.

This is compostable and recyclable. The next step, according to Mr Balderson, is to further develop the product and make it ovenable.

Both interviews agree that the future of the industry is difficult to predict, with the need to balance the war on waste with functionality, Brexit and an uncertainty about who will pay for reducing plastic waste, the retailers or consumers.

“I think there will be continued focus on material reduction and environmentally less harmful substrates and alternatives,” says Mr Cottam. “But equally there is unlikely to be a reduction in the demand from consumers for convenience, good, healthy food as time continues to become a more and more valuable commodity.”

“Companies will continue to develop ovenable packaging solutions that are eco-friendly, and at the same time some of the more complex laminates will fall by the wayside,” Mr Balderson concludes. “But cost, functionality and end result will continue to be the main drivers, with the eco-credentials becoming an additional focus.”

Packaging Europe | 27 |

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

Innovation is an activity that drives sustainability – and sustainability provides a set of goals guiding innovation, according to Mondi. The company shares its perspective on how it has built a portfolio of sustainable flexible packaging products and processes that give customers options to best meet their sustainability objectives based on this this understanding.

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he story of plastic packaging features many impressive successes, which poor waste management has often overshadowed in the public eye.

Nevertheless, brands and consumers alike benefit from the flexibility, functions and fashions that plastics make possible. Polyolefin-based plastics reduce packaging costs, enable lightweight protection and extend product shelf life by minimising contamination and spoilage.

Flexible plastic packaging is now the fastest growing packaging segment.

Global demand is estimated to grow in Europe by around two per cent per annum, in the Americas by two to four per cent and across Asia by a staggering six to eight per cent. This growth is being driven by a number of factors: from a growing middle class to greater urbanisation and an increase in smaller households – all fuelling demand for diversified and convenient packaging solutions.

A turning tide More recently, modern consumerism’s single-use behaviour has prompted people to re-evaluate traditional plastic packaging due to the impact of plastic

waste on the world’s oceans and land-based environments. In essence, the advent and sweeping adoption of fossil-based throwaway plastics has made them a victim of their own success.

As consumers place more importance on sustainability, governments, producers and retailers are heeding the call to deal with plastics more responsibly.

In January 2018, the European Commission announced in a strategy to ensure that all plastic packaging will be reusable or recyclable by 2030. Currently, approximately 30 per cent of the 25 million tonnes of Europe’s plastic waste is collected for recycling (with another 30 per cent going toward energy recovery).

This new EU-wide plastic strategy will transform how products are designed, produced, used and recycled with the aim of reducing plastics’ environmental footprint while capturing the economic benefits of a circular approach.

Many private, charitable and NGO projects are also being launched in collaboration with companies that produce and use plastics. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation recently announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos that 11 of the world’s largest food, beverage, clothing, personal care and household

Uwe Obermann, Director R&D and Innovation Consumer Goods Packaging, and Carl Stonley, Technical Account Manager at Mondi Consumer Goods Packaging, accept the Plastics Recycling Europe Show award for “Best Technology Innovation in Plastics Recycling.”

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The Holy Grail Recently, Mondi introduced BarrierPack Recyclable, a laminate that is fully recyclable where a suitable recycling infrastructure exists. In places where the infrastructure is catching up to material innovations, BarrierPack is considered ‘recycling ready’. CeDo Recycling, a pioneer in recycling technologies, proved the material’s compatibility via extensive validation trials.

BarrierPack Recyclable offers exceptional mechanical properties and is ideal for a range of packaging formats. Constructed using two layers of PE film, BarrierPack Recyclable is stiffer, stronger and lighter than conventional PET/PE laminate of the same thickness and can be formed directly on FFS machines.

The innovation that really pushed BarrierPack Recyclable toward “holy grail” status was the addition of a gas barrier between the two PE layers. This addition opened up new high-volume markets for the material – most notably in fresh food and other food products requiring modified atmosphere packaging.

The Best Technology Innovation in Plastics Recycling prize – which BarrierPack won at the 2018 Plastics Recycling Europe Awards – underscores market expectations. Ton Emans, managing director at CeDo Recycling and president of Plastics Recyclers Europe, explains: “This innovation not only shows that flexible plastic packaging can become truly circular, but also that we can produce, use and recycle it on a large scale” © ferrantraite / Creative#:500555729 / getty images

products companies have pledged to use packaging in a circular manner.

This means they will work toward using 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.

The combined plastic packaging usage of these 11 companies amounts to over six million tonnes per year. The financial logic is clear to the entire value chain – to resin suppliers, packaging companies, FMCGs and retailers. By recovering plastics for a second or third use, they are creating value and helping the environment: The higher the recovery rate, the greater the value and environmental benefit.

Packaging goes circular A variety of stakeholders have been hard at work developing ways to use constrained resources in a circular manner. Playing a decisive role in the packaging industry are organisations like The Ellen MacArthur Foundation with The New Plastics Economy Initiative and the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX), of which Mondi is a founding member.

Parallel to developments in the packaging industry, Mondi’s managers and engineers have been approaching innovation as an activity that drives sustainability and sustainability as a set of goals guiding innovation. This complementary understanding of innovation and sustainability has helped the company integrate a circular approach into its business practices in a way that creates value and manages risk for Mondi and for customers.

Over the years, the company has built a portfolio of sustainable products and processes to give customers the options that best meet their sustainability objectives. Sustainability has many aspects: reusability, resource efficiency, recovery and renewability, for example. In the current climate, however, recyclability represents the holy grail in an array of sustainability attributes. | 30 | Packaging Europe

Circular thinking in practice Mondi has been working with long-time consumer goods customer Henkel to help incorporate more of its scrap plastic into a highly functional, attractive and flexible laminate packaging material.

Committed to reducing its environmental footprint while creating more value for its consumers, Henkel is now selling its Megaperls washing powder in the new flexible ‘quadro seal bag’ for which the PE layer comprises 30 per cent of industrial waste, meaning 10 per cent regrind material in the overall structure.

Mondi’s advanced resin reclamation technology will help the two companies forward on their mission to achieve a 50 per cent regrind composition.

Reducing carbon emissions with renewable materials Finnish snacks, seasoning and coffee producer Paulig Group, which has made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, engaged Mondi to help develop solutions to replace all fossil fuel-based materials, including conventional PE, with renewable packaging alternatives by 2025.

In response, Mondi rapidly adopted bio-based PE made from sugarcane to develop a new laminate consisting of a mix of standard PE and the new sugarcane-based PE. This solution provides the peelability needed for easy opening. And with sealing temperatures and times comparable to standard PE laminates, Paulig could incorporate the bio-based PE smoothly into existing production operations.

To provide customers, consumers, and recyclers with useful tools for realising their individual sustainability ambitions, innovators at Mondi are constantly challenging the limits of what materials and processes can accomplish. BarrierPack Recyclable, material recovery and bio-PE are just the beginning. Mondi will continue to bring new innovations to the market – and to support sustainability projects initiated by peers. By creating momentum across the value chain, linear business models will gradually give way to a circular plastics economy that is better for the environment – and for business.

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MEETING THE NEEDS OF TODAY’S TRAY SEALER MARKET Tony Burgess, head of sales and control systems at Proseal, discusses the tray sealer marketplace today and how flexibility is the key to meeting the challenges that face it.

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irroring developments across the CPG spectrum, there is an evergreater need for flexibility in tray sealers. It is only through flexibility that solutions are able to meet the demands of today’s market for speed and versatility across a range of materials, the increasing call for more sustainable solutions, and the perennial need to preserve shelf-life.

For food manufacturers, maximising throughput is vital, so they must have a tray sealer that can always keep up with other equipment on their line.

Cycle speed is naturally key, but another important benefit of the best tray sealers today is their following motion and intelligent buffering capabilities.

These systems enable trays to feed continuously into a tray sealer without having to pre-sort and adjust pack spacing.

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As tray sealers are becoming faster, the range of packs they have to deal with is growing due to more new formats being adopted. For example, Skinpack is fast becoming the sealing method of choice for a vast array of products, and the anti-plastic sentiment currently dominant across Europe is likely to see a growing use of other materials for the manufacture of trays.

The latest models can handle a wide variety of sealing formats. These options can be added at any time, and even removed if required. This gives manufacturers the flexibility easily to switch between packs during normal production, or to run trial packs. Our machines can also handle a variety of material applications, including foil, board, pulp, and pressed board.

It is important that tray sealers are equipped to deal with the latest in a widening range of trays, and equally important that they also contain an element of future-proofing, which will give them the ability to be adapted to handle new formats as they are introduced, while formats that are no longer required can be removed. This is a vital factor in manufacturers securing a long term tray sealing solution that has the flexibility to cope with the fast pace of change in competitive markets.

One reason we need to be able to handle a wide range of new materials is the ongoing battle to reduce plastic consumption – and this is a major consideration for us. Today many packaging managers have already taken steps to reduce plastic consumption and find more renewable material choices. This includes the introduction of lighter weight trays that still have the strength and robustness to withstand the rigours of the supply chain while offering the benefits of convenience and food preservation for the end-consumer. Another example is the soft fruit sector with the move from clamshell and clip-on lids to simple thin top sealed film.

It’s also important to help manufacturers reduce energy consumption and protect the environment with a range of new innovations. For example, our pioneering E-seal® technology ensures excellent seal reliability to meet the stringent quality requirements of the food retail sector. It provides an increased seal force of 600 per cent while achieving a 92 per cent reduction in energy usage to deliver valuable cost savings and sustainability benefits.

The E-seal improves MAP processes through ensuring accurate gas flush positioning and reducing gas flush cycle times, making it extremely efficient – and this has a significant effect on what is still the most important thing for us: shelf-life extension.

To preserve food and reduce food wastage remains the most important goal. This is one of the factors driving adoption of resealable top films, which allow consumers to maximise food freshness. As part of this drive, it is vital that the packaging and food industries take steps to explain to both retailers and consumers the work that is being carried out and has already been undertaken to develop lighter weight packs and other sustainable solutions, whatever the material involved. Any new pack formats introduced in the future must never be to the detriment of shelf-life.

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FACHPACK IS BACK, BIGGER FachPack 2018 will be Europe’s most significant packaging event of the autumn. Absent as usual in interpack years, the packaging / processing fair returns looking set to occupy a record twelve halls of Messezentrum Nürnberg. All in all, a projected 1500 exhibitors and 40,000+ visitors are expected to converge on Nuremberg on 25-27 September.

IT’S

fair to say that German packaging is in a state of good health.

VDMA projections suggest that food processing and packaging machinery sales exceeded initial expectations, with the final 2017 figures likely to nudge four per cent. Meanwhile in the plastics industry confidence reigns, with 90 per cent of IK members in 2018 rating the economic outlook as favourable (up from 70 per cent last year). Such a position reflects the added value the sector is delivering through smarter, more efficient and more functional packaging technologies and manufacturing systems – and FachPack looks set to be 2018’s best showcase of the innovations driving this.

A key innovation of this year’s edition is a complete reorganisation of the floorplan. “We would like to make it as easy as possible for visitors to FachPack to find their way around the fair,” explains Cornelia Fehlner, exhibition director at NürnbergMesse. “In the past, focus areas have emerged organically in certain halls. We picked up on this idea and refined it in planning the layout of the halls.”

Thus packaging machines, labelling and marking technology, as well as intra-logistics and packaging logistics will be focussed in the southern exhibition halls. Meanwhile, the northern sector will house packaging materials, packaging aids, as well as packaging printing and processing. A new feature is that Packaging Europe | 35 |

each of the twelve halls has a very specific theme that attracts a particularly large number of exhibitors. “Anyone coming to FachPack who is interested in packaging printing, finishing, and premium packaging, for example, should first visit the newly occupied Hall 8,” Ms Fehlner continues. “Visitors from the medical technology, pharmaceuticals, or cosmetics industries, on the other hand, should head directly for Hall 3A, because that is where they will find the largest range of products and services for their industry.” Topics such as paper, carton and cardboard will be distributed across a number of halls because there are so many exhibitors.

A clear focus FachPack has been the meeting place for the European packaging market for years thanks to its established and unique exhibition portfolio. “To address our broad spectrum of target groups even more clearly, we have reworked the product directory for FachPack and integrated the latest technical trends and developments,” says Heike Slotta, executive director for FachPack. Starting in May 2018, packaging materials, packaging accessories, packaging materials, labelling and marking technology, peripheral packaging machinery and equipment, packaging printing and finishing, intra-logistics and packaging logistics and services for the

packaging industry will be represented in the exhibitor and products database.

Before the exhibition begins, visitors can select those exhibitors that offer the right solution for their packaging problem or arrange in-person meetings in advance based on individual settings and using an enhanced filter function.

Meanwhile, the PackBox Forum, well received by visitors in recent years, will be split into two forums. In 2018 PackBox Forum will specialise in packaging, packaging printing and finishing, while TechBox Forum focuses on packaging technology and logistics. Both forums will present theme-based and forwardlooking content and FachPack will showcase its expertise in different areas along the process chain for packaging. Thanks to cooperation with well-known partners, the diversity of the sector will be displayed more clearly than ever at FachPack 2018.

Tangible solutions Visitor groups at FachPack increasingly come from the packaging-intensive sectors of manufacturers and users of primary, secondary and tertiary packaging for industrial and consumer goods from trade and industry. Their suppliers and equipment providers are also in attendance. The main focus is on the most lucrative and significant sectors of food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and medical technology, cosmetics, chemicals and automotive. FachPack offers tangible solutions for all products and goods that need packaging: From double-wall folding boxes to protect glass containing liquid medicines against breakage to batch codes for seamless traceability using best before dates, successful impact on consumers that includes responsibility for the environment, climate and carbon dioxide emissions to practical single sizes, personalised packaging, smart transport solutions and packaging that gives food an extended shelf life.

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A NEW ERA? TUBALL™ nanotubes can dramatically improve the properties of countless materials used in manufacturing, and OCSiAl is taking the lead in developing numerous dispersion technologies that allow customers to integrate it into their products without changes in manufacturing technology or formulation. Christoph Siara, sales and marketing director, tells Libby White about the huge potential of TUBALL™, the first graphene nanotubes available for commercial application across a wide range of industries, including packaging.

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raphene nanotubes possess a range of astonishing qualities: they are 100 times stronger than steel, have excellent conductivity, and therefore anti-static properties, and thermal stability up to 1000°C. Another key advantage is that desired properties can be achieved with ultralow loadings of the additive - hundreds or thousands of times lower than other widely used conductive additives and starting from concentrations of just 0.01 per cent.

Fast progress Founded in Novosibirsk, a remote location in Siberia and a stronghold of Russian science, the OCSiAl startup has grown into a Luxembourg based global business. Mr Siara goes back to the beginning. “OCSiAl was founded in 2009 and the purpose of its creation was to generate technology that allowed us to viably and economically produce graphene nanotubes under the brand name TUBALL™,” he says. “The idea fuelling the founders forward was that each innovation which has impacted mankind has been backed up by an evolution in materials - for example smartphones were enabled by new materials.

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“Until 2014 there was no industrial production capacity for graphene nanotubes. After 2014 it was produced at around 100 kilos per year. Today it has reached approximately 11 tonnes, of which 10 tonnes are produced by OCSiAl. We are increasing this to 50 tonnes annually and have commissioned 250 tonnes in total to come in to play in 2022.”

Potential for application To facilitate the effective incorporation of TUBALL™ into materials, OCSiAl has developed a line of easy-to-use pre-dispersed concentrates, masterbatches and suspensions that are compatible with a wide variety of industry-standard formulations.

“TUBALL™ can be used to nanoaugment and improve characteristics of nearly 70 per cent of all materials in existence,” says Mr Siara. “As a consequence, our marketplace is extremely large. Our focus today is on plastics, energy, rubbers, and composites. Taking a closer look at the packaging industry, we have focused in particular on adding properties and value to blow films, printing rollers, and conductivity in thermoplastics.”

OCSiAl has already developed for example solutions for thermoplastics, LDPE and PE for the blown film industry and is seeing positive results from trials in the US and Asia. “We are now launching the product in Europe,” adds Mr Siara.

Just 0.01 per cent of TUBALL™ nanotubes has allowed a European manufacturer to obtain transparent polyethylene film with permanent and uniform anti-static properties. Moreover, the nanotubes have significantly improved the strength characteristics of the film and they have also shown promise in increasing the thermal stability.

Anti-static bags, FIBC liners, static shielding bags and films, protective tapes and conductive films – all of these have been designed to protect certain goods and products from static electricity. Conventional permanent anti-static additives, such as carbon black, have always led to the degradation of mechanical properties and a darkening effect, and migrating anti-static additives result in non-permanent conductivity at various humidity levels. These problems can now be avoided with graphene nanotubes, which offer the best value proposition in terms of price per property, making them the additive of choice for the industry.

Added value for industrial rollers Another example of application to spotlight is printing rollers. TUBALL™ nanotubes provide stable anti-static properties and prolonged cycle life.

Stable and homogeneous resistivity of 105–108 Ω/sq, without carbon migration, improved mechanical properties and life-cycle – this is what TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes can provide, even at ultra-low concentrations. Nanotubeenhanced urethane and silicone rollers for printing, transferring and rotation functions significantly boost productivity.

Rolls accumulate triboelectric charge when they move against cylinders, wool, paper, or any other insulator. This charge can then cause paper jams and unwanted changes in tinting, toner density, reduction in the efficiency and the overall quality of the production and printing process. These problems can be vastly reduced by modifying the composition of a normally non-conductive

polymer roller so that it has anti-static or ESD properties. Up to now, the most common anti-static additives to satisfy the requirements have been carbon black or special mineral/organic fillers. However, the high loadings of around 20 per cent by weight required in the total compound lead to degradation of mechanical properties and a reduction in the life-cycle, as well as problems with non-permanent and non-uniform conductivity and migration of carbon black to the surface, which is a particular problem in itself to printing applications.

Thanks to their extraordinary physical and chemical properties, TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes are an ideal conductive additive in various types of rollers used in printing devices and industrial applications involving pigments, organic solvents and other aggressive environments. These nanotubes facilitate permanent and homogeneous conductivity without a negative impact on the mechanical properties of the original materials; in some cases, the nanotubes can even improve them. Solutions containing TUBALL™ are available for a wide range of polymers.

The product line of TUBALL MATRIX concentrates that is now available for various standard formulations of industrial rollers meets conductivity standards without compromising mechanical properties. In fact, the potential of TUBALL™ nanotubes to improve both static and dynamic mechanical properties and thus prolong the life-cycle of industrial rollers is attracting great interest from the industry.

Mr Siara sums up, “TUBALL™ gives abrasion resistance, higher mechanical strength in a printing roll, and increased speed which gains capacity - crucial factors for the printing industry.”

OCSiAl is a game changer - overcoming the absence of technology for the mass production of graphene nanotubes, also known as single wall carbon nanotubes, opening up the vast possibilities of enhanced materials. The challenge, given the vast range of transformative applications, may be to work out which areas in packaging and print represent the most viable starting points for large scale usage.

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A FOCAL POINT FOR PROCESS A range of global value chains profit in one way or another from the achievements of chemistry, biotechnology and process engineering. ACHEMA, taking place in Frankfurt on 11-15 June, is Europe’s central arena of the process industry. Dr Thomas Scheuring, CEO of DECHEMA Ausstellungs-GmbH, tells Elisabeth Skoda about ACHEMA’s offering for the packaging industry, industry trends and what visitors can expect to see at the show.

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he pharmaceutical, packaging and storage exhibition group has been an integral part of ACHEMA for a long time. What is so special about it is that you can see integrated solutions that reach from the production line right through to packaging and logistics. ACHEMA is not a logistics show, but more an ‘integrated supply chain show’ for the process industries where service providers and seekers meet. The interest this year has been enormous; we have opened an additional hall to accommodate all the exhibitors.

One of the major features of ACHEMA is the integration of congress and exhibition. This is not merely a trade show with some accompanying presentations or a congress with a couple of stands. It is a truly integrated event, and that holds true for the packaging and logistics sector as well. This year, we have the logistics hotspot with presentations and discussions right at the heart of the exhibition in Hall 1.1. So you cannot only see what is available today, but also discuss our ideas and needs for tomorrow.

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Dr Thomas Scheuring

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A wide range of packaging solutions on show ACHEMA covers all kind of packaging solutions for the process industries. If you are looking for big bags and bulk handling, you are in the right place – and the same is true if you want to fill your pharmaceutical products in tiny sterile phials.

The packaging providers at ACHEMA exhibit solutions that are tailor-made for the needs of the process industry. Many of them work closely together with companies a little further upstream to ensure seamless solutions. This is especially relevant for continuous production and flexible plants where the different modules have to fit together no matter how you combine them and where you need to exchange components fast. But you can also see all kinds of cartoning and labelling solutions, printers, coding machines and much more.

Pharmaceutical packaging trends Track and trace solutions were a big topic at ACHEMA three years ago, and that hasn’t changed one bit – on the contrary: The regulatory framework and new distribution systems like the internet have driven the demand for even more sophisticated solutions where you can follow a single pill on its way around the world from the producer right through to the customer. New biopharmaceuticals and personalised medicines are very sensitive; they require new packaging systems that protect the ingredients and keep them safe from external influences.

A changing industry Logistics used to be something that happened outside the factory gate – but not anymore. As supply chains have become more integrated, the logistics

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providers have become service partners of the process industry. They handle transport and storage and take care that raw materials or products are handled with care, transported and stored at the right temperature and delivered in time everywhere in the world. Logistics is part of the above mentioned tracking system. Blockchain solutions are now entering the logistics universe and open up a plethora of new possibilities for integrated logistics solutions.

The future of processing Industry 4.0 makes processes more efficient and, what might be even more important, more flexible. Digitisation in the process industries means measurement with non-invasive multiparameter online sensors that leads to real-time adjustments and process optimisation. It also means that modular plants become an option: Different components are brought into modules that can be combined freely following a ‘plug and play’ philosophy. Thus, production lines can be altered with very short changeover times. Plants are built into standard containers to be moved to wherever they are required with hardly any implementation time. Solutions can be customised according to the customer’s wishes – this is a giant step from world-scale plants with investment cycles of 30 years and a whole new way of thinking, and a lot of this thinking will be discussed at ACHEMA. More info: www.achema.de

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SUSTAINABILITY 4.0 As every engineer is taught, ‘what you can measure, you can manage’. In a dawning age of smart, automated manufacturing, there is a great opportunity to leverage information to improve the environmental footprint of packaging and CPG – according to Marcel Woiton, EMEA OEM sales director, Rockwell Automation.

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think it has become clear that sustainability is one of the drivers of Industry 4.0. Companies today have to navigate their way through a dynamic marketplace with multiples pressures and demands driving adoption of innovative strategies and technologies. Sustainability is one of the key demands, and of course it’s consistent with other goals such as increasing the productivity and agility of a business. There’s no sense in doing one thing without the other.

Automation combined with information is the backbone for all of this. You can go into a plant and see lots of fragmented pockets of automation. Under the Connected Enterprise concept, new and existing equipment starts generating much more data, which is contextualised in a way that helps people make more informed decisions.

Many years ago we started the focus on energy measurement: understanding which parts of the plant consume what. To do that you have to invest in sensors, controls and databases. The next stage is to establish baselines, and once you have this you can start to look at ways of reducing energy consumption.

Without generating such information it’s very hard to understand or manage the improvements in sustainability that more efficient systems and automation are delivering. The same principle applies to managing personal environmental footprint. You need to know the impact in order to improve it.

For instance, at Rockwell we get a regular report on our car driving patterns: this gives us insights into how we can make adjustments to reduce our carbon emissions. | 46 | Packaging Europe

In fact, sustainability is one of Rockwell Automation’s own Key Performance Indicators as a business. Looking at our own manufacturing sites, we measure our emissions, consumption, waste generation and water usage. Driving efficiency through automation together with information inherently improves sustainability. But the technology is only an enabler. If we develop new software, controllers, drives or motion devices, it enables OEMs or end users to drive their sustainability goals. But for any organisation, it’s crucial to set goals to improve, otherwise nothing will happen.

Preventing product waste Another sustainability contribution of digitisation, in addition to increasing productivity and efficiency of manufacturing, is facilitating reduction of waste.

With more secure, more flexible and better managed processes it’s possible to eliminate food waste due to stoppages in the line or avoidable product recalls.

For instance, with properly monitored cleaning cycles, it’s possible to prevent salmonella contamination, which of course means protecting consumers and protecting brand reputation, but also preventing food waste.

I also personally believe that the trend for supply chains to get closer and closer to consumers will be an increasingly important area where smart technologies have an impact on sustainability. There’s an opportunity to avoid unnecessarily moving products around if we better understand consumer behaviour and demand, and this will be enabled by the combination of automation and information technologies.

Sustainability across the value chain Every time we enable companies to increase flexibility or efficiency, or reuse their waste, or use more efficient drives we are offering a chance to boost sustainability.

To take some examples from the CPG market, the US-based raw milk processor Milk Specialities implemented our technologies at its plants. Using our manufacturing intelligence technology to monitor water quality in its Californian facility enabled the business to meet a state-mandated water reduction of 30 per cent.

Another client, Noosa Finest Yoghurt, was able to reduce waste from lost batches by 95 per cent thanks to automated operations and plant-wide control systems, at the same time as improving quality assurance and regulatory reporting capabilities. Meanwhile the Kraft Heinz potato brand Ore-Ida was able to increase production capacity by 10 per cent without adding to its footprint by modernising control architecture, incorporating predictive modelling. Its new lines detect and address variability issues, making continuous microadjustments to optimise production.

As far as OEMs are concerned, our automation and information technologies are similarly driving more efficient and sustainable solutions. A great example is CMC Machinery, which won the ‘machinery’ category in Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards last year for its CartonPack solution. This optimises packaging for variably sized e-commerce multi-unit purchases. Packing bundles in correctly sized boxes saves 30 per cent of corrugated board and eliminates the need for the standard void fillers. In the process it reduces total package volume by up to 60 per cent.

Marcel Woiton

Continual improvement Independent cart moving technology, represented in the Rockwell portfolio by products such as MagneMotion, can enable greater flexibility and efficiency in manufacturing cycle. It can also help reduce waste by enabling tracking of products all the way through the plant. With full traceability throughout the plant you can avoid recalling a product that doesn’t need to be recalled. We are continuing to invest in moving forward technologies such as MagneMotion and iTRAK, making them applicable to more processes.

Rockwell Automation also continues to work on integration of products and enhancing the software tools in the controllers to filter information more effectively to drive machine and plant efficiency. One level up, we continue to invest in analytics. Sustainability metrics are already enabled in the customisable dashboards in our FactoryTalk. This platform is itself subject to continual improvement. Maybe someday we’ll see a prepopulated sustainability dashboard that helps plant managers manage the key KPIs.

Scio analytics displaying FTAE, intelligent search, and production analysis.

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DESIGNING THE FUTURE OF PRODUCTION Armin Wittmann, exhibition group director at Messe München, gives Libby White an overview of automatica 2018, on the backdrop of the increasingly high expectations and efficiency margins of automation and robotic requirements.

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utomatica is the leading marketplace for automated production. We have a unique offer with industrial and service robotics, assembly and handling technology, machine vision systems and components. However, the hot technology-overlapping topics ‘digitalisation’ and ‘collaboration’ are the pioneering ones for sustainable production concepts. The requirements in the working world are changing. Technological progress and social changes go hand in hand.

With this, automatica makes an important contribution to the design of Work 4.0 – that’s where humans will have more responsibility than ever in the future.

Visitors can look forward to many highlights at automatica 2018. In addition to the presentations and products of the exhibitors, there will be an extensive supporting program with live Industry 4.0 production demonstrators, talks, panel discussions and conferences. Innovative formats such as the Startup Arena with pitch presentations and the Makeathon help to make it possible to experience industry trends. | 48 | Packaging Europe

No room for error Current trends in automation and robotics within the packaging sector are a rapidly growing number of variants, an increasingly frequently required zero error strategy in the process course, and increasing cost pressure: These requirements can only be fulfilled with higher degrees of automation, powerful systems and more flexible processes. automatica is a trade fair for automation and robotics. Companies from all industries find technological solutions there to make their production even more efficient and cost-effective. The advantages have already been recognised by food and beverage, plastic and packaging manufacturers. Nevertheless, they can still learn from solutions in highly automated industries such as automobile or metal.

The use of robotics is becoming increasingly important in the packaging industry. Robotics provide efficiency and cost optimisation in many places in the

production chain. Offers for the packaging industry have been compulsory for many exhibitors, who know the needs of the industry very well. Production and product safety, hygiene and traceability are important aspects in this context. The entire technological range is shown at automatica.

Demonstrations and discussions With international congresses, various forums and junior programs, automatica provides added value for visitors and exhibitors. The automatica forum with industry-relevant talks and discussions is now a valued tradition. The IT2Industry forum addresses IT topics. Last but not least, the various smart production demonstrators will be a highlight.

The “smart4i Next Generation Demonstrator�, initiated and sponsored by the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (VDMA NuV), includes all relevant industry 4.0 applications: from the cloud to modular sensors. At automatica the production of customised model cars will also be demonstrated, the manufacturing process of which visitors can experience live.

automatica is growing!

We expect a total of almost 900 exhibitors and more booked exhibition area than ever before. For the first time, the fair will fully occupy six halls.

Whoever wants to expand or secure his competitive advantage in a globalised world must always be flexible, provide high quality and produce cost-effectively as well as use the opportunities of digitalisation. automatica provides innovations, trends and knowledge with a high level of business relevance.

Automatica takes place on 19-22 June in Munich.

Visit: 2018.automatica-munich.com

Armin Wittmann

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HOW GEOGRAPHY, FASHION & VALUE AFFECT DESIGN ACROSS EUROPE Packaging has long been a synthesis of form and function. As products on the shelves proliferate, brands need to differentiate more and more, and storytelling becomes critical. More than 70 per cent of buying decisions are made in-store so packaging needs to tell that story at one glance.

Marie-Laure Susset (marketing communications leader, O-I Europe) explains the variety of ways in which packaging design is influenced by factors outside the primary function of the pack.

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lass design is driven by a variety of influences. Firstly, there are those elements that tell the brand and product story at First Moment of Truth (in-store) and Second Moment of Truth (when the goods are consumed).

Secondly, there are a variety of cultural influences through which the same story can be told differently based on geography. Finally, there are the brand’s practical constraints, such as the nature of the production lines, speed to market, price point, the need for value engineering and, increasingly, sustainability.

Taking geographic and segment differences first, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages (NAB) are the segments where design differences of the container itself are most marked. O-I finds that beer and food containers tend to be slightly more generic – differentiated more by labelling than by container design itself.

Both beer and food containers share certain ‘must have’ characteristics which limit design variation.

Heritage provides distinct design cues Within a segment like spirits, there are similarities and codes highlighted by product type and geography. For instance, a Czech or Polish vodka will contain distinct clues on the bottle as to its source. These brands tend to use a heavy shape and chunky embossing. The fundamentally square, green packs of German shorts (Jaegermeister and Helbing to name but two) contrast with the ambers and rounded shapes of whisky-based liqueurs such as Stroma, Drambuie and Baileys.

This is very different from, say, a Bacardi rum, which has a more generic appeal, with point of origin seeming less important than the globally-promoted brand image.

Similarly, Scotch whisky bottles tend to be more distinct than those for Irish whiskey. Consider the pot still neck shape of many Scotch whiskies and the use of embossing to highlight authenticity, heritage and Scottishness of the brands.

Even a brand creating a modern image, like Teacher’s, uses stylised thistles on the bottles.

The shorthand communicated here is that where the provenance and authentic source of the spirit is most important for the brand, then the more distinctive the bottle will be. | 52 | Packaging Europe

Wine also has its specific design signals, which as much differentiate the type of wine as its terroir. The Bordeaux, Burgundy or champagne shapes are all different but reflect tradition - they immediately indicate the style of the wine, even if the product is from a different country. For instance, a pinot noir will almost invariably come in a Burgundy-shaped bottle, no matter where the grapes are grown or the wine is filled.

On the other hand, rosé wines tend to be much more innovative with packaging shapes. Vintners, like Producteurs de Pleimont, have adopted embossed bases to create a point of difference: designs such as wavy lines in the push up create a reflection and visual impact through the transparency of the flint bottle and the clear color of rosé wine.

Some of the most intriguing examples are provided by crossover products, when cues from one segment are deliberately thrown into relief in an unusual context. A good example of this is the glass bottle for Tuborg Boilermaker, designed

by O-I for production in Russia. The beer is flavoured with bourbon whiskey and Carlsberg added cues from bourbon packaging into the beer bottle design.

Retro-styling on the rise There has been a marked rise in nostalgia as a design trend, matched perhaps by a yearning for apparently simpler, more natural and certainly more sustainable times.

The NAB sector has been quick to capitalise on retro design cues. Affluent adults are being weaned off alcohol with high quality, premium soft drinks which reconnect them with their childhoods. Ritchie Lemonade is a trailblazer for this new style of craft NAB and its design is shamelessly nostalgic.

The antique ‘oil can’ design of US craft vodka from Rocker Spirits similarly highlights the golden age of Americana to provide brand differentiation.

Historically, new entrants to a market often start in a standard glass bottle and then migrate to a bespoke design as volumes grow. Recent trends in the soft drinks and waters arena indicate that start-ups are investing in bespoke designs from the off. This contrasts with the independent beer market, where entrants are often reliant on a craft filler. Here, the standard bottle remains supreme, with differentiations supplied by label design.

No rules in the gin sector Gin is one sector in which no rules seem to apply at all. The variation is enormous – from elegant, pastel-coloured bottles like Silent Pool through chunky, black apothecary styles like Hendrick’s to the tall but heavily embossed Jenever brand Hooghoudt. Separating oneself from the pack through bespoke bottle design is the norm for start-up gin brands.

Gin and associated niche spirits are the fields in which most innovation is taking place – internal embossing, unusual colours, wraparound graphics, nothing is off limits for the category.

In segments where craft is growing most vividly, like gin, we see more variety in packaging design, whether through shape, decoration or labelling. Craft brands have more need than most to communicate an authentic story and find that packaging gives them a chance to tell it via the pack.

More established brands may be more rigid in evolving their packaging as there is a fine line between evolution and losing your identity. We can all name brands which have brought out radical packaging evolutions and seen sales dip, causing a move back to something with which their core consumer can more easily relate. Identifying what are the key cues that tell your brand identity on your packaging is critical before starting any new redesign project.

Global fashions influence glass design Packaging does not exist in a design vacuum; it is also influenced by what is going on in the worlds of fashion, automobiles and other premium product niches. What is in vogue at present includes gradient colours (now available in glass through modern coating processes) and a scaling down of ‘in your face’ branding. Pepsi is just one of the world’s best-known brands to have taken a simpler, almost minimalist, approach to packaging design.

The final influence on design is simple economics. Value engineering in packaging is far more than simply lightweighting. Fillers can reap significant benefits by ensuring their brands are process-friendly and can share logistics and secondary packaging with others coming off the same lines. As a result, the pack is seen not in isolation but as part of a complete supply chain in which all elements need to integrate a minimal additional cost. O-I is working with many customers on rationalisation of the number of different designs used across ranges – reducing the number of bottle shapes means less investment over time and less complexity and margin for error in the filling process. The trick is to rationalize in a way that still enables differentiation and each identity to come through.

Although increased global concern about the environment is largely focused on single-use plastics at present, the importance of sustainable design will play a much greater role in all packaging decisions; returnable and recyclable glass, with its well-established collection infrastructure across Europe, is well placed to provide customers with fresh options for all their food and drink products. Like all glassmakers, O-I is constantly investing in improved design concepts and production technologies to further enhance the environmental acceptability of its packaging.

O-I design teams around the world are working with customers to ensure they receive the optimum pack for their premium lines taking these myriad influences into account. Whatever the brand objectives, whatever the story, glass has the flexibility to bring it to life.

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Günter Stephan © Borealis

© Borealis

RECYCLING 2.0 Günter Stephan, head of circular economy at Borealis, shares his vision for helping realise a circular plastics economy with Tim Sykes.

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IM SYKES How do you see the core sustainability challenges facing plastic packaging?

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ÜNTER STEPHAN From our point of view there are two major challenges when it comes to the packaging sustainability. The first are the limitations around recycling technologies for polyolefin-based packaging. For instance, if they are used for food packaging, at the moment polyolefin materials can’t be recycled back into new food packaging. The second key challenge is that recycling polyolefins and plastics in general is not very profitable compared with virgin polymers. So we really need to overcome these technological / profitability challenges in order to achieve a step-change in sustainability of packaging.

Perhaps more fundamentally, the world needs to adopt a mindset that throwing away plastics is a bad idea, because it’s too valuable a resource.

Unfortunately, the perception that polyolefins are raw materials that ought to go in the recycling bin (like glass, aluminium, sometimes PET bottles) is not yet widespread. At the moment too many plastics are going into the other waste stream, so they have a linear, rather than circular, life. We need to change perceptions. Our vision is that plastic waste should come to be regarded as a new feedstock for producing polyolefins.

GS

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This is a huge and multi-faceted task. Do you believe that meeting our shared sustainability goals require cross-industry and crosssocietal collaboration?

This is an area where we at Borealis feel we can be a game changer, because we are sitting right in the middle of the value chain. In terms of cross-industry collaboration, we have been teaming up with brand owners and major converters for many years. So we already have a good platform for downstream collaboration, which can be translated in order to address the demands of recycling.

Collaboration with brand owners is also crucial when it comes to design for recyclability. This has two aspects. First of all, packaging needs to be designed to ensure that it is 100 per cent empty when it goes into the waste stream. If, for example, there is always some toothpaste left in the tube, it reduces the quality of the recyclate, influences the smell, etc. If we work with the brand owners, we have all the tools to achieve this goal. The second aspect is switching from multilayer to monolayer films that are easier to recycle.

Meanwhile, considering the upstream side, I think collaboration is absolutely required with waste collectors and sorters, but also with the local municipalities.

These are the stakeholders who are ‘sitting on the waste’ and we need to work with them to get access to plastics waste in the right quantity and the right quality.

© mtm

IHQ Atrium & Innovation Showroom © Borealis

As far as cross-societal collaboration, I think we also need to team up with municipalities and help them with the challenges of extracting valuable plastics from the waste stream. In addition, there’s an important collective task in changing those widespread perceptions that plastic isn’t something for the recycling stream.

Borealis is very active in promoting collaboration through organisations such as PCEP (the Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and we’re highly engaged in discussions at EU level.

Borealis has a long record of accomplishment of developing plastics with more and more useful properties. We’ve achieved that on the virgin side, and we’re convinced that we can do this with recycled plastics as well. The goal is to have a situation where converters make no differentiation between the quality of virgin and recycled plastics: they simply meet the customer’s expectations.

So the business opportunity is to move to the next level of applications in order to make plastics truly circular. This means for instance creating recycled feedstocks that can be used for food packaging, where at the moment their smell or colour or mechanical properties render them unsuitable. We’ll need to bring to market technologies to overcome these challenges.

TS GS

Is part of the challenge about nurturing new business models?

Yes, we need to create new business models and new supply chains.

For instance, we are transporting bales of waste from one part of Europe to another, meaning we are shipping a lot of air. There’s an opportunity to change the business model there. If the plastics sorter could reduce that material to flakes close to the point of collection it would be more cost efficient and more sustainable to transport. This is one area where I think we can design a more sustainable business model.

However, to support these we also need to create demand for this recycled material, and that’s an area where we have a real opportunity to make a difference.

TS GS

What are the opportunities for business growth in offering transformative innovation that meets the technical challenges you have outlined?

Sustainability is our social responsibility, and both Borealis and everyone across the industry have to accept this responsibility.

This is the starting point. But beyond this we can identify a business opportunity to make products out of recycled materials, out of plastic waste, that are better quality than previously possible. We don’t really need any more park benches made from recycled materials, but we can create higher value applications.

TS GS

How do you see the present and future role of Borealis R&D in this context?

We acquired the recycling business mtm plastics based in Niedergebra, Germany, in 2016 – a technology leader in the recycling of mixed post-consumer plastic waste and a major mechanical recycler of PE and PP. The focus of the R&D we are conducting there is enhancing the product portfolio with new applications: blending with virgin materials, developing new compounds, better mechanical properties.

The vision is to reach a ‘Recycling 2.0’. Mechanical recycling is the backbone but we also want to develop complementary technologies to enhance the properties of the recyclate. We are very busy with innovation around chemical recycling, which we see as an add-on to the existing methods. The central challenge we are working on is upscaling technologies that are proven at the laboratory level to industrial volumes. To put this in context, plastics waste now stays in Europe following China’s decision to cease imports, so there’s an urgent need to translate recycling technologies to industrial plant scale.

Linked to this, if you have a different recycling technology, you also need a feedstock concept to support it. At the moment we are dealing with mixed PE / PP waste coming in bales to Niedergebra for processing. This requires a change in the feedstock set-up. It comes back to the question of making it a profitable proposition across the value chain. This depends on being able to convert it to mid- to higher-end applications that match virgin material capabilities.

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SQUID INK INTRODUCES AFFORDABLE HI-RES PRINTING SOLUTION Squid Ink Manufacturing, Inc., a leading manufacturer of superior quality inks and ink jet printing equipment, has introduced its new CoPilot® hi-resolution ink jet printing system. The CoPilot is an affordable solution for printing hi-resolution characters and other product information directly on porous or non-porous products.

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quid Ink Manufacturing, Inc., a leading manufacturer of superior quality inks and ink jet printing equipment, has introduced its new CoPilot® hi-resolution ink jet printing system. The CoPilot is an affordable solution for printing hi-resolution characters and other product information directly on porous or non-porous products.

Squid Ink’s CoPilot uses proven Xaar piezo technology to print up to 0.7” of hi-resolution characters, razor-sharp text, scannable bar codes, and great looking logos at 185 dpi and a 4.3” full colour touchscreen provides access to the system’s internal messages and print functions. Messages are created and edited on Squid Ink’s easy-to-use Orion® PC Software and transferred via Ethernet or USB device. For larger applications, multiple CoPilot printing systems can be connected via Ethernet or wirelessly and controlled through one central Orion print station.

The system is capable of running oil-based or solvent-based inks on a variety of substrates and provides midnight black print for increased bar code scannability. For non-porous applications, users have the option of utilising Squid Ink’s solvent-based CoPilot to print on a variety of non-porous products like plastics, glass, stretch wrap, metals and more. In addition, the ink system allows the CoPilot to print in a horizontal or downshooter position, or any angle in between

without making changes to the printing system. Ink is supplied in convenient 200ml no-mess cartridges, which is nearly five times the volume of competitive thermal ink jet printing systems.

CE and TUV certified, the CoPilot features a durable touchscreen in stainless steel cabinet, industrial strength printhead construction, and print engines designed for industrial applications. In addition, Squid Ink’s PZ-1000 ink for porous substrates offers low-maintenance performance, eliminating the need for auto-priming functions and offering better ink utilisation than competitive systems. Users can be confident that CoPilot’s rugged design will withstand the most abusive industrial environments while providing superior quality print.

The CoPilot printing system offers competitive advantages over thermal ink jet-based printing systems. CoPilot users can expect 30 per cent larger print, increased throw distances, near 100 per cent ink utilisation, and the ability to print on a variety of porous and non-porous substrates. Best of all, the CoPilot utilises ink manufactured directly by Squid Ink, eliminating the high ink costs associated with thermal ink jet printhead OEMs. The CoPilot is available now through Squid Ink’s worldwide network.

Visit: www.squidink.com

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Platinum Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS 2018

BY

the time submissions to this year’s competition closed on 15 May we had received 109 entries (in addition to many more that represented genuinely impressive innovation but unfortunately didn’t meet one of the essential criteria). Over the summer our judging panel will face the daunting task of choosing the most innovative and

important achievements from this highly competitive field of submissions.

Winners will be announced at the Sustainability Awards at Scanpack in October. Between now and then we will be revealing the shortlists of highest graded innovations. In the meantime, here is the full list of accepted entries to the competition.

MACHINERY ENTRY

LOCATION

Amcor Forever Changes the Packaging Landscape by Switzerland LiquidForming Plastic Bottles Aseptic Combi Predis™ France EBS K ERGON Italy Emerson United Kingdom First industrial scale digital inkjet printing press Germany Made2Fit France MagnaForma United Kingdom Nordson Adhesive Tracking System (ATS) Germany POSTNORD CMC CARTONWRAP Sweden SATO Total Product Coding Solution utilising DataLase technology United Kingdom Sustainable Hybrid Battery Storage United Kingdom Tetra Pak® Separators with Encapt™ technology Sweden Xpeed range Italy

SUBMITTED BY Amcor Rigid Plastics and The Liquiform Group Sidel SMI S.p.A. Emerson Wipak Oy DS SMITH PACKAGING SYSTEMS Contact Originators Ltd Nordson CMC & POSTNORD DataLase Ardagh Group Tetra Pak Rob Travers, Gruppo Fabbri spa

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DRIVING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY ENTRY

LOCATION

Ariel/Tide Purclean Belgium Beaulex United Kingdom BUBL Bags United Kingdom Corretto Cup United Kingdom COVERIS WHOLLY COMMITS IN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY POLICY France CupCycling™ United Kingdom Ecodraft Belgium FAUXFOIL 054 Luxembourg Glass-like look rPET from RETAL Luxembourg HP Indigo digital presses: designed with the environment in mind Spain Pattex Made at Home Universal Glue Germany PCR10 - 10% minimum recycled content from Spectra United Kingdom Re-usable intelligent bottles United Kingdom

SkyCell AG Switzerland Smarter Recycling System United Kingdom

SUBMITTED BY P&G DS Smith BUBL Packaging Dave Chiddy Amaray / Bockatech COVERIS RIGID FRANCE James Cropper Cardiff Group NV Ampacet RETAL Keren Shinar Henkel AG & Co. KGaA Spectra Packaging Whirley-Validfill in collaboration with The Coca-Cola Company SkyCell AG Cambridge Consultants Ltd

RECYCLABLE PACKAGING ENTRY

LOCATION

BarrierPack Recyclable Cardboard basket for fruits Cardboard pallet CefaPac COLOURFORM™ DELIGREEN™, SUSTAINABLE, PRACTICAL & MODERN BOWLS Eco-Smart Film Elif2Pouch ElifHyPEr EnShield Natural Kraft FlatSkin® FOODBOARD™ virgin fibre Frankie O'Brien GFV Formats Grass paper cup Heat-sealable Paper MC FSCⓇ Recycled Paper Facestock Organically recyclable/compostable flexible packaging alternative PICK & GO packaging Silberboard The Earthpouch Transmet Transportation package for salads X-EnviroPouch Zest -Sandwich & Salad Packs

Austria Mondi Consumer Packaging Gmbh Poland Mondi Szczecin Sp.zo.o.

Poland Mondi Dorohusk Sp. z o.o.

Norway Moltzau AS, by Eirik Faukland United Kingdom James Cropper France COVERIS RIGID FRANCE United Kingdom Mainetti Turkey Elif Turkey Elif Austria WestRock Netherlands Sealpac International bv Austria Mayr-Melnhof Karton GmbH United Kingdom Braiform Italy Gruppo Fabbri spa Germany Packaging Campus Lenningen GmbH Germany Feldmuehle Uetersen GmbH Netherlands Avery Dennison Materials Europe BV Switzerland Sukano AG Poland Mondi Corrugated Belgium AR Metallizing United Kingdom Sirane Ltd / B&G Products United Kingdom API Group Finland Adara Pakkaus Oy United Kingdom RPC bpi protec United Kingdom Colpac Ltd

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SUBMITTED BY

BIO-BASED PACKAGING ENTRY

LOCATION

SUBMITTED BY

AgriRAP United Kingdom Rapid Action Packaging Ltd Biobased and recyclable Food tray for microwave.

Sweden Polymerfront AB B-NAT Bio-Based Shrink Film United Kingdom Yorkshire Packaging Systems Ltd CELLUGY-sugar based transparent material Denmark CELLUGY.IVS Compostable Adhesive Netherlands Avery Dennison Materials Europe BV DanaFibre Austria Schur Flexibles Eco-heat food containers United Kingdom WK Thomas Ecosugar Spain Navarest, S.L. Elif2BioPouch Turkey Elif Elyssa Bloom United Kingdom Plastic Products Ltd, representing TIPA-Corp Greenstar film Italy Gruppo Fabbri spa Honest Plant PET United Kingdom The Coca-Cola Company Paulig coffee laminate Austria Paulig Shelf-Ready packaging - Greenliner Germany Packaging Campus Lenningen GmbH SIGNATURE PACK Germany SIG Combibloc Sugar Cane Bottles and Tubes United Kingdom RPC M&H Plastics Sulapac Premium Eco-Packaging Finland Sulapac Ltd Sustainable Feedstock for Bio-based LDPE Production Switzerland Dow Europe GmbH Sustainex coated waste bags - helps to sort out more food waste that Sweden Mondi Extrusion Coatings can be turned into organic fertilizers Tetra Brik® Aseptic 1000 Edge with Bio-based LightCap™ 30 Italy Tetra Pak The Planet Cup United Kingdom 4 Aces VTT's biobased packaging solution Finland VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Zest™ – Compostable Ovenable Tray United Kingdom Colpac Ltd

BEST PRACTICE ENTRY

LOCATION

SUBMITTED BY

Cradle to Cradle Certification for glass products First Retailer to go Plastic Free Garçon Wines Recycled PET Flat Profile Wine Bottle Heineken Sustainable Logistics Solution McDONALDS / HAVI Cutlery Plan A Scholl Velvet Smooth This is Forward Circular Economy Use of Beach Plastic in Head & Shoulders and Fairy Bottles

Switzerland United Kingdom United Kingdom France Belgium United Kingdom United Kingdom Belgium Switzerland

O-I Iceland Foods RPC M&H PLASTICS Graphic Packaging International deSter BVBA M&S Reckitt Benckiser Coca-Cola Western Europe Procter & Gamble Hair Care and Home Care

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RESOURCE EFFICIENCY ENTRY

LOCATION

ABSOLUTELY ONE food service concept for for Latam Airlines Belgium Bakewell Eco United Kingdom United Kingdom Cryovac® Darfresh® on Tray zero scrap system (with various top webs and supports) Disappearing cement sack Sweden DISCS™ France EcoFishBox – a fish package that saves both nature and costs.

Sweden Elizabeth Shaw Easter Egg United Kingdom Extended Gamut Printing United Kingdom Making it easier to choose sustainable packaging solutions Sweden MarbleBase Netherlands Marina Filchakova Luxembourg NanoPack Belgium Nescafe Sunrise Non Foil Lightweight Instant Coffee Sachet Poland New Slider refillable bottle Belgium New TS6 trigger sprayer platform Netherlands PRO tray Poland Regranulated resin in flexible packaging Austria Schur Flexibles SuperThin Austria Success with WebCenter & Asahi AWP Flexographic Plates United Kingdom

The Naturally Pure-Pak carton Norway UVBLOCK 347 PP Luxembourg Viupax™ Greece Waterless Internet Flower Packaging Poland WaveGrip United Kingdom

Judges will be recused from grading competition entries by their own organisations, including entries in which their organisation has collaborated as a secondary partner.

SUBMITTED BY deSter BVBA Terinex Sealed Air Food Care BillerudKorsnäs DS SMITH PACKAGING SYSTEMS Stora Enso Packaging Solution New Vision Packaging Contact Originators Ltd Ecolean Avery Dennison Materials Europe BV OCSiAl Europe S.a.r.l.

European Food Information Council Uflex Limited Coca-Cola Western Europe Reckitt Benckiser Mondi Warszawa Sp. z o.o.

Henkel Schur Flexibles Hamilton Adhesive Labels & Creation Reprographics Elopak Ampacet Matadog Design Uflex Limited WaveGrip

The winners will be announced at the Sustainability Awards and Sustainable Packaging Summit at Scanpack on 23 October in Gothenburg, Sweden.

For more information visit scanpack.se and sustainabilityawards2018.com

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DIGITAL NOMAD NAVIGATING THE AMAZON EFFECT I know I’m lucky. I know that the rooms I get to speak in and the people I get to meet, gives me a privileged understanding of what is happening in today’s world of print & packaging. To a certain extent, I am being asked for my opinions and helping to influence those happenings too. I know I’m lucky. Now, of course I would never betray the non disclosure agreements that I have in place for these conversations but what I wanted to write about this month is a phenomenon that could have a huge effect on the packaging industry as a whole.

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he biggest single change in all of our world’s in the last 25 years has been the internet. Everything has changed, and I mean everything, about the way we live our lives as a result. From sharing cute videos of your pets, to controlling your central heating via wi-fi, to communicating with relatives all over the world instantly, to carrying a powerful computer in your pocket – that occasionally makes calls. Everything has changed. And one of the biggest changes has been the way we shop, the places we shop, the times we shop and even if we leave the house anymore to shop. I’m talking about the Amazon effect.

I won’t bore you with the statistics and quote the huge gazillions of sales (although curiously no profits) that Amazon enjoy, as this has all been very well documented. What I want to talk about is the effect this has had on the traditional bricks and mortar retailers and grocers.

Any of you who has supplied packaging to these guys over the last 30 years will still have the bruises to show for it! The endless driving down of costs has turned print & packaging into a penny parade of commodity pricing. But something has changed and I think you are going to like it.

I sat in a two-day advisory board meeting in Belgium last week with five of the world’s largest consumer brands, and by large I mean a combined €300 billion of global sales between them. The focus of the meeting was on packaging and how digital printing for folding carton, flexo and corrugated is going to add value back in to the commoditised world of printed packaging. One by one, these brands all said the same thing – Amazon has changed how retailers and grocers

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are behaving. Suddenly, instead of just asking for cost reductions – they are asking for help. Help to compete with Amazon. Help to differentiate themselves in the crowded and noisy world of retailing.

We are at the inflexion point. The exact moment when the worm turns and the value is added back into an industry that has suffered for a long time. But you can’t just keep calm and carry on as before – the theme of my recent speeches to the packaging industry has been constant. You can’t just change the tools (digital printing) – you have to change the behaviour. No longer can you think analogue in a digital world, especially when these brands and retailers are crying out for your help.

The next generation of consumers know what they want to buy and how they want to buy it and that will dictate the next phase of your businesses. The much talked about millenials are as interested in experience as they are in price. It’s time to embrace the opportunity rather than defend the legacy. It’s easy for me to say that of course as I don’t have a vested interest in the packaging industry, but as an optimistic and enthusiastic commentator on the whole print and packaging world – I hope I can help give you some tips on how to navigate the Amazon…

Richard Askam Richard Askam Digital Nomad