business news
19 Nov 2018 --- SECOS will seize operations at its wholly-owned subsidiary Stellar Films Australia. Plastic film manufacturing production will be transferred to SECOS’ Malaysian operations in a move which is expected to improve net profit after tax by more than US$0.9 million per annum, after the transition period has passed.
12 Nov 2018 --- Global metal and glass packaging specialists Ardagh has announced a 9 percent drop in profits while recording a 3 percent increase in revenue in its third quarter financial results. Overall revenue was recorded at US$2.39 billion, however profit prior to tax shows a 9 percent decrease (US$400 million). Lower earnings in glass packaging in the US and metal packaging in Europe, in addition to cost inflation, are reasons for the profit decrease.
09 Nov 2018 --- On 29 October 2018, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced that more than 290 organizations comprising 20 percent of all plastic packaging produced globally had signed a Global Commitment to eradicate plastic waste at source and work collaboratively towards the development of a circular plastics economy. PackagingInsights speaks to Sander Defruyt, Lead of the New Plastics Economy project, about this landmark agreement, increased company transparency, effective consumer recycling, the role of bioplastics and more.
05 Nov 2018 --- Food and beverage companies could be taxed on plastic packaging that contains less than 30 percent recycled content from April 2022, the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the 2018 Budget speech last week. Kenton Robbins, the Managing Director of PFF, the UK’s largest independent producer of thermoformed plastic for food packaging, notes that applying a degree of pressure to deal with plastic waste is the right thing to do, but that there are hurdles facing the UK recycling industry that will make 30 percent recycled plastic levels difficult for some companies to achieve.
05 Nov 2018 --- Amazon’s new Frustration-Free Packaging (FFP) incentive program has been extended beyond the US and Canada to now include France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The e-commerce giant is incentivizing vendors from these countries to send specific products to Amazon fulfillment centers in packaging that require no additional packaging or further preparation by offering one-time early adopter credit for every item that adheres to the new requirements before 1 October, 2019.
02 Nov 2018 --- Global leader in optimized resource management, Veolia, has cited the “growing success of the circular economy and the real benefits the approach is delivering to the UK Economy” in the publication of its latest Sustainability Report. According to Veolia, the results show that Veolia’s £1.5 billion (US$1.96 billion) investment in UK recycling and energy infrastructure is enabling customers to save money, secure supply chains, and achieve major CO2 reductions, and shows how the company is pioneering the new technologies that lower resource use.
31 Oct 2018 --- Smurfit Kappa, one of the world's largest manufacturers of paper-based packaging products, has acquired Fabrika Hartije Beograd (FHB) paper mill and Avala Ada Beograd (Avala Ada) corrugated plant in Serbia for a consideration of US$151 million (€133 million) from Kappa Star Group.
31 Oct 2018 --- Pulp and paper supplier Stora Enso has increased its ownership stake in Sweden-based Cellutech from 22 percent to 100 percent in a move reflecting its goal of replacing fossil-based materials with renewable ones originating from wood. Cellutech specializes in the development of new materials and applications based on cellulose, micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) and other wood-based components.
30 Oct 2018 --- Food and beverage companies will be taxed on plastic packaging that contains less than 30 percent recycled content, the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond announced yesterday in the 2018 Budget speech. The tax aims to “transform the economics of sustainable packaging” and posit the UK as “as a world leader” in tackling the scourge of plastic littering across the world and its oceans.
29 Oct 2018 --- In a further plastic packaging pledge, PepsiCo will aim to have its packaging consist of 25 percent recycled plastic content by 2025 as part of its sustainable plastics vision. The goal includes an aim specific to PET beverage bottles – 33 percent recycled PET content by 2025. PepsiCo is also a signature of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, announced today, to eradicate plastic waste at source and establish a circular economy for the material, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The company also forged a partnership with Loop Industries, in a move that will boost its access to good quality, recycled PET.
25 Oct 2018 --- Unilever and plastic recycling specialists, Veolia, have signed a three-year collaboration agreement focused on driving emerging technologies in waste collection and recycling infrastructure. The partnership aims to establish a circular economy on plastics across a number of international regions, starting in India and Indonesia. In reaching this agreement, Unilever and Veolia acknowledge that the issue of plastic waste is a shared responsibility that requires bold action across the value chain to develop and scale up collection and reprocessing infrastructure, which is critical in the transition towards a circular economy.
22 Oct 2018 --- British packaging group DS Smith is reportedly expected to launch the sale of its plastic packaging division in November, in a deal that could be worth US$800 million, Reuters has reported from “three sources familiar with the matter.”
22 Oct 2018 --- The UK plastic recycling industry is likely to face an investigation after complaints surfaced that firms and organized crime rings are allegedly abusing the export system by illegal profiting and the pollution of rivers and oceans. According to The Environmental Agency’s (EA) records, six UK plastic waste exporters have had licenses suspended or revoked in the previous three months, while one firm had 57 plastic waste shipments stopped at UK ports in three years because of fears over waste contamination. First reported by the Guardian, the EA is believed to have set up a team of investigators to explore the alleged industry-wide scandal.
22 Oct 2018 --- A holistic approach to sustainability that will lead to a packaging portfolio of 100 percent renewable materials is driving the vision of Tetra Pak. Mario Abreu, Tetra Pak’s Vice President for Sustainability and Chairman of the Sustainability Forum tells PackagingInsights about how Tetra Pak is attempting to increase the viability of the renewable sources market in an effort to only use “renewable and available materials that will always be replenished.”
18 Oct 2018 --- Sidel has completed the acquisition of PET Engineering Srl thereby expanding the company’s portfolio of packaging solutions. “With packaging increasingly playing a key role in any marketing mix, we are confident that Sidel and PET Engineering’s complementary strengths in packaging design, qualification and blowing process will bring the Sidel Group more business opportunities while offering customers a diversified choice of partners to materialize their creative requirements,” comments Pavel Shevchuk, Executive Vice President at Sidel.
18 Oct 2018 --- European Bioplastics (EUBP) has expressed its support for The European Commission’s recently delivered review of the 2012 European Bioeconomy Strategy. The strategy is a step forward towards ensuring that fossil resources are replaced by sustainable natural alternatives for the production of bio-based products such as bio-based plastics and energy, says EUBP. “Only by driving the transition in relevant markets will it be possible to reach Europe’s climate change mitigation goals,” says Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director at EUBP. “Implementation of the key actions of the updated Bioeconomy Strategy is paramount to making this happen.”
17 Oct 2018 --- A US$1.8 million competition to support creative alternative solutions to plastics was launched at the inaugural annual meeting for members of The UK Plastics Pact, held in London. The competition forms part of the US$26 million Plastic Research and Innovation fund (PRIF) aimed at engaging Britain’s best scientists and innovators to help move the country towards more circular economic and sustainable approaches to plastics. The meeting also highlighted the achievements made by members of the pact six months in, towards its four targets (specified below).
15 Oct 2018 --- Ball Corporation intends to cease production at the company’s beverage packaging plant San Martino, Italy, facility at the end of 2018, following due negotiation with the trade union. Customers currently supported by the San Martino beverage container plant will be supplied by other Ball facilities in Europe.
12 Oct 2018 --- PepsiCo and Loop Industries, a leading technology innovator in sustainable plastic, have entered into a multi-year supply agreement that will enable PepsiCo to purchase production capacity from Loop's joint venture facility in the US and incorporate Loop PET plastic, which is 100 percent recycled material, into its product packaging by early 2020.
10 Oct 2018 --- Multinational confectionery giant Mondelēz International has committed to making all of its packaging recyclable by 2025. As part of the sustainability pledge, all paper-based packaging will be sustainably sourced by 2020 and 65 million kg of packaging material worldwide will be eliminated by 2020. Meanwhile, Mondelēz has pledged to “provide recycling information in markets around the world by 2025.”