Beyond The Headlines: M&S swaps plastic for paper, Multivac Group and Südpack at IFFA 2025

This week in industry news, M&S announced plans to remove 5.5 million units of plastic by switching to paper packaging for clothing and home products. Meanwhile, Multivac Group and Südpack announced that they will showcase meat processing technology at the upcoming IFFA 2025 in Germany, and International Paper reported its results for the first quarter of 2025.

In brief: Packaging innovations

M&S announced plans to remove 5.5 million units of plastic from its Clothing & Home business over the next 12 months. The company aims to achieve this by implementing FSC-approved paper packaging with paper hooks for its men’s essentials range packaging, which can be recycled at home. The retailer said that one in five men in the UK purchase their underwear and nightwear and it sells 20 million pairs of men’s socks. 

The Kind Snacks nourishing bars brand introduced its first curbside recyclable paper wrapper pilot in the US. The brand aims to ensure all packaging is designed for recyclability by 2030. The Kind wrapper is made from an “easy to recycle” material from pulpable paper and a “How2Recycle pre-qualified” paper type. The Kind paper wrapper will be available exclusively at select stores for Kind’s best-selling Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt single bars.

The Kind Snacks introduced its first curbside recyclable paper wrapper in the US (Image credit: The Kind Snacks).Junction 4 Pallets created a packaging traceability solution with Tracworx, an Irish technology firm. The solution has been designed to manage Returnable Transport Items and customers to optimize their operations, drive turnaround times, and manage repairs and maintenance while protecting J4 customers from the theft of high-value items in transit. The solution allows customers to measure their Reusable Plastic Containers inventory anytime and anywhere in the world.

In brief: Partnerships

Multivac Group and Südpack announced that they will showcase three concepts for the meat processing industry at the upcoming IFFA 2025 trade show in Germany. The companies said their packaging solutions are material-efficient, including derecyclable monostructures that can be processed on thermoforming packaging machines, tray sealers, and flow packers. The partners added that their protein packaging solutions deliver the same high performance and reliability as conventional composite materials. 

Multivac Group and Südpack will show concepts for the meat processing industry at IFFA (Image credit: Multivac and Südpack).Nordic Paper approved an investment of up to SEK 450 million (US$46.4 million) in Sweden’s Bäckhammar pulp and paper mill. Bäckhammar mill sources most of its water through a pipe from the country’s lake Vänern. At Bäckhammar, Nordic Paper manufactures unbleached kraft papers of different qualities primarily for packaging end-uses. The investments from Nordic Paper include, among other things, an installation of a 12 km long second pipe, for the purified effluent water from the plant back to lake Vänern. Following investments, the Bäckhammar mill will disconnect from the Visman stream to support the return to the natural condition of the stream.

Austrian piano manufacturer Bösendorfer’s concert grand piano luxury catalog was printed on Mondi’s “sustainable premium” Pergraphica design paper. Mondi states that its paper’s “subtly understated shading and sumptuous surface perfectly complement the elegance of Bösendorfer instruments.” Mondi worked with the Vienna-based print production agency Lindenau Productions to implement and monitor print production, graphic design, packaging design, final artwork, image processing, and certified proofs.

In brief: Performance reports and awards

International Paper (IP) reported its results for the first quarter of 2025, including net earnings of US$105 million, or US$0.24 per diluted share, and adjusted operating earnings (non-GAAP) of US$101 million, or US$0.23 per diluted share. First-quarter net sales were US$5.9 billion in 2025 and US$4.6 billion in 2024. IP’s CEO Andy Silvernail said that this year’s first quarter results reflect higher sales and earnings, primarily driven by the DS Smith acquisition, sales price increases, and cost out.

Eco-Products' Veda line of reusable containers (Image credit: Novolex).Trivium Packaging released its 2024 Sustainability Report and highlighted its environmental performance, circular innovation, and community impact. Trivium’s CEO Michael Mapes said that in 2024, the company continued to reduce its carbon footprint, achieving a 2% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions. This kept the company on track to meet its SBTi-validated goal of a 42% reduction by 2030 (from a 2020 baseline). 

The Novolex brand Eco-Products won the Bronze Stevie Award in the Reuse and Recycle category of The 23rd Annual American Business Awards for its Veda line of reusable containers. Eco-Products developed Veda alongside the reuse system company Ozzi. The containers are designed to be durable, allowing repeated use for the foodservice industry. Made from PP, the containers are said to be tested to withstand a minimum of 1,000 commercial washes and are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation to meet food protection and safety standards.