Packaging Europe Issue 18.6

VOLUME 18.6 – 2023

INNOVATION BAROMETER SPOTLIGHTING SUSTAINABILITY PROGRESS IN 2023

REGULATION UPDATE • WATER-BASED INKS • SOFTWARE • CIRCULAR PP • DHL INTERVIEW

OUR TEAM THE CONTENT TEAM

Tim Sykes Brand Director Victoria Hattersley Senior Writer Elisabeth Skoda Editor Libby Munford Journalist Fin Slater Digital Editor Emma Liggins Junior Journalist Frances Butler Junior Journalist

VOLUME 18.6 – 2023

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THE PRODUCTION TEAM

Rob Czerwinski Creative Lead Meg Garratt Digital Design & Production Assistant Syed Hassan Digital Analyst

THE OPERATIONS TEAM

Amber Dawson Operations Director Kayleigh Harvey Advertising Coordinator Guy Bill Events Marketing Executive Shona Clacher Customer Success Executive

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THE SALES TEAM

Jesse Roberts Sales Director Dominic Kurkowski Senior Portfolio Sales Manager Matt Byron Portfolio Sales Manager Clayton Green Business Development Manager

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

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Editorial Elisabeth Skoda Innovation Barometer 2023 Spotlighting progress and challenges Regulation Surveying the fast-changing landscape Circular polypropylene An update from NEXTLOOPP Logistics The packaging perspective from DHL Software How can software and AI boost packaging sustainability?

In conversation with… Looking ahead to Paris Packaging Week 2024 Water-based inks Exploring the latest developments AIPIA stories Active and Intelligent Packaging Spotlight

EDITORIAL

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the time of writing, we’re just back from Packaging Europe’s Sustainable Packaging Summit at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, and I’d like to say thank you to everybody who attended for making it such a success. Sustainability is the most pressing challenge the packaging industry faces, and it was heartening to see a large audience representing the entire value chain from all over the world coming together and connecting to forge paths towards reaching ambitious sustainability goals. Some notable steps have been taken by the industry, but a lot remains to be done, and we are looking forward to continuing to lead the conversation around packaging sustainability in 2024.

CONTACT ME Elisabeth Skoda · Editor at large es@packagingeurope.com @PackEuropeEli

I’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate AMP Robotics for winning both in the Machinery category as well as being our overall winner for AMP Vortex, an AI-powered automation system for film removal and recovery in recycling facilities. Congratulations also to all our other winners across a total of 17 commercialized and pre-commercialized categories. The quality of submissions has improved every year, and we expect next year to be no different. Submissions for next year’s awards will open in January 2024 – find out more about the application process on our Sustainability Awards website: https://packagingeurope.com/sustainability-awards Meanwhile, in the final edition of Packaging Europe magazine of the year, we have a range of different articles for you and also take a look back at 2023 to put developments in context. Taking a look at Packaging Europe’s top online stories from 2023, Libby Munford explores innovation progress made this year in the context of the challenges the industry faces.

Fast-changing and evolving regulation has been an omnipresent topic this year, and in an attempt to forge a path through the maze of new innovations, Emma Liggins presents a snapshot of the regulatory landscape in 2023 – and what the packaging industry has to say about it.

The past few years have seen a growing interest in water-based inks within the packaging print and inks market. Victoria Hattersley discusses the outlook for water-based inks and asks whether they are the future of packaging inks or whether the topic is more complex than that.

NEXTEK’s COtooCLEAN project, a solution for recycling flexible polyolefin films back into food-grade plastics, won this year’s Sustainability Awards in the pre-commercialized Driving the Circular Economy category. I catch up with NEXTEK founder and creator Professor Edward Kosior, to discuss roadblocks to plastics recycling, the impact of regulations and the latest updates of progress within the NEXTLOOPP project, the overall winner at the Sustainability Awards 2021.

Elsewhere in the magazine, I look at the logistics sector, speaking with Nicola Harrington, who holds the newly created role of UKI Packaging Development director at DHL, about packaging challenges and opportunities around e-commerce and logistics.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Packaging Europe magazine!

Elisabeth Skoda Packaging Europe

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INNOVATION BAROMETER 2023 At the beginning of this year, the editorial team of Packaging Europe predicted the main challenges that would be impacting innovation in the packaging industry sector going forward. From creating a sustainable future for packaging; sourcing alternative packaging materials to fossil fuels; migration to paper-based packaging for certain applications; to accessibility and interactivity regarding packaging design and inclusivity. Taking a look at Packaging Europe’s top online stories from 2023, Libby Munford will spotlight some of the innovation progress made so far this year, in the context of these challenges, of which sustainable and commercially successful product design and migration to paper-based packaging take the forefront.

Product design Packaging Europe reported back in April that McKinsey and NielsenIQ undertook a joint study examining the relationship between ESG-related claims made on product packaging and consumer spending habits in a bid to identify the ways in which companies can balance sustainability-minded progress with commercial success.

McKinsey outlines five potential points of consideration for brands attempting to strike a balance between differentiated growth and making advancements in their ESG commitments – the first being the establishment of an effective ESG strategy across their portfolios to match their product claims.

Expanding ESG-related benefits across multiple categories and products is likely to have a bigger impact and increase a brand’s chances of achieving outsize growth, as opposed to relying heavily on a single product. Companies are therefore encouraged to identify and publicize, where appropriate, the steps they are taking that will result in the greatest ESG impact.

Moreover, they should develop a design process that embraces ESGrelated claims as well as cost engineering, according to McKinsey. A disciplined design-for-sustainability approach is expected to maximize the visibility, efficacy, and cost-efficiency of ESG-related product features that will attract consumers’ attention, as will the removal of ingredients, materials, and processes that are slowing or reversing sustainable progress.

Taking a wider view of a product’s sustainable impact, its quality, and the cost of investment in product design is expected to garner positive results.

We expect to see brands providing more transparency and analysis of their approaches in order to achieve a more sustainable future.

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“A move towards greater transparency in packaging design to put the product itself centrestage is suggestive of the needs of the consumer and it will remain to be seen if this trend will roll out further on-shelf.”

Packaging design interactivity In August, Lucozade shared that it is rolling out a new packaging design for its Orange and Original drink flavours, featuring more transparency in its sleeve to give consumers a preview of the product and indicate its flavour, taste, and refreshment credentials.

The change responds to input from 6,500 consumers and 18 months of extensive research and development, and is accompanied by updated recipes for both drinks – implementing a “bolder” taste for the Original flavour and a “more citrusy, orange note” for Orange.

According to consumers, the new sleeves will increase the chances of shoppers noticing the product on the shelves and encourage them to purchase the product. They will be implemented across all Lucozade Energy Orange and Lucozade Energy Original 380ml, 500ml, and

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900ml bottles, both for individual sale and in multipacks; the remaining Lucozade Energy flavours are also set to adopt the new packaging in the near future.

A move towards greater transparency in packaging design to put the product itself centre-stage is suggestive of the needs of the consumer and it will remain to be seen if this trend will roll out further on-shelf.

Migration to paper-based packaging In June, it was reported that a new, 90% paper tube has been developed for Pringles crisps in a collaboration between Fost Plus and the Belgian Engineering and R&D teams at Kellogg’s, aiming for complete recyclability.

The steel base built into previous tubes has been replaced with a paper fibre alternative, which is sealed to the bottom of the pack. As such, the tube is apparently compatible with paper and cardboard recycling once the plastic cover has been removed; the cover can be recycled in the PMD bag in turn.

In other news, PepsiCo is trialling paper-based outer packaging for two flavours of its Walkers Baked six-pack multipacks in a move that is aimed at replacing plastic and facilitating higher recycling rates.

The trial packs are currently available for Sea Salt and Cheese and Onion flavoured crisps in over 300,000 six-pack Walkers Baked multipacks sold at 800 Tesco locations. Consumers are being invited to provide feedback on their design and functionality, and can, the company says, recycle the paper packs at end of life.

It is expected that the trial will contribute towards PepsiCo’s commitment to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastics from its European crisp and snack pack-

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aging by 2030 as part of its pep+ global health and sustainability transformation plan. This includes the implementation of 100% recycled or renewable plastic into its crisp packets, as the company announced last year.

In March, Procter and Gamble announced that paper-based, FSC-certified, recyclable packaging for its Always Cotton Protection Pad range has now been rolled out across Europe.

The packs are now available in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark – and were launched in Spain and Portugal last week.

“The progress of major brands trialling and moving into paper-based innovation for packaging that may have traditionally sourced alternative materials is indicative that innovation has allowed paper-based packaging to also provide the functionality needed.”

The solution is made from what P&G describes as “sustainably sourced”, FSC-certified kraft paper which can be fully recycled in the paper waste stream. According to a recent ISO Life Cycle Assessment, the new Always Cotton Protection paper packaging reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% compared to virgin fossil plastic bags across Europe.

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In September, it was reported that Coca-Cola HBC is piloting a cardboard and paper alternative to plastic shrink film for 1.5-litre multipacks of Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite sold in Austria – a move anticipating a 200-tonne reduction in plastic every year.

LitePac Top is described as a 100% recyclable cardboard and paper carrier and wrap. It is designed to help retailers stack the multipacks for sale, and for consumers to carry and recycle the packaging with ease.

Said to support the weight of a six-pack of 1.5-litre bottles, or approximately 9kg in weight, the solution hopes to phase out the use of plastic shrink wrap in large, heavy multipack bottles. Its rollout in Austria anticipates a significant reduction in both plastic consumption and energy costs generated in production.

Furthermore, the trial hopes to bring Coca-Cola HBC closer to its NetZeroBy40 target, in which it seeks to achieve net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040.

“This is the first-ever packaging solution of its kind for 1.5 litre multipacks of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite,” says Marcel Martin, chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability officer at Coca-Cola HBC. “It’s the result of our entrepreneurial mindset, an absolute belief in collaborating with trusted partners and our focus on reaching net zero emissions by 2040.”

The progress of major brands trialling and moving into paper-based innovation this year for packaging that may have traditionally sourced alternative materials is indicative that innovation has allowed paper-based packaging to also provide the functionality needed, with new scope in certain applications.

It remains to be seen how this will progress wider in the packaging sector.

SURVEYING THE PACKAGING REGULATION LANDSCAPE New and updated packaging legislation has been coming thick and fast across Europe this year, both on a continental and national level. Emma Liggins presents a snapshot of the regulatory landscape in 2023 – and what our industry has to say about it.

European regulation still sparks debate Naturally, the ripple effect of the updated Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive – leaked in draft form and then announced as a Regulation late last year – has continued into 2023. Its legislative revisions are extensive enough to warrant their own article but, to summarize, it describes itself as a “harmonized regulatory framework that supports investment, reduces waste and promotes high-quality recycling, which will apply equally in all EU Member States”. Targets and deadlines have been developed around these goals, including the expectation that all packaging should be designed for recycling by 2030 and recycled at scale by 2035.

Most industry players have agreed with the Directive’s general intentions, yet criticisms of its proposed methods and areas of focus show no signs of slowing. Its alleged lack of scientific basis has come under fire in several contexts, from reuse targets to its limitation of pack ratios.

If the new rules miss the mark, critics argue, it could become a conti-

nent-wide case of greenwashing – claiming to pave the way for sustainable packaging practices while failing to address the biggest issues.

Regulations surrounding reuse have become a particular point of contention. Some suggest that the push for a reusable transition across the board is steering the packaging industry away from exploring renewable materials and towards the continued use of conventional, fossil-based plastics. Others posit that the Commission’s stance does not complement its own recycling measures and treats reuse as a blanket fix rather than one step in a more complex pursuit.

More broadly, the creation of ‘negative lists’ prohibiting certain packaging characteristics is feared to be out of date with developing materials and recycling technologies, resulting in a bottleneck for new innovations.

Industry players even worry that Europe itself is not equipped with the right tools to adequately sort and collect its waste in line with proposed or preexisting recycled content goals.

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In late October, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment voted on Compromise Amendments to the legislation. The outcome was met with mixed feelings; there were some targets, like the 90% collection rate for separated materials by 2029, that were widely praised. Yet its alleged ‘loopholes’ and a range of ‘arbitrary’ bans and reductions have resulted in a ‘weaker’ or ‘watered down’ text in the eyes of various industry players.

Raw materials, imports, and transit Responding to increasing demand for critical raw materials in the wake of decarbonization efforts, the Critical Raw Materials Act was revealed earlier this year. Its general intentions are to strengthen the European value chain for critical raw materials, decrease strategic dependencies on single third countries by diversifying imports, minimize supply disruption risks, and pursue circularity and sustainability.

By 2030, the Act aspires to achieve domestic capabilities of at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction and 40% for processing; at least 15% of its annual consumption for recycling; and a maximum of 65% of the EU’s annual consumption from a single third country. This would override the estimations that demand for rare earth metals will increase six-fold within the same time frame.

It will also provide a list of strategic raw materials necessary for green and digital applications, among others, and set requirements around recyclability and recycled content. In a bid to help customers make informed purchasing decisions, facilitate circularity on the EU market, and encourage large-scale recycling for permanent magnets, the Commission can now create rules for the materials’ environmental footprint subject to various safeguards.

For the purpose of life cycle studies, metal casting or packaging processes are included in the system boundary of primary critical raw materials – i.e., extraction, concentration, and refining – as well as secondary critical raw materials. The legislation also adheres to European Regulation

“More broadly, the creation of ‘negative lists’ prohibiting certain packaging characteristics is feared to be out of date with developing materials and recycling technologies, resulting in a bottleneck for new innovations.”

(EC) No. 1272/2008 in its definition of a hazardous substance and the classification, labelling, and packaging of substances and mixtures. As such, the packaging must be designed to resist damage from its hazardous contents and do so in practice. It must not mislead customers in any way, e.g., by resembling food or pharmaceutical packaging or by appealing to children in its marketing.

Any hazardous substances must display certain information on their packaging, including any applicable hazardous pictograms, statements, and signal words. Labels must be firmly affixed and legible in a horizontal position when the packaging is facing the correct way. For packaging with multiple layers, these standards apply to the inner packaging, while the outer packaging is held to the rules for transporting hazardous goods.

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England’s take on EPR Amidst the EU’s revisions, national legislation in- and outside of the bloc has continued to emerge. Effective from 28th February, The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 came into force. It serves as an addition to the Waste Directive and collects data to determine the fees that producers on the UK market will have to pay in accordance with Extended Producer Responsibility from 2024.

Under these rules, small producers – with the exemption of online market operators and sellers – are expected to keep records of packaging types, their weight in kilograms, the number of units of packaging in each category that consists of drinks containers, and other relevant information for each data collection period and an additional seven years after its end. Large producers must do the same, as well as keep evidence of the amount of packaging they collect and send for recycling, and proof that it has been recycled.

Online market operators and sellers are expected to retain, for at least seven years, the weight in kilograms of each type of packaging and household packaging they have supplied within the relevant period. Licensors and puboperating businesses, meanwhile, must record all the packaging they supply and, when the producer is an importer, discard in a year in each category.

Charities are exempt from these data collection and reporting obligations. Non-imported, reused primary, secondary, or tertiary packaging is not subject to the legislation; nor are packaging or packaging materials

exported from the UK by the producer, except if it is being sent to an artificial island, structure, or installation at sea. Production residues from packaging or packaging materials, or any other process occurring before, during, or after the producer handles them, are not held to these rules.

Redefinition in Germany The German Packaging Act, or VerpackG, holds traders responsible for the recycling of their packaging. Every year, the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR) publishes a minimum standard in accordance with the German Environmental Agency (UBA).

Whether packaging enters a sorting process and is sent for high-quality recycling has previously been determined by three categories based on the amount of waste collected and used; column 3A called for a minimum portion of 80% and column 3C fell below 20%, with anything in between classified under column 3B. While materials in column 3C required individual evidence of collection, 3B materials did not, leading to ambiguity surrounding the extent of their recyclability.

In response to the EU’s upcoming packaging regulation, the ZSVR and UBA have combined the 3B and 3C categories. This means that 3B materials now require individual evidence and theoretically ensures that only materials with high collection and recycling rates are considered recyclable.

On the other hand, nitrocellulose has been declared non-recyclable in the context of adhesive side printing. This is due to its low temperature stability, Packaging Europe

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with foul odours and colour changes impacting the recyclate. Next year’s minimum standard is set to revisit PVC inks in case similar restrictions are required.

Furthermore, the act calls for the disposal of paper, paperboard, and cardboard (PPC) through a dedicated stream, while composite packaging must enter yellow bags or bins or a collection scheme for common recyclables. Differences in the collection and recycling processes have been acknowledged through new amendments – lightweight carbon black packaging undergoing optical sorting must be proven as detectable, while lacquered and plastic-coated materials have undergone sensor detectability tests and are held to new standards.

Luxembourg is watching waste In Luxembourg, plastic film packaging for fruit and vegetables weighing under 1.5 kilograms has been banned, aligning with the expectations of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The rule does not apply to items that would rot too quickly without plastic packaging, such as blueberries, raspberries, or foods that have been cut or peeled. This measure has not been well-received across the board, though – Cédric Gonnet, country director for Delhaize Luxembourg, told the Luxembourg Times that the retailer has not been able to find a suitable replacement for plastics, leading to a shortage in white pearl onions, butter beans, and certain endives.

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are exempt from this requirement, but as of July 2021, single-use plastic items laid out in Directive 2019/904 – e.g., beverage bottles, fast food containers, and composite packaging for liquid refreshments – can no longer be placed on the Luxembourgish market.

“In Luxembourg, plastic film packaging for fruit and vegetables weighing under 1.5 kilograms has been banned, aligning with the expectations of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.”

Public events must also serve food and drinks in reusable containers, with single-use plastic plates, trays, stirrers, straws, beverage containers, bottles, and cutlery all prohibited. The list is set to include beverage cans and cartons from 2025, although single-use glass bottles will still be permitted.

Supermarkets with a surface area equal to or greater than 400m2 are now required to provide an on-site take-back point for plastic, paper, and cardboard packaging disposal. Larger supermarkets will also need to install their own recycling centres from next year.

THE PATH TOWARDS CIRCULAR POLYPROPYLENE Nextek’s mission is to close the loop on polypropylene by creating circular food-grade polypropylene from post-consumer packaging.

The NEXTLOOPP project was the overall winner of Packaging Europe’s 2021 Sustainability Awards. A sister project, COtooCLEAN, a solution for recycling flexible polyolefin films back into food-grade plastics, just won an award in this year’s Sustainability Awards in the pre-commercialized Driving the Circular Economy category. Elisabeth Skoda catches up with Professor Edward Kosior, the founder and creator of Nextek, to discuss roadblocks to plastics recycling, the impact of regulations and the latest updates on progress within the NEXTLOOPP project.

ES: We have to radically boost the amount of recycled plastics. What are the key roadblocks that you have identified to achieving this?

EK: There are several. The first one is the efficiency of our collection system. We’re very good at making and distributing plastic products, but we’re not very good at recovering these materials from households back into the recycling stream. Approximately 50% of the plastics that are put on the market get recovered for recycling, but the other 50% end up in landfill or incineration. We need to do a much better job recovering these materials. In Europe, we have formal collection systems, but in developing countries, these are less well established, and materials that are not recovered for recycling often end up on the side of the road or side of a riverbank and make their way to oceans. Because they’re so durable, plastics end up being noticed for many years, and cause damage to aquatic and land-based systems.

Collection is only one part of the solution. The other area is packaging design for recycling. The majority of products that are put onto the market are designed to be used once. Some of them happen to be recyclable and a number of them have been designed to be recycled multiple times, but we have to do much better.

Another challenge is how we use recycled plastics – we’ve always had the goal of substituting virgin plastics with recycled materials. To achieve this, the quality of recycled plastics has to be very high.

Edward Kosior

Regulation surrounding the reuse of plastics can also be a roadblock. We’re very interested in food applications for recycled plastics. Those applications are controlled by groups like the European Food Safety Authority and also Food Standards Authority in the UK and FDA in the US. Regulations have recently been updated in Europe, and there’s a certain degree of complexity around the data gathering associated with all this, and to some extent regulations around food contact and recycled plastics are too tight.

Of course, food safety is key. But how you approve it needs to be up-todate, and it needs to be based on scientific principles and appropriate risk analysis. The regulations are holding back the opportunities for recycled plastics especially recycled polyolefins, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene and low-density polyethylene.

ES: NEXTLOOPP conducted a landmark background contamination study on post-consumer PCR packaging that will add to the overall existing knowledge that we have on PP and other plastic such as HDP and PET. Could you outline some of the key points of this study?

EK: We developed the NEXTLOOPP project to demonstrate that polypropylene could be recycled back to food-grade standard and it could satisfy all safety requirements.

In the project, we are taking many steps to show firstly that there’s a viable recycling process, and that we can meet the safety standards and Packaging Europe

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address issues like efficient sorting, and separating food from non-food categories. We also work on defining the feasibility of recycling operations, so that we can design highly efficient and effective plant installations.

One of the first steps is to measure the decontamination efficiency of the recycling processes that we use with a challenge test. We inoculate a test batch of material with a range of chemicals and put them through the recycling process. Our goal is to measure how much of each of those materials we actually remove. This then defines the decontamination efficiency of our process.

When we take post-consumer packaging, we know that within that packaging various materials will have been absorbed in their journey. Food-grade materials could absorb food components, oils or flavours. Non-food packaging could absorb the aroma or fragrance of a detergent or shampoo. There, we need to know what is actually in the recycled materials, so that when we apply our decontamination process, we can predict whether we can remove the concentrations of materials.

In the case of polypropylene, there’s not been a single study to define what polypropylene looks like in terms of a post-consumer material. So we took the material that’s being processed to make food-grade polypropylene and we measured the properties around 17,000 flakes, using typically food packaging and some non-food items, asking the question: Are there any materials foreign to the plastic in there? Are there any toxic materials, and if so, how toxic? We then examined all the peaks in the spectrum from the analysis to determine whether we got similar sets of materials coming in and whether there were any unusual molecules. The material we studied was largely from the post-consumer area. We weren’t getting any industrial materials or any unusual materials except for one specimen, one flake out of the 17,000. When we analysed that one flake of material and looked at the components, we could identify it came from a cosmetics pack.

The most important thing that came out was we were able to define the rate of incidence of unusual molecules coming into the food packaging 16

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stream. The study gives us a baseline for knowing what the residual contamination level is in incoming material. Then we can apply the decontamination rate for molecules of all types and then we can make predictions of what could migrate from a package into food. This is a key part of defining the food safety of any recycling process.

ES: NextLoopp’s invisible PolyPRISM markers demonstrated a 99.9% sorting purity during tests conducted at the TOMRA test centre. Could you tell me more about why these markers are used and how they work?

EK: These tests are an important part of our strategy of making food-grade recycled materials according to the rules of EFSA and the US FDA. We avoid non-food applications in the recycling stream and in order to do that we have to have a technology for separating materials.

“Regulations are holding back the opportunities for recycled plastics especially recycled polyolefins, highdensity polyethylene, polypropylene and low-density polyethylene.”

Polypropylene often includes non-bottle products, such as yoghurt pots and soups, delicatessen containers or trays for meat or fish. These materials could predominantly be used for food, but not exclusively.

In order to separate these materials, we developed the technique of using product labels to differentiate between food and non-food by adding a layer of ultraviolet responsive ink to the package. During sorting, we use an additional illumination by ultraviolet light. When this package goes into sorting operation, we have an additional illumination by ultraviolet light, so the label changes colour. We’ll be able to see the change in colour and

select that material as a food-grade package. This is the basis for the whole technology and also it provides a very efficient and powerful way of separating food from non-food. Based on our sorting of materials, we can then have food streams of polypropylene which are then converted by the decontamination process into food grade.

The companies that are doing this are organisations that have a very wide reach across the UK, Europe, USA and globally. They’re taking this quite seriously as the way forward and what we want to do is to have. Very simple sorting technology that can be added to the existing recycling system.

ES: What are the next steps after these trials are concluded?

EK: The rPP dossier has been submitted to the USFDA and NEXTLOOPP has registered as a novel technology with EFSA. The project has continued to gain support from brand owners and packaging producers and is about to sign-up its 50th participating organisation.

So far the project has run 46 PP packaging manufacturing trials, taking the materials produced via NEXTLOOPP’s unique process, preparing scientifically designed blends and converting the resins into packaging. This has provided a rich resource of testing results to validate the suitability of the PPristine resins, and NEXTLOOPP is delighted to announce that it has met all the processing, mechanical and food-grade requirements for those materials, hitting all the targets its brand owners set.

The multi-participant project continues trialling and advancing its cleaning, sorting and decontamination technologies (PolyPPRISM and PPristine) in a lead-up to implementation at commercial scale.

Using mixtures of PP packaging, PolyPPRISM sorting technology has demonstrated that food-grade purity levels of greater than 99% can be achieved in a single sorting step at belt speeds of greater than 2.5m/sec.

The most recent trial involved testing PolyPPRISM markers on MCC Verstraete’s, In Mold Labels (IML). The trials, which resulted in 100% purity

and 100% yield during internal tests at TOMRA, propel the multi-participant project a step closer to their goal to produce high-quality recycled food-grade polypropylene (FGrPP) in packaging using IMLs. Having established these successful sorting rates, NEXTLOOPP is now working with MCC Verstraete to showcase NextCycle IMLTM, a new generation of in mold labels that features automatic detachment and removal during conventional recycling processes.

Further demonstrations will follow shortly on NEXTLOOPP participant-branded products to showcase the viability of using new-generation decorative technology designed for polypropylene (PP) packaging that can be effectively sorted and decontaminated back to food-grade resins.

ES: In conclusion, could you share your thoughts on how access to more food-grade recycled PP can boost the circular economy?

EK: Polypropylene is a very efficient material. It’s efficient to make and it has high efficiency in its structure and mechanical properties. As a material, it has a lower carbon footprint than PET. When you recycle PP, you end up with around an 80% saving of the CO2 emissions. Every time you recycle polypropylene, there is a very significant contribution compared to making virgin polypropylene because it’s used so widely. It’s a material that can be used in many applications. If we can develop safe recycling processes for polypropylene and put the material back into all of those products, we can have a major impact on the carbon footprint of the plastics industry, the food packaging industry and the recycling industry.

We’re creating the drive for the collection and removal of polypropylene from the waste stream, and we’re reducing CO2 emissions, two big goals that I’m sure everyone wants to see. I think in that way polypropylene can be a major contributor to waste reduction in plastics going to oceans and, very importantly, to the reduction of the CO2 footprint of all the economies where people use modern materials.

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THE PACKAGING PERSPECTIVE FROM DHL SUPPLY CHAIN The Packaging Solutions department of DHL Supply Chain allows customers to choose the packaging options that suit them best, starting with design engineering for both packaging materials and automation, through sourcing and procuring, to contract packing, co-manufacturing and kitting. Nicola Harrington was recently appointed as UKI Packaging Development director, a newly created role. Elisabeth Skoda spoke to her about challenges and opportunities around e-commerce and logistics.

ES: Could you talk about what the role entails and why it’s been created?

NH: Whilst DHL has historically offered and delivered packaging services to customers, they’ve tended to be viewed as bolt-on services to existing warehouse customers. The real value is being able to work with customers at the start of any project, to identify the opportunities we could offer through our packaging solutions services, ensuring their end-to-end supply chain is fully optimized. My role is to enhance our product strategy and support our customers in developing the right solution for their needs, across all the sectors we work in, from materials management to contract packaging, ensuring sustainable options are at the core of what we do.

ing or over-making promotions, creating agility and speed to market, whilst reducing complexity and risk in their supply chains.

Sustainability is another major challenge and is part of all our customer conversations. The starting point is defining what people mean by sustainable packaging and the areas they want to focus on, and then developing solutions that meet their needs.

Improving sustainability is a complex issue, requiring a holistic approach from businesses, taking into account everything from materials sourcing to automation and closed loop systems and considering a blend of both ‘reduce’ and ‘reuse’ strategies. However, by making changes throughout the supply chain, an organization can make a significant impact.

ES: Can you tell us about the biggest current challenges for packaging in logistics?

ES: What work is being done at DHL UKI Packaging Development to address this?

NH: Retailers and manufacturers are continually looking for ways to differentiate their offerings to compete for consumer spending amid rising inflation, so they need the flexibility to adapt and innovate. Our late-stage customization and packing options allow customers to reduce stock hold-

NH: ESG is at the heart of what we do as an organization and supporting our customers with sustainable and optimized packaging solutions is part of our roadmap to achieve our joint goals towards Net Zero. We have huge expertise across the organization, both globally and regionally – from

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“Improving sustainability is a complex issue, requiring a holistic approach from businesses, taking into account everything from materials sourcing to automation and closed loop systems and considering a blend of both ‘reduce’ and ‘reuse’ strategies.”

Nicola Harrington

design engineering, sourcing and procurement, materials management, to contract packing and packaging execution. My job is to bring all of these skills and knowledge together to help solve our customers’ problems, reduce their environmental footprint, reduce waste, and drive continuous operational efficiencies. By combining co-packing and materials management with warehousing, our customers benefit from lower carbon emissions through the reduction of transport routes and miles travelled.

ES: How has the growing e-commerce trend affected packaging, and how does the packaging journey differ from ‘traditional’ packaging for brick-andmortar stores?

NH: With e-commerce, retailers still want their packaging to reflect the brand and the whole customer experience. This has allowed us to develop concepts in conjunction with our customers to give that truly immersive offering, from the packaging design to the customisation of the product presentation.

In terms of the packaging journey itself, this doesn’t differ for DHL. For many of our big retail customers, we manage both the into-store distribution and e-commerce from a single distribution centre. With an omnichannel strategy in place, products are picked and packed according to customers’ requirements before being sent to their destination.

A main difference and challege, however, is the optimization of containers/ packaging for e-commerce. When a retailer has so many different SKUs, it can become difficult to package and avoid fresh air shipping for each order.

ES: How can packaging/carton space be optimized during logistics?

NH: We’re always investigating and investing in technologies that present more sustainable solutions, and we are always looking at new and different ways to apply proven technologies. For example, where plastics are the

only option, we use cold wrapping technologies with wrapping machines that can use up to 70% less plastic, and importantly up to 90% less power as they do not need heat to shrink.

We also use a proprietary carton optimization tool, OptiCarton, in our warehouses, which helps us to maximize carton and pallet space by calculating density, size and weight to best arrange packages. By giving packers an optimal choice of box sizes, wasted space can be reduced, and more efficient use can be made of goods vehicles, delivering up to 20% in transport savings.

Across Europe, we have also introduced an e-commerce solution called ‘Box-on-Demand’, focused on right-sized packaging. Depending on the size of the orders, we’ll identify the size of the box required, and then this automated tool will cut the box to fit the product, which helps to solve the fresh air shipping issue being faced.

ES: What new developments do you anticipate for the future?

NH: With sustainability being a prime focus, and regulations changing to support this, there are lots of developments around natural bio-based products, alternative fibre materials and enhanced paper-based packaging, which we have already seen successfully implemented by some of the large confectionery brands.

We’ll also see an ongoing increase in automated solutions and robotics, which drives efficiency, and addresses the labour challenge of limited resources and increasing cost, whilst enhancing quality. Within DHL we have our own in-house Digital Manufacturing team, who design bespoke automation and robotic solutions.

It’s a hugely exciting time to be in the world of packaging and I’m looking forward to supporting our customers in the development of their packaging strategy.

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EXPLORING SOFTWARE AND AI SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING Sustainability and regulatory demands on packaging are getting more stringent, whilst supply chains are becoming more complex. How can companies streamline processes and navigate the maze with the help of innovative software solutions and AI? Elisabeth Skoda gains insights from Recyda, inriver and Makersite.

Managing complexity Recyda, a finalist at Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards, has developed software solutions to perform accurate country-specific packaging recyclability and cost assessments.

“Users can track progress towards their sustainability targets and can efficiently create reports for various internal and external requirements,” explains Vivian Loftin, co-founder at Recyda.

Tackling the challenge of keeping track of a product across its life cycle, inriver specializes in product information management.

“We empower industrial and branded manufacturers, retailers and distributors to create, distribute, and track product information in the digital age. We do this by powering the entire product journey by transforming product information into a profit-making asset at every touchpoint,” says Niels Stenfeldt, the company’s CEO.

Makersite is used by brands to accelerate their product development, measure and reduce their environmental impact and monitor and manage supply risk.

“We deliver supply chain digital twins for product sustainability, risk, and cost optimization for major brands. Our technology combines AI, data, and apps to power sustainable product and supply chain decisions at scale, speeding up complex tasks,” adds Neil D’Souza, Makersite’s CEO.

What are the challenges?

Companies face plentiful hurdles towards reaching their sustainability goals in today’s complex world. Mr D’Souza identifies expertise, scalability of available tools and data granularity and specificity amongst the biggest problems today.

“We’ve estimated that for every expert trained in calculating ESG impacts, 2000 engineers need this data. There aren’t enough experts to calculate the impacts of the 1B+ products we have on the market today.”

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Vivian Loftin, co-founder at Recyda

Neil D’Souza, Makersite’s CEO

“Secondly, most tools available today were designed by experts, for experts. That means you can do deep but not broad. We need tools that can cover an entire portfolio of products without losing the granularity or precision that’s needed to make engineering decisions.”

“Thirdly, it’s about the granularity and specificity of the data available to calculate the impacts of raw materials and processes. If you are trying to improve your products, you need highly specific data at the supplier level.”

Mr Stenfeldt reminds us that sustainability requires long-term thinking and making careful decisions about materials, components and production processes.

“This evolution starts with the product journey. Each stage of a product’s life, from ideation to end-of-life, needs to be re-calibrated to meet the evolving demands of a circular product journey.

“Understanding the importance of product data is only the beginning.

The next, and most critical, step in the process is to transform this data into clear, actionable, and complete product information that delivers value at every stage of the product life cycle. Managing this product information effectively is challenging but is essential.”

Much like consumers, today’s regulators are demanding more data and transparency within production and manufacturing processes. Companies need to provide accurate details about where products are manufactured, the associated carbon emissions, the factory conditions and more. A company needs awareness of where these data points can be located, but also satisfy regulatory requirements.

Regardless of the level of regulation faced by companies today, a flexible data model to govern product data is a mission-critical requirement to operate as the world changes, he states.

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Niels Stenfeldt, inriver’s CEO

“To future-proof, businesses need an extensible product data platform that can accommodate and adapt to new product attributes in a scalable and automated fashion.”

Ms Loftin adds the regulatory insecurity that companies face today to the list of challenges.

“Sustainability targets set by legislation are ambitious, but it is not yet entirely clear what requirements companies will be facing, for example from the PPWR, and what actions are required to be compliant. Software can help to make companies ready for the future by helping them understand their packaging portfolio better, and can help companies assess where they stand today. This is a good starting point to then act immediately when new requirements are announced.”

“To future-proof, businesses need an extensible product data platform that can accommodate and adapt to new product attributes in a scalable and automated fashion.”

Niels Stenfeldt

Addressing supply chain complexities Software solutions can effectively manage and analyze vast amounts of data related to the supply chain, helping to overcome supply chain complexities, Ms Loftin points out.

“The need to collect, for example, packaging data along the supply chain results from regulatory requirements like the product passport, national (recyclability) reporting requirements, EPR and more. Software solutions offer an opportunity for a secure and error-free data transfer to meet these requirements. The digital approach helps identify data gaps to define which data needs exist. For the transfer of data, software can work with plausibility checks and can automate a lot of the process.”

Supply chain transparency is important for today’s consumers, as Mr Stenfeldt points out.

“Having a handle on supply chain data puts companies in the best position to respond to new and extended regulatory requirements, such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP) in the European Union. Companies that have a transparent supply chain will be able to respond to these tightening regulations, otherwise, they’ll face costly fines, and risk losing out on business.

PIM (Product Information Management) is a key technology that will enable companies to push towards supply chain transparency by consolidating product information from sourcing through to end-of-life and recycling.”

There is pressure on companies to prepare for the upcoming DPP, and they need to have their data in order.

“Siloed systems, inaccurate product information, and incomplete records will hinder attempts to meet the regulatory requirements set out by the EU. To succeed, companies will need to define clear processes for data collection and storage, alert suppliers about new transparency requirements, and identify knowledge gaps that might slow down the path to compliance. The inriver PIM works as a centrepiece solution for productrelated data across the supply chain, a fully extensible data model that offers ongoing data complexity management,” says Mr Stenfeldt.

Finding the right packaging solution Recyda’s solution allows customers to compare packaging solutions to find the most appropriate one for an individual customer. To choose the optimal packaging solution for a market, aspects such as compliance with design guidelines, availability of infrasctructure and cost (EPR fees and/or taxes) need to be taken into consideration, explains Ms Loftin.

“Users can enter variations of their packaging to see how the results change, for example, if a different material is used for a label. They can play around with the composition and see the effect on the evaluation in real time, which offers transparency and allows them to make the optimal packaging choice.”

The software works in three steps: Users can enter or import the packaging specifications from materials to adhesives and inks. They can then choose the basis for the assessment, such as specific national and/or international design guidelines. Results are then displayed according to the chosen guidelines and countries.

“The results are provided considering both the readiness to recycle the packaging and the recyclability in practice and at scale for each country,” adds Ms Loftin.

Makersite sets out to help companies make better material choices.

“For example, Pukka Herbs introduced new supplement packaging from sustainably sourced cardboard and wood pulp using Makersite. We enabled them to decrease their packaging GHG emissions by 58%,” says Mr D’Souza.

Pukka were looking to reduce the amount of GHG emissions from product packaging, but they had difficulty finding the best alternative packaging. The traditional LCAs they were carrying out were slow and resource-intensive.

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“Sustainability targets set by legislation are ambitious, but it is not yet entirely clear what requirements companies will be facing, for example from the PPWR, and what actions are required to be compliant.

Software can help to make companies ready for the future.”

Vivian Loftin

“Using a digital twin of the product and the supply chain, we were able to create live and dynamic visualizations that allowed us to see the impact of Pukka’s choices. Alongside that, continuous modelling of GHG emissions across multiple supply chains and material databases simultaneously increased the speed at which decisions were made. Many supplements now come in specially developed cardboard tubes with a plant-based cellulose inner bag. The materials are made from sustainably sourced cardboard and wood pulp. The inner bag is certified for industrial composting and the cardboard tube is fully recyclable. It is 67% lighter than their previously used glass jars and outer carton.”

“Using a digital twin of the product and the supply chain, we were able to create live and dynamic visualisations that allowed us to see the impact of Pukka’s choices.”

Neil D’Souza

Looking to the future Given the capabilities of current software, and demands of the future, what advances can we expect in the coming years?

Ms Loftin explains that one significant opportunity within software solutions lies in improving data quality and enhancing the efficiency of data exchange throughout the value chain.

“The lack of data and absence of digital approaches cause companies to waste valuable time and prevent them from obtaining a comprehensive understanding to make informed choices regarding their packaging. By having access 24 Packaging Europe

to more data, particularly data related to packaging specifications, companies can fully grasp the impact of their packaging. This is why we believe that digitization plays a crucial role in advancing packaging sustainability.”

Mr Stenfeldt adds that product information drives circularity at every stage of a product’s journey: from the initial design and sourcing, to manufacturing practices, product distribution, to the hands of customers – and most importantly – beyond the point of sale.

“A detailed product ecosystem isn’t only valuable to advance sustainability credentials for the future, it can create a lasting impact on sales and marketing teams, service departments and partner networks.”

Mr D’Souza points out that currently, the biggest barriers to scale ecodesign are the speed of the process and expertise in sustainability, but that accuracy cannot be compromised.

“One of the most time-consuming tasks is collecting data from different sources – internal PLM, ERP, procurement systems, external data from suppliers, and third-party data that enable the calculation of the impacts themselves – and then connecting them to create models of the products or processes they are evaluating. Certain kinds of AI are good at automating these tasks, and this can tremendously reduce the amount of time for calculating impacts, but also, more importantly, reduce the dependence on experts for this unenjoyable step.”

Additionally, supporting decisions from the early stages of developing an idea is crucial in guiding the development in the right direction.

“Filling gaps and identifying outliers quickly are other areas where we have found a good use for AI.” Finally, AI can play an important role in finding patterns in data to identify improvement potential.

“Developing insights is one of the most valuable tasks of experts, and AI can amplify their impact by, for example, identifying similar cases where their insight could have value,” he says.

LOOKING AHEAD TO PARIS PACKAGING WEEK 2024 Following its successful show in January 2023, Paris Packaging Week is planning an exciting range of new features for its 2024 edition. The event brings together four shows dedicated to driving packaging innovation in specific related markets: ADF for the aerosol and dispensing market; PCD for the perfume, cosmetics and personal care market; PLD for the premium and luxury drinks sector; and Packaging Première for luxury products like fashion, accessories, confectionery, jewellery, fine food and more. We caught up with Josh Brooks, who is event director of Paris Packaging Week at the organizer Easyfairs, to find out more.

First of all, congratulations on a fantastic 2023 show! We heard great things. I’m sure it’ll be hard to narrow it down, but what was your favourite moment from this year’s Paris Packaging Week?

innovation competitions – it’s great to shine a spotlight on the next generation and I loved the sessions where they spoke. And our 2023 edition of Paris Packaging Week was a record-breaking event for us as we won two event industry awards for the edition, and of course I loved receiving those awards.

Thanks and you’re right, it’s very hard to pick. My favourite moment of any event is when the doors open on the first morning and the queues of visitors rush into the hall – after months of work, it’s great to see the enthusiasm of the packaging community to be at the event and to meet the suppliers, hear the speakers and use the event to create their next pack. I have a real soft spot for our student

For the 2024 edition of the show, Easyfairs is particularly focussed on promoting the next generation of packaging industry thought leaders and decisionmakers. Could you tell us a bit more about your Future Leaders initiative?

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That’s right – it’s a fundamental part of our mission to help the packaging communities in beauty, luxury, drinks and aerosols to have a vision of their future. That means discovering new technologies, new materials, new innovations and so on. But this year we wanted to expand that to shine a light on the next generation of industry influencers and leaders – so Future Leaders was born.

We selected 11 ‘Future Leaders’ for the 2024 edition from more than 40 nominations. All are under 30 and they are a mix of entrepreneurs and rising stars in packaging companies and design agencies. The 11 selected are from across the globe – from Europe to South Africa and the US – and all demonstrate an inspiring mix of creativity and courage, as well as real innovative and sustainable thinking. I’m very excited to meet them at the show and they will be talking as part of the content programme, sharing their vision of the future of packaging development.

On a similar note, the Innovation Awards aim to highlight groundbreaking packaging products. What were some of your key takeaways from this part of the 2023 show, and could you tell us a bit more about some of the winning innovations that most impressed you?

The ADF, PCD and PLD Innovation Awards highlight the very best packaging innovations of the past year in, respectively, aerosols and dispensing, perfume and cosmetics and premium drinks. The awards are judged by panels of global experts in packaging innovation, including innovation directors at many household-name brands. Winners in the 2023 edition demonstrated many of the key sustainability trends – increased use of PCR, monomaterial packs for better recyclability and refills – as well as incredible design and user experience.

Two of the winners I loved were the very beautiful and colourful Dries Van Noten range of refillable perfume bottles made for Puig; and a fabulously eye-catching paper secondary pack for an Edmond de Rothschild magnum of wine. To me, both encapsulated the mix of technical innovation, sustainable development and great user experience that defines the best packaging.

I also gather that you have changed the way in which your conference theatres are organized.

What was the thinking behind this?

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Yes, for this year we are creating four new conferences. We will run the Global Aerosol & Dispensing Summit in ADF, then three themed theatres: the Circular Economy Stage, focusing on sustainability issues; the Pentawards Design Stage, run by the world’s biggest packaging design competition, the Pentawards, and focusing on design and branding; and the Future Innovation Forum, focused on what’s next in terms of packaging innovation strategies and possibilities.

We have some amazing speakers lined up too, from the likes of Diageo, Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, Le Rouge Francais, Rémy Cointreau and many more. We made the change to focus on themes that touch all the markets we serve and to create forums where our visitors can better learn from what is happening across markets; instead of the theatres focusing purely on the beauty, drinks or luxury markets, as they did previously.

There’s only a couple of months to go until the start of the 2024 edition of Paris Packaging Week, and I imagine that the planning/execution phase is in full swing. Simply put: what can visitors expect from this edition of the show?

Well, 2024 will be our biggest edition yet, with more than 650 exhibitors across the four exhibitions at Paris Packaging Week – ADF for the aerosol and dispensing market, PCD for the beauty market, PLD for premium drinks and Packaging Première for the luxury market. It’s always busy but we are making it easier than ever for our visitors to find the products and knowledge they need, and the people they want to meet – especially with a new app that will offer GPS-based navigation of the show, among many other interactive features. Visitors can expect great networking opportunities across our many bars and lounges. So it will be a busy, dynamic and most of all fun environment for visitors to source, learn and meet. We can’t wait.

‘GAINING GROUND’: THE OUTLOOK FOR WATER-BASED INKS

Is water-based the future of packaging inks, or is it a little more complex than that? Victoria Hattersley speaks to Mark Lingard of Sirane and Paul Pain of Siegwerk to explore this subject in more detail.

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he past few years have seen a growing interest in aqueous (waterbased) inks within the packaging print and inks market. While there are of course other types of inks – among them, oil-based, radiation curing, liquid and dry toner (electrophotography) – aqueous and solventbased are the most widely-used.

Historically, the market for flexible packaging inks has been dominated by solvent-based varieties, owing to factors such as their shorter drying times, superior adhesion and wettability. However, advances in waterbased inks have considerably improved their adhesion and wettability, allowing them to be used more frequently for flexible packaging applications and improving recyclability.

To give an idea of the current balance in the market: The 2023 Smithers Pira report, Future of Water Based v Solvent Based Inks to 2027, suggests that the total consumption of water-based inks will be 493,000 tonnes in 2022, with a value of $5.10 billion. It says growth in demand will see this market expand at a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1% to reach 576,000 tonnes in 2027. On the other hand, solvent-based ink use will rise from 1.02 million tonnes in 2022, worth $8.09 billion, to 1.13 million tonnes in 2027. This indicates a slower CAGR of 2.1%, by volume. From this, we might infer that water-based inks are steadily gaining ground. Why is this?

“There has certainly been increased interest in water-based inks in recent years,” says Mark Lingard, Marketing Manager of Sirane. “Water-based inks Packaging Europe

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are considered more environmentally friendly than solvent-based inks. This is because they do not emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the printing process, which can be harmful to the environment and contribute to air pollution. There are also the health factors: Solvent-based inks can be harmful to inhale, as they release VOCs into the air.

“Both solvent- and water-based inks have their own comparative environmental advantages and disadvantages, however water-based inks are often publicly perceived more positively.”

“Many people are starting to look at the ‘hidden’ factors, which have previously been ignored, such as what type of inks are used, what types of adhesives are used, and even how energy efficient the actual presses are. For the consumer, the type of materials used, and whether they can or cannot be recycled, are what they see, but retailers and producers are becoming more interested in the other elements that make up the package.”

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The rise of e-commerce – and the resultant need for on-demand printing solutions – is also playing a part in the growing move towards waterbased inks, as they are suited for short-run customization.

‘Increasing possibilities’ Another factor behind their increased popularity is that, while they have long been used for paper and board, the range of applications for waterbased inks has also increased. Significantly, there is growing interest in the area of flexible plastics. Siegwerk, for example, has a range of water-based inks available for printing on plastic flexible materials either in surface or laminated structures as well as water-based inkjet inks for print on absorbent materials.

“Water-based inks have remained quite stable in the applications where they are used in recent years,” says Paul Pain, Head of Water-based Technology at Siegwerk. “In the last six to 12 months we have experienced interest outside of traditional sectors. In my opinion there are several drivers: Inflationary pressures on fossil-derived products such as solvents making them more expensive; regulatory pressures on VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions; public perception; and increasing replacement of plastic with paper in different market sectors, i.e. flexible packaging.”

Sirane is another example of a company that has been utilizing the improved possibilities for water-based inks across a wider range of substrates: “A few years ago, Sirane decided to aim to exclusively use waterbased inks for our flexographic print process. We now use these inks for all our substrates, including our coated papers (Earthfilm), traditional plastics and laminates and ovenable structures.”

Solvent- vs. water-based?

For those who support this growth in uptake of water-based inks, their benefits are clear. But it’s important to stop and note here that as with many of the areas we report on (chemical vs. mechanical recycling; paper vs. plastics; recycling vs. reuse, to name just three), the long-term outlook is rarely a question of either/or. We have mentioned, for example, that water-based inks avoid emissions of VOCs but on the other side of the coin, their slower drying time means a great overall energy consumption.

“Both solvent- and water-based inks have their own comparative environmental advantages and disadvantages, however water-based inks are often publicly perceived more positively,” says Paul Pain. “Depending on the particular environmental factor under consideration both inks can show advantages, e.g. correctly formulated water-based ink can show

VOC emissions approaching zero; while solvent-based inks often contain higher bio-renewable material contents. In this respect, I expect that both technologies will continue for the foreseeable future.”

We must therefore always consider all aspects of the product’s life cycle in each use case. It is also necessary to bear in mind the capabilities of the printing company and the infrastructure they are actually working with, rather than envisaging an ‘ideal’ scenario which, as we know, rarely exists in the real world. Machinability, for example, can still be a challenge with water-based inks, as Paul explains: “Water-based inks are especially suited for printing on absorbent materials such as paper either by flexographic or gravure methods where they can be printed up to 800m/min (in flexo),” continues Paul Pain. “Printing on non-absorbent materials such as plastics, however, often requires the drying capacity of the machine to be increased, especially if printing at higher speeds, although speeds of 400m/min in flexo or even higher can be achieved. Improvements in raw materials are offering opportunities to improve the resistance of water-based inks, but a balance will always need to be found between print performance and resistance and some limitations will remain.”

He also offers some practical points for manufacturers to bear in mind: “If considering a switch from solvent-based inks it is important to ensure Packaging Europe 29

“It’s almost impossible to run both ink types on a press. You basically have to make the decision to run the press using one type or the other, so you have to commit to water-based inks.” that the machine is suitable. Drier capacities and corrosion resistances (of the machine) should be controlled; aniloxes should also be checked to ensure they are suitable for use with water-based inks. Waste water disposal must also be considered.”

The use of water-based and solvent-based inks on the same design (print run) is challenging too, adds Mark Lingard.

“It’s almost impossible to run both ink types on a press. You basically have to make the decision to run the press using one type or the other, so you have to commit to water-based inks. Printing on plastics in particular can be more challenging using water-based inks, so production teams do need to learn how to do it.”

ronment to reduce the amount of these harmful substances that can migrate into the product. Other unwanted substances found in packaging adhesives are: Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Ether (BADGE), Bisphenol F Diglycidyl Ether (BFDGE), or Novolac Glycidyl Ether (NOGE).

“Our water-based adhesives do not contain these harmful ingredients that can migrate into the product. There are also energy savings, due to the reduced curing time.”

An example Mark gives for where WB inks and adhesives can be combined to maximum effect is Sirane’s recently released ovenable films and pouches which are printed and laminated with water-based inks and adhesives – a ‘world first’ for the industry, he tells us.

Other considerations

Progress needs coordination

In the long term, then, moving towards water-based inks will require real change at a company level; not only by investing in machinery that is more compatible with water-based inks but also training production teams – something that may not always be possible in the immediate future.

But what else should brand owners or producers consider to facilitate a greater uptake of water-based inks while of course ensuring their optimal environmental performance?

According to Mark Lingard, one important auxiliary consideration that is often overlooked is the question of adhesives, which can also be water-based.

“Typical adhesives used in the flexible packaging industry contain aromatic isocyanates which release aromatic amines; these include compounds classified as potential human carcinogens and they are known to cause cancer in animals. To conform to the legislation, laminates have to cure in a warm envi-

As a final note, we have had input from two companies in this field on the state of today’s water-based inks market and the kinds of areas individual members of the value chain should be focused on. But making real progress in any area of packaging innovation always – without exception – requires dedicated coordination efforts across the entire value chain. This is as true for water-based inks for flexible packaging as anything else.

One example we have recently reported on its BASF’s ‘Prethink Ink’ network – a value chain collaboration that seeks to encourage the use of water-based inks. It is, says BASF, ‘a result of the realization that solvent-based ink technology is the standard for the flexible packaging market, even though more environmentally friendly water-based technology now offers comparable performance at comparable costs’. We hope we will hearing of other collaborations – whether high-level or more granular in scale – in the months and years to come.

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ACTIVE AND INTELLIGENT PACKAGING SPOTLIGHT

In collaboration with our partners AIPIA, we bring you the latest from the world of intelligent packaging.

AVERY DENNISON LAUNCHES DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORT AS A SERVICE

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very Dennison has launched a new product with the aim of helping brands to fully prepare for forthcoming EU legislation on Digital Product Passports (DPPs).

Burton Snowboards is the first customer to use Avery Dennison’s Digital Product Passport as a Service (DPPaaS) – an on-demand end-to-end service that is a solution comprising consultancy, hardware, software, digital ID technology, physical labels, and support services.

This new product is a part of Avery Dennison’s larger digital solutions portfolio, which aims to

connect the physical and digital worlds through its intelligent labeling and atma.io connected product cloud platform.

The phased introduction of DPP will be driven by the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) in key sectors beginning in 2027 including apparel and textiles, batteries, and electronics.

As an associate member of the CIRPASS consortium, which is advising the EU on the implementation of the scheme, Avery Dennison has first-hand knowledge of what will be needed in the months ahead and says that it is “uniquely positioned” to advise brands on the digital solutions required.

Additionally, via atma.io, the company currently tracks 30 billion items across the supply chain for global brands, capturing information that it believes will be vital for DPP including

carbon footprint data, origins of materials, and re-use instructions.

Burton Snowboards already uses digital solutions from Avery Dennison across its business, including RFID to manage products and improve the customer experience. Its Chief Product Officer, Chris Cunningham, says: “Piloting DPPaaS will provide us with new ways to showcase our brand values and engage with our customers. For instance, we will help customers learn about our product’s verifiable sustainability stories and share transparency data with them.”

Cunningham continues: “In future seasons, our product collection will feature interactive QR codes that will introduce Digital Care Labels powered by atma.io to provide customers with new insights on how to get the best from their products and also empower them to give products a second life.”

SMART PACKAGING-BASED TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AID PAPER AND PLASTIC RECYCLING

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olpac, a UK food packaging manufacturer and designer, is providing easily accessible recycling and composting guidelines for its paperboard food packaging via on-pack QR codes and product webpages, with the aim of supporting end users in making informed product choices and responsibly disposing of waste.

Recycling and composting guidelines are available in accordance with published legislation for the UK, France, and Italy, it says.

The company says its easily accessible sustainability credentials for paperboard food packaging support end users in making informed product choices and responsible disposal after use. It also informs customers of recycling and composting information, and material sources, so they can align packaging choices with sustainability goals, according to the organization.

This initiative supports WRAP’s Recycle Week 2023, which has the theme of ‘missed capture’, working to improve recycling rates. The information is available for national recycling schemes in specified countries currently. Guidance is displayed in local languages to inform end users of how to best dispose of packaging.

The QR codes are linked to dynamic web pages on Colpac’s new website. The webpages can host more detailed information than can be printed on packs and can be easily updated and added to with legislation from additional countries as it is released. The credentials can also be accessed via each product page on the company’s website.

It sells food packaging in over 60 countries, all of which are at different stages of legislating national recycling and composting directives.

These differ for each nation, and even in some cases regionally, meaning there is no single recycling or composting instruction for each piece of packaging. This solution provides a central location for accessing sustainability information for each Colpac product.

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OLED LABEL INK SET IS A ‘PARADIGM SHIFT’ FOR ILLUMINATED LABELS

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the dynamic landscape of retail stores, bars, clubs, and seasonal markets, the need for effective product visibility is evident.

Illumination technologies are one highly effective means for brand distinction and impactful visual communication says AIPIA member Saralon GmbH, a leading developer of functional inks for printed electronics (Saral Inks©) as well as a provider of ready-to-use printed electronic applications.

Following an evaluation of the current market readiness the company has created a new set of Saral Inks, the SaralOLED Label Ink set. With this novel ink set and know-how transfer, the company says it is able to empower the printing and packaging industries to produce self-powered flexible labels with embedded OLED in-house.

Hybrid and printed electronics use various light technologies and easily integrate into different package forms and in-store marketing tools. Within this context, there is a huge demand for ultra-thin flexible labels with preferred OLED lighting technology. Brand managers, pack-

age designers and developers face the challenge of seamlessly integrating OLED illumination into the visual language of products, particularly for flexible labels used on bottles.

Designed to facilitate the creation of flexible OLED-embedded labels, SaralOLED Label Ink set aligns with market needs, forging a path towards efficient and interactive visual communication, it claims.

The development of this novel ink set was only possible through a handful of key technology enablers. With a focus on production scalability, design flexibility and technological affordability, it developed SaralBattery Inks for easy customization and screen-printing of batteries on lightweight recyclable substrates as an integrated part of the electronic circuit.

Using them as a part of the Label Ink set means that there is no need to attach external batteries to the label. The power source will be printed as an integrated part of the production process, so labels will keep selfpowered functionality for several years, it says.

TETRA PAK ROLLS OUT WINTER CAMPAIGN FOR JUICE BRAND FEATURING CONNECTED PACKAGING

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ajor food processing and packaging company (and AIPIA member) Tetra Pak has refreshed its interactive smart packaging experience for a leading European fruit juice producer with a brand-new winter drinks theme to inspire its customers.

Back by popular demand, it says, the smart packaging focuses on orange, pineapple, and apple flavours in the one-litre range. It utilizes a web app-based connected experience accessed

via QR codes to give customers access to an interactive personality test. The feature has been developed in partnership with another AIPIA member creative technology studio Appetite Creative.

The concept is aimed at revealing the best winter-themed juice drink to fit any given personality type and inspire users to mix juices to create new and bespoke beverages or festive cocktails.

The connected experience generates alcoholic and non-alcoholic recipes tailored to the results of the personality quiz, including product preferences and the time of day it is opened.

To perfect their new drink sensation, users can enter a raffle to win one of ten NutriBullet blenders by completing the in-built quiz or sharing content on social media. Appetite Creative designed both the previous summer and new

winter versions of the connected experience with seasonal-specific content that can be swapped out in real time.

“We’re pleased with the results of the summer drinks campaign – it was a popular revisited connected experience that enhanced the consumer experience and helped build brand loyalty.

“Adapting the existing experience and updating it with winter drink inspiration demonstrates the versatility of connected packaging. It’s great to see our packaging partners embrace this fantastic technology and reap its many benefits,” said Farahnaz Mohsenin, regional marketing manager at Tetra Pak. The refreshed smart packaging connected experience and personality quiz will be available in Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, in the relevant local market languages.

TOPPAN DEVELOPS NFC TAG THAT DETECTS LIQUID VOLUME INSIDE BOTTLES

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oppan, an AIPIA member that is a global provider of communication, security, packaging, décor materials, and electronics solutions, first launched a secure sensing NFC tag with an opening detection function in January 2017.

The tag has been adopted for high-end wines and a number of other products. Now the company has added to its NFC tag lineup by developing a tag equipped with a capacitive sensing function that enables contactless detection of the volume of liquid remaining in a container. Global sales were be launched in August this year, targeting, among others, the cosmetics, medical and pharmaceutical, as well as the liquor industries.

The new NFC label, combining an NFC IC/chip, antenna and capacitive structure for liquid fill level detection, has been made possible by Toppan’s proprietary tag design technologies. A pair of capacitive electrodes formed inside 32 Packaging Europe

the label make it possible for users to read the NFC tag attached to a bottle with a smartphone and detect the presence and remaining volume of liquid based on the level of capacitance inside the container. Toppan’s uses NXP® Semiconductors’ NTAG® 22x DNA StatusDetect, for the new tag, a revolutionary IC chip with capacitance measurement capability.

With this NFC tag, users can easily check the volume of liquid even when the contents cannot be seen. Companies adopting it will also be able to provide consumers with various customer engagement services, such as content linked to the volume of liquid left in bottles and guidance on additional purchases.

Previously, liquid detection using the mechanism of capacitance has generally been performed using dedicated devices for industrial applications, says the company. By equipping an NFC tag with a liquid detection function, however, Toppan has made detection with an NFC-enabled smartphone possible.