Weekly Roundup: FrieslandCampina rolls out Elopak’s most eco-friendly carton, Avery Dennison Smartrac extends NFC range

In packaging news this week, Elopak’s reduced-plastic Pure-Pak Imagine carton hit retailer shelves, with FrieslandCampina among the early adopters. Meanwhile, Avery Dennison Smartrac launched Circus Pro and Circus Pro Flex Near-Field Communication (NFC) inlays for secure end-to-end brand protection. Also, Tesco launched the UK’s most extensive network of recycling points for flexible plastic, and ProAmpac developed a recyclable pouch for bathing salts brand Westlab.

In brief: Eco-conscious packaging
Elopak’s most eco-friendly packaging to date – the Pure-Pak Imagine carton – hit retailer shelves. Pure-Pak Imagine launched in 2020 and is a modern version of the company’s original Pure-Pak carton designed with a new easy-open feature. The Pure-Pak Imagine carton is 100 percent forest-based and contains 46 percent less plastic than a carton with a screw cap. Multinational dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina is among those to have rolled out the Pure-Pak Imagine carton, saving 38 percent CO2 emissions than its previous packaging, with the remaining emissions compensated to ensure it remains climate neutral.

ProAmpac and Westlab, an international brand of luxury mineral bathing salts, introduced a recyclable pouch for premium bathing salts. These premium bath salts are the first commercial packaging application using the ProActive Recyclable R-1050 film, part of ProAmpac’s ProActive Sustainability product offerings. The pouch is considered recycle-ready and approved for PE film collection streams. The new stand-up pouch includes a recyclable zipper closure and HD flexographic printing to ensure clear messaging and branding. The solution contains almost 10 percent less packaging material compared with the non-recyclable version, without compromising product performance and safety.

UK in-cup drinks specialist Brupac adopted Greiner Packaging’s K3 cardboard-plastic packaging solution for its 12 oz in-cup drinks range. The K3 lightweight thermoformed tub uses up to 33 percent less PP than a conventional direct-printed, thermoformed cup of the same size. The cup is wrapped with a cardboard outer layer, produced with virgin or recycled board produced from sustainably-managed forests.Brupac adopted Greiner Packaging’s K3 cardboard-plastic packaging solution for its 12 oz in-cup drinks range.

In brief: Connective packaging technologies
Avery Dennison Smartrac extended its market-leading Circus Pro NFC products family by launching Circus Pro and Circus Pro Flex NFC inlays. The inlays feature the new high-performance Web Authentication emlling (EM4332) chip. These latest additions to the Circus Pro portfolio enable secured, end-to-end brand protection solutions requiring an encrypted digital “birth record” for packaged products, a trusted product identity validation service and platform-agnostic consumer engagement capabilities for customers within CPG, F&B, apparel and beauty markets.

In brief: Circular economy action
Tesco announced the launch of the UK’s most extensive network of recycling points for flexible plastic. The supermarket chain expects to collect and recycle 1000 tons annually, the equivalent of 150 million standard loaf bags. Flexible plastic is not commonly collected by local councils and often thrown away. Tesco has begun rolling out flexible plastic recycling points to 171 stores in the South West of England and Wales with plans to roll out to all large stores nationwide. “Where plastic serves an important purpose such as reducing food waste, these new recycling points make sure that every piece can be easily recycled. Trials have shown they are popular with customers, so we believe rolling them out at scale will have a real impact,” said Sarah Bradbury, Tesco’s Director of Quality.

Smurfit Kappa approved transformational investment plans for its Mold plant in North Wales, expanding capacity at the facility and making it the largest box factory in the UK. The investment in state-of-the-art equipment will reduce CO2 per ton emissions by 15 percent at the plant. “This investment in North Wales will increase our capability, flexibility and speed of response to deliver unrivaled, innovative packaging solutions to customers across the UK and Ireland,” commented Eddie Fellows, Smurfit Kappa UK and Ireland CEO.Avery Dennison Smartrac launched NFC inlays for secure end-to-end brand protection.

Alpla UK announced a cooperation with British waste management company Biffa, increasing the proportion of British recyclate used in the UK to manufacture packaging for homecare products. From May, Alpla UK will source food-grade rPET plastic pellets from the Biffa recycling plant in Seaham, County Durham.

Coexpan passed the ISCC PLUS audit at its plant in Spain and said it will obtain the same certification for its sites in Mexico and France in the coming weeks. This certification guarantees the use of circular and bio-based materials (PS and PP) obtained from chemical recycling for application in packaging. The certification acknowledges action toward circularity, recycling, and environmental management. Furthermore, it will enable Coexpan to use recycled material (rPS and rPP) from mixed plastic and bio-based material, in line with the mass balance model.

In brief: Environmental alliances
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, an international non-profit organization, welcomed five new members – Amcor, Atlantic Packaging Co., Inter Pipeline, Kirin Holdings and Novacel – bringing its total membership to 57 companies. The members comprise some of the world’s largest organizations in the plastic value chain. “With five new members, we welcome even more diversity into the Alliance from both membership category and geographic standpoints. We are excited to include new viewpoints and different expertise on our membership bench,” said Jacob Duer, president and CEO of the Alliance.Smurfit Kappa approved plans to make its North Wales plant the largest box factory in the UK.

SIG became the first company in the beverage carton industry to join AIM-Progress, a global forum of leading FMCG manufacturers and common suppliers, assembled to enable responsible sourcing practices and sustainable supply chains. “Sourcing responsibly is central to our Way Beyond Good ambition to deliver positive impacts for people and the planet,” said Samuel Sigrist, SIG CEO. “By joining AIM-Progress, we are opening up new opportunities to build strong partnerships with customers.”

In brief: Acquisition
Scholle IPN acquired Bossar, a global supplier of flexible horizontal form-fill-seal packaging equipment. The new business combination will leverage the businesses’ combined capabilities to provide one-stop shopping for vertically integrated, sustainable solutions for the global flexible packaging market. The company will retain the Bossar brand and continue utilizing Bossars operational headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, and its manufacturing facility in India. The combined business has operations across Europe, Russia, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Canada and the US.

By Joshua Poole