Weekly Roundup: Huhtamaki extends Spanish manufacturing site, Oerlemans Packaging Group acquires Papierindustrie Adriaan Dekker

25 Nov 2022 --- This week in industry news, Huhtamaki inaugurated an extension to its existing paper-based packaging manufacturing site and Oerlemans Packaging Group acquired Papierindustrie Adriaan Dekker to expand its flexible packaging portfolio. 

In brief: Launches and releases
Huhtamaki extended its existing paper-based packaging manufacturing site in Nules, Spain. The company said its latest investment reflects the growing demand for renewable and recyclable paper-based packaging to substitute rigid plastics. The Nules factory is a “Huhtamaki Global Center of Excellence,” that develops innovative and environmentally sustainable packaging solutions for its customers across Europe.

Plastipak announced the formal opening of a major recycling investment at its manufacturing site in Toledo, Spain, by Don Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha Region. The new recycling facility converts PET flake into food-grade recycled PET pellets suitable for direct use in new preforms, bottles and containers. The new recycling plant will produce 20,000 metric tons of food-grade recycled pellets per year. The plant will eliminate recycled resin transport-related emissions since it is co-located at Plastipak’s current preform manufacturing site.

Plastipak’s new manufacturing site in Toledo, Spain.In brief: Acquisitions
Oerlemans Packaging Group acquired Papierindustrie Adriaan Dekker to expand its flexible packaging portfolio, with activities set to move from Wormer to Rijssen, in the Netherlands, the home of group member Stempher Packaging Industry. Oerlemans Packaging Group said the move will allow the company to expand beyond its current industrial and retail flexible packaging portfolio and further into the paper packaging market. 

In brief: Funding news
Digital product passports and mass balance bookkeeping software provider, Circularise, announced that it secured €11 million (US$11 million) in funding as part of its Series A round that will be used to advance its mission to bring a circular economy to industrial supply chains. Brightlands Venture Partners led the capital injection joined by industry players Asahi Kasei, Neste, as well as existing investor 4impact capital and is supplemented with grants from the European Commission. Circularise wants to support the shift from a linear to a circular economy. With its blockchain-based digital product passports, Circularise enables customers to improve resource use, verify provenance and conduct carbon footprint and impact assessments across supply chains.

The Hemp Innovations Foundation funded “Hemp Recycles,” a project testing the recyclability of hemp fibers used for paper making. In partnership with Western Michigan University, the Hemp Innovations Foundation will test the ability to use hemp for paper production. Proponents say the plant can produce more robust and less expensive products than tree-based paper. Furthermore, Hemp only takes months to grow whereas trees require years. This project also seeks to establish regional hemp fiber and pulp supply chains with local farmers in the USA, stimulating the domestic economy “from field to sheet.” 

Nobel Food’s new festive egg packaging.In brief: Design news
Egg industry company, Noble Foods, unveiled its new Christmas packaging. The festive packaging for the UK’s number one egg brand – the happy egg co. – will feature, in the run-up to Christmas, a limited-edition pack design featuring wrapping paper on the signature yellow egg boxes. The happy egg co. has sold 196 million eggs over the past year and will display the Christmas packaging on eight-pack lines, including four on-shelf and four packs for dedicated POS sales.

Fazer is launching a chocolate Christmas calendar made from lightweight and recyclable dispersion coated paperboard from Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group. The choice of material will reduce plastic use by 1,200 kg per year compared to the PE coated board used previously and will also improve recycling of the calendar. The wood fiber used in Fazer's Christmas calendar can be fully recycled. The lightweight paperboard used in the calendar is said to support the circular economy and to reduce waste. Thanks to the lightweight and resource-efficient design, the carbon footprint of the calendar carton is also one quarter lower than the previous version.

In brief: Zero waste news
The European cities Barcelona and Munich signed an official commitment to become “zero waste,” becoming the biggest cities in Europe that will get the certification. The Zero Waste Cities Certification is a European third-party assessed certification standard developed by the non-governmental organization Mission Zero Academy and powered by Zero Waste Europe. Following this commitment, Barcelona will start implementing its zero-waste strategy. The objective includes working toward reducing municipal solid waste. The city includes a zero waste philosophy around all waste management with a 67% separate waste collection rate goal by 2027. Meanwhile, Munich commits to reducing household waste per capita per year by 15% to 310 kg by 2035.

By Natalie Schwertheim