business news
09 Jan 2019 --- The rigid plastic packaging market will reach US$166.63 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.2 percent between 2017 and 2022, according to new Frost & Sullivan forecasts. The main obstacles to further growth, as identified by the market researcher, include the option of flexible packaging alternatives, particularly stand-up pouches, increasingly challenging environmental regulations and the “fragmented” nature of the market.
04 Jan 2019 --- As 2019 kicks off, UK supermarket chain Iceland revealed encouraging results from its reverse vending machine scheme for plastic bottles. Iceland has been rewarding eco-conscious shoppers with 10p vouchers for every deposited bottle since June. Also in recycling, Indorama Ventures is raising its sustainability ambitions with the acquisition of a PET recycling facility in Alabama, US. In this weeks’ big research news, light protection technologists Noluma warned that insufficient packaging can result in the rapid degradation of dairy nutrients by up to 51 percent.
02 Jan 2019 --- The UK government has launched a consultation to increase the 5p plastic bag charge to 10p and extend the scheme to all retailers. The move comes as part of Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s strategy to reduce single-use plastic waste and transform throwaway culture.
21 Dec 2018 --- This week in packaging news, the UK government unveiled plans for a nationwide deposit-return scheme, which is set to launch in 2023. Sustainability action was widespread and exemplified by Stora Enso’s new partnership with FSC, which will aim to increase levels of certified wood supply across Europe, and Ritrama SpA’s launch of a new 50 percent dried grass label for wine, spirits and beer. Meanwhile, Coveris will open its new Pack Positive Centre in Leeds, UK, in the New Year, with the aim of driving sustainable plastic and paper packaging advancements.
20 Dec 2018 --- Sustainable plastic innovator Loop Industries has signed a Global Alliance Agreement with thyssenkrupp’s Industrial Solutions division, Uhde Inventa-Fischer. The Alliance intends to combine Loop’s depolymerization technology with thyssenkrupp’s PET Melt-To-Resin technology. The move is expected to increase the availability, resource-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of 100 percent sustainable PET on a global scale.
20 Dec 2018 --- Following months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached a provisional agreement on ambitious new single-use plastic measures proposed in May, and identified the 10 types of single-use plastics that will be banned under the EU’s Plastics Strategy.
17 Dec 2018 --- The Coca-Cola Company is extending a loan to Ioniqa Technologies, based in the Netherlands, to facilitate the development of Ioniqa’s proprietary technology which can reportedly turn colored and hard-to-recycle PET plastics into transparent, virgin-grade material. The agreement is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of high-grade recycled content PET for use in Coca-Cola bottles.
07 Dec 2018 --- British packaging group DS Smith is looking for a buyer for its plastics division, a move which was initially announced in October. Goldman Sachs is organizing the potential deal, which has been predicted to be worth US$800 million, Reuters reports. The company plans to focus on its fiber-based model – cardboard packaging – for the FMCG sector, a DS Smith spokesperson tells PackagingInsights.
06 Dec 2018 --- Total Corbion – a collaborative venture between Total and Corbion – has launched a new 75,000 tons per year PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastics manufacturing plant based in Rayong, Thailand. The facility produces Luminy PLA resins, a biobased and biodegradable bioplastic that could play in to a circular economy. PLA products can be chemically or mechanically recycled or composted and used as fertilizer.
05 Dec 2018 --- DS Smith has joined the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS) – a customer experience optimization program designed to ensure e-commerce packaging is more sustainable and durable. The supplier will offer testing services at its purpose-built and independent laboratory in Hinckley, UK, allowing e-retailers to guarantee that their packaging adheres to APASS requirements before next year’s deadline.
03 Dec 2018 --- Berlin Packaging L.L.C., a hybrid packaging supplier of plastic, glass and metal, has secured an investment of US$500 million from Oak Hill Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), to facilitate the next stage of its growth. The Berlin Packaging management team, which includes Chairman and CEO Andrew Berlin, will also make a significant investment. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.
26 Nov 2018 --- Valpak – the UK’s largest packaging compliance scheme – claims that innovation and collaboration will be essential if companies are to meet the challenging targets of the UK’s voluntary Plastics Pact agreement. The target to recycle or compost 70 percent of plastic waste by 2025 has been described as especially challenging given that the UK currently recycles an estimated 47 percent. In its role of data partner to the pact, Valpak aims to help signatories use their packaging data to identify actions to meet this and other specified targets.
23 Nov 2018 --- Approximately US$831 million worth of damaged goods will be delivered this Black Friday due to inadequate packaging, according to estimations made by DS Smith. That equates to almost 1 in every 10 products purchased. New research conducted by the supplier reveals that 75 percent of online shoppers have received a damaged product in the last 12 months, with a third of affected products damaged to the extent that they cannot be used. PackagingInsights speaks to Greg Dawson, Director of Corporate Affairs at DS Smith, about the issue and how the supplier’s e-commerce testing hub – DISCS – is seeking to improve pack durability.
21 Nov 2018 --- European aluminum foil is experiencing record level surges in demand, according to the European Aluminum Foil Association (EAFA). The third quarter of 2018 has improved on the same period in 2017, principally because of continued outstanding performance in overseas markets, with deliveries in Q3 reaching 237,700 tons, an increase of 6.4 percent on the same period of 2017. Domestic demand has remained solid throughout 2018 and continued to reflect (+0.5 percent) a steady recovery in consumption.
20 Nov 2018 --- WRAP UK has published a roadmap designed to guide businesses towards its 2025 plastic sustainability goals. The roadmap is targeted at businesses, including the 68 members of the UK Plastics Pact, which comprises 80 percent of plastic packaging sold through UK supermarkets, and half of all packaging on the market. The 2025 goals are to firstly eliminate “problematic or unnecessary” single-use packaging through redesign and innovation; secondly, to ensure 100 percent of plastics packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable; thirdly, to guarantee that 70 percent of plastics packaging can be effectively recycled or composted; finally, to achieve 30 percent of recycled content across all plastics packaging.
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.