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UK DRS: Industry welcomes scheme operator and urges timely implementation

UK DRS: Industry welcomes scheme operator and urges timely implementation

The UK Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, and Scottish ministers have selected the UK Deposit Management Organisation (UK DMO) as the DRS operator for England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. While large industry players are represented in the DMO, non-profit sector stakeholders are demanding engagement.  The UK DMO is governed by a board representing drinks and retail sector players from the three nations, including Shepley Spring, Radnor Hills, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Heineken UK, Lidl, Tesco, and Co-op.
Reusable packaging: Convenience and access drive consumer engagement
Reusable packaging: Convenience and access drive consumer engagement
The momentum behind reuse is real, but success demands a pragmatic approach. Packaging Insights speaks to private enterprises Closed Loop Partners, Clean Cult, Vetropack, and Returnity about the latest industry developments in reusable packaging and the challenges the market faces.
Tata Steel manager talks steel packaging emission reductions and warns of UK EPR price hikes
Tata Steel manager talks steel packaging emission reductions and warns of UK EPR price hikes
Tata Steel’s Electrifying Packaging Steel campaign decarbonizes steel production for the packaging sector using Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology. The company says that the EAF process can produce high-grade steel with the same quality, formability, and AA+ food safety standards as traditional methods. This makes the material suitable for packaging everyday products like baked beans, aerosols, and paint cans.  Packaging Insights speaks to Adrian Davies, marketing manager at Tata Steel UK, about the campaign and the effect of the UK’s packaging EPR on the steel industry. We also discuss the importance of decarbonizing the steel packaging industry, and the company’s upgraded facility in Wales, UK. 
Ready Meal revamps
Ready Meal revamps
Innova Market Insights data indicates that Ready Meal launches increased by 4% on average annually from 2020 to 2024. Flat Pouch (39%) was the leading packaging type for the Ready Meal launches in 2024, with Cup and Pot having the fastest increase for NPD. Recyclable (38%) is the leading environmental claim, with bio-based/plant-based packaging surging with 103% growth in the last five years.
IFFA 2025: Ishida Europe launches QX-800 traysealer for high-volume production
IFFA 2025: Ishida Europe launches QX-800 traysealer for high-volume production
Ishida Europe unveiled the latest trayselaer from its award-winning platform at IFFA 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. Tara O’Connor, product manager for traysealers in EMEA, outlines the QX-800’s core benefits, from energy and cost savings to sustainable packaging materials.
Packaging Innovations 2025 review: UK industry prepares for EPR
Packaging Innovations 2025 review: UK industry prepares for EPR
Packaging Innovations 2025 in Birmingham, UK, witnessed over 400 exhibitors showcase their latest solutions designed to meet the growing demand for packaging that addresses the UK’s incoming EPR regulation. The “fiberization” and plastic monomaterial shifts were prevalent on the show floor, while compostable and reusable systems also featured. We look back at some of the key companies and innovations from this year’s event.

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Beyond The Headlines: Crown’s ready-to-drink cocktail cans, Pulpac’s new shareholders
A box of beverage on grass.
This week in industry news, Crown Holdings joined forces with San Juan Beverage Company to provide packaging for ready-to-drink cocktails, and SIG InnoVentures and Optima agreed to join PulPac as new shareholders. Meanwhile, International Paper announced the groundbreaking of its packaging box plant in the US.
Starbucks to launch home compostable takeaway cups in Europe
two people having coffee
Starbucks has partnered with Mestä Board, Transcend Packaging, and Qwarzo to release a home compostable cup and lid that replaces the cup’s plastic lining with a mineral-based coating and the single-use plastic lid with a fiber alternative.The hot cup is certified home compostable and is said to be widely recyclable. The rollout will take place in ten European countries, including Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Hungary. It will come to the UK and Ireland later this year.
Amazon utilizes machine learning and automation for made-to-fit packs in Europe
Woman operating paper packaging machine.
Amazon is deploying advanced automated packing technology in Europe through custom-box making to improve regional operations and reduce waste. Made-to-fit packaging can reduce delivery emissions by minimizing materias, eliminating waste, and maximizing vehicle space. The e-commerce giant plans to install hundreds of automated packaging machines across its European fulfillment centers to limit packaging volumes for millions of customer deliveries. Amazon says that most of these machines will be installed in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain by the end of this year. “To reduce waste, we need to reduce packaging. We use machine learning and automation to create packaging that’s made to fit, reducing excess materials while making sure the product remains protected,” says Pat Lindner, vice president for Mechatronics and Sustainable Packaging at Amazon.  
Sidel and Saudi Arabia partner for local F&B packaging production
Sidel and Saudi delegation
Sidel is establishing packaging operations in Saudi Arabia, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a recent visit by the Kingdom’s delegation to Paris, France.  Eng. Saleh AlSolami, CEO at the Saudi National Industrial Development Center (NIDC), and Clive Smith, executive vice president of Customer Management AOA at Sidel, signed the MoU in the presence of His Excellency Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, and Pietro Cassani, CEO at Sidel.
BASF supplies Turkish paper mill company with home compostable coatings
A couple of brown and white cups on a wood slice.
BASF is equipping Istanbul-based extrusion coating specialist Metpack with a home compostable polymer suitable for paper and paperboard coated solutions. BASF’s ecovio 70 PS14H6 is featured in Metpack’s paper Ezycompost. The combination allows for safe consumer handling and leaves no microplastics in home composts. BASF’s biopolymer is food-contact approved. The coated paper is said to exhibit barrier properties against liquids, grease, as well as mineral oils, and shows temperature stability at boiling water. It can be used for a range of food-contact applications, including hot and cold cups, pots, and trays for deep-freezing or microwave use.
UK-US tariff agreement: Concerns over beef and ethanol escalate as key details remain unknown
Starmer and Trump.

Food Ingredients First

The UK has become the first nation to reach a tariff agreement with the US since President Donald Trump levied baseline 10% tariffs on all foreign countries last month. While full details have not yet been disclosed, import taxes on beef and ethanol products from the US have been removed. Stock prices lifted this morning following the announcements. The deal establishes a reciprocal tariff-free quota of 13,000 metric tons of beef exports between the two countries annually, allowing British farmers access to the US market for the first time. This is something the UK National Farmers Union (NFU) has campaigned for in Washington for several years.  
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Regulatory News

Coca-Cola to revise “100% recycled plastic bottle” claims following EU pressure

Coca-Cola is updating its “100% recycled plastic” bottle claim in the EU after pressure from consumer protection authorities, who argue the statement is “misleading” and overstates the bottles’ environmental sustainability. The current claim states that the bottles are made from “100% recycled plastic,” but following pressure from the EU consumer protection authorities, the beverage giant is now changing the statement to “I’m a bottle, excluding label and cap, made from 100% / 50% recycled plastic.”

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Regulatory News

UK regulatory agency bans coffee packaging ads over “misleading” compostability claims

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned online adverts by Lavazza UK and Dualit that describe their coffee packaging as “compostable,” citing that the ads imply home compostability when they can only be composted through an industrial process.  The ASA is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. It offers advice and guidance to help advertisers understand marketing rules.

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Special report

Top Packaging Trends 2025: AI-enhanced “Connected Platforms” to advance circular economy

Innova Market Insights has revealed its Top Packaging Trends 2025, with “Connected Platforms” taking center stage. Connected technologies are widely expected to transform the packaging value chain, from waste management to brand-consumer engagement, by converting packaging into digitalized platforms. The emergence of AI systems will enhance and expedite this industry shakeup.

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Circular economy: ReusablesMay2025

Innova Market Insights data shows that from 2020 to 2024, F&B launches using reusable packaging grew by 18%. Europe led the trend, accounting for 62% of global launches. Bottles were the most comm...

Product innovation

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Ready Meal revamps Apr 2025

Innova Market Insights data indicates that Ready Meal launches increased by 4% on average annually from 2020 to 2024. Flat Pouch (39%) was the leading packaging type for the Ready Meal launches in 2024, with Cup and Pot having the fastest increase for NPD. Recyclable (38%) is the leading environmental claim, with bio-based/plant-based packaging surging with 103% growth in the last five years.

Trend analysis

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Trends in soft drink packaging launchesApr 2025

Innova Market Insights data indicates a 3% average annual growth in Soft Drink packaging launches between 2020 to 2024. Over half (53%) were packaged in bottles, with plastic being the most commonly used material.

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IFFA 2025: Ishida Europe launches QX-800 traysealer for high-volume production

Ishida Europe unveiled the latest trayselaer from its award-winning platform at IFFA 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. Tara O’Connor, product manager for traysealers in EMEA, outlines the QX-800’s core benefits, from energy and cost savings to sustainable packaging materials.

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IFFA 2025 live: DuPont PlexiLine displays food presentation enhancement packaging
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IFFA 2025 live: Sealpac launches F-series thermoformer for plastic reduction and recyclability
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The implications of the UN Global Plastic Treaty for Africa
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