SIG’s carton packaging plant in Thailand celebrates 25 years

SIG, a leading packaging solutions provider for a more sustainable world, celebrates the 25th anniversary of its packaging plant for aseptic carton packs in Rayong, Thailand.

This year marks another key milestone – the fifth anniversary since installing the plant’s immense solar panels. This has reduced the plant’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by 12,871 tons since July 2018, equivalent to the offsetting of CO2 by 280 to 415 trees or a forest area of 10,000 sqm.

The SIG Rayong plant began operations in 1998 and spans across 109,600 sqm, supplying to customers in Asia Pacific and South Asia, specifically in Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, and India. The plant has the capacity to produce around 11 billion aseptic carton sleeves per year for brands such as Thai Denmark, Nestlé, FrieslandCampina, Vinamilk, Indomilk, Ultrajaya, Parle Agro, Amul, and many others.

It was the first SIG production plant in the world to use an effective solar photovoltaic (PV) system to generate solar power and has already reached Thailand’s 2036 goal of requiring 40% of electricity to come from renewable energy sources. Covering an area of 40,064 sqm (equivalent to five football pitches), the 12,350 solar panels produce up to 5,675 Megawatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to powering up approximately 5,620 homes in a month.

“The SIG carton packaging plant in Rayong is of great importance in producing sustainable packaging solutions for our region. As one the largest solar-powered facilities in the region, it also demonstrates SIG’s commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and becoming a net-positive company,” said Miguel Gamito, Head of Operations and Supply Chain Management, SIG Rayong. “With our 25th Anniversary celebrations, we are also delighted to be contributing to the community here in Rayong and doing our part to promote sustainability in the region.”

In 2019, the plant won the Thailand Energy Award Global-Warming Reduction Label for its rooftop solar array. The award from the Energy Ministry’s Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency recognised SIG’s significant investment in off-grid alternative power at Rayong as part of the company’s commitment to put more into society and the environment than it takes out.

Besides the rooftop solar array, the plant also has a solar farm and a solar carport, making the plant the largest solar-powered factory in the packaging industry in Thailand. The plant currently produces packaging by using responsibly sourced materials: SIG is purchasing 100% of the paper board used for its carton packs as Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM) certified and 100% of the aluminium sourced is certified to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) standards.

“With the upcoming SIG packaging plant in Ahmedabad, India, expected to start commercial production at the end of 2024 and supply for our customers in South Asia, the Rayong plant will have the opportunity to produce more of sustainability driven packaging solutions such as the aluminium layerfree aseptic cartons for our APAC customers,” said Angela Lu, President and General Manager Asia Pacific South at SIG.

On top of employing the local community in Rayong, SIG’s solar panel supplier, Symbior Solar, also installed a 7kWp solar array on the roof of a local school as part of their contract with SIG. The free renewable energy generated is enough to power the Nikhom Sang Ton Eng Changwat Rayong 10 school and saves the school more than 4,000 baht (USD116) monthly in electricity costs. Installing solar power is also helping to raise awareness of energy efficiency and climate change among schoolchildren and their teachers.

Traipob Wongtrairat, Governor of Rayong Province, was the Guest of Honour at the 25th Anniversary celebrations, presided by Angela Lu, President and General Manager Asia

Pacific South at SIG. As part of the event, a plant tour was conducted for SIG’s customers, such as Thai Denmark, Lactasoy, Nutifood, ITC, Sambu, and many more from the region.

About SIG

SIG (FSCTM trademark licence code: FSCTM C020428) is a leading solutions provider of packaging for better – better for our customers, for consumers, and for the world. With our unique portfolio of aseptic carton, bagin-box, and spouted pouch, we work in partnership with our customers to bring food and beverage products to consumers around the world in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. Our technology and outstanding innovation capabilities enable us to provide our customers with end-to-end solutions for differentiated products, smarter factories, and connected packs, all to address the ever-changing needs of consumers. Sustainability is integral to our business and we strive to create a net positive food packaging system.

Founded in 1853, SIG is headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland, and listed at the SIX Swiss Exchange. The skills and experience of our approximately 9,000 employees worldwide enable us to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of our customers in over 100 countries. In 2022, SIG produced 49 billion packs and generated €3.1 billion in pro forma revenue (incl. Scholle IPN and Evergreen Asia unaudited revenue). SIG has an AA ESG rating by MSCI, a 13.4 (low risk) score by Sustainalytics and a Platinum CSR rating by EcoVadis

THE

BEST MACHINE FOR SHORT RUNS, EVER

Onyx Go continues the long-lasting success story of Uteco’s Onyx flexo presses.

Miraclon has received the prestigious FTA Technical Innovation Award for PureFlexo Printing.

Miraclon has received the prestigious FTA Technical Innovation Award for PureFlexo Printing. Accessed through KODAK FLEXCEL NX Print Suite, the technology addresses and controls unwanted ink spread to allow a wider operating window in printing – maximizing efficiency, repeatability and overall performance on press.

As one of only three Technical Innovation Award recipients, and the only recipient in the Prepress Graphics Category, it underscores the significant impact that PureFlexo Printing can make – and has already been making – in driving increased uptime for converters.

PureFlexo Printing utilizes Miraclon’s patented advanced plate surface patterning technology to resist the tendency of ink to spread during printing. Available only on the FLEXCEL NX System and focused primarily on printing with solvent inks on film, it brings a wider operational window regardless of line screen, with compound savings from fewer unscheduled press stops each day, reduced downtime and delays, and faster color setups.

Joe Tuccitto, Director of Education at FTA, said: “Recipients of the FTA

Technical Innovation Award are chosen by a panel of flexographic experts for having the potential to positively change the future of flexography. Once again this year, the judging process was extremely competitive with a wide variety of innovative technologies that utilize the flexographic process or have been designed specifically to enhance flexographic printing.

Miraclon should be very proud of this outstanding achievement; at a time where businesses are taking an extra hard look at maximizing efficiency and minimizing costs, PureFlexo Printing proves to be an innovation that can make a real impact across the whole production process.”

The award – the third FTA Innovation Award for technology from Miraclon – was presented this past weekend during the Annual Awards Banquet at FORUM 2023 in Columbus, Ohio, United States. In 2009, shortly after its commercial introduction, the FTA recognized the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System with a Technical Innovation Award which, as predicted by the judging panel, helped to change the capabilities of the modern flexo process over the last 15 years.

Miraclon received the second FTA Innovation Award for the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Ultra Solution featuring Ultra Clean Technology –another confirmation of Miraclon’s commitment to backwards-compatible, ongoing value-driven innovation for FLEXCEL NX customers – in 2020.

“We’re honored to receive this FTA Technical Innovation Award, which signifies the importance of innovations that can have a big impact across the flexo value chain,” comments Reid Chesterfield, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Miraclon. “PureFlexo Printing is being utilized to streamline efficiency and addresses the root cause of issues that result in unscheduled press stops and impact customers’ financial bottom line. The proven productivity benefits it brings to the print production process should be an important consideration for flexo trade shops and converters.”

The breakfast cereals firm aims for all of its packaging to be paperbased by 2024

Breakfast cereals manufacturer OneDayMore has successfully converted its packaging to a more sustainable solution, manufactured by Sonoco.

OneDayMore strives to help people take care of their health – and the planet – with its natural, nutritious, and easy-to-prepare breakfast products, including muesli, granola and porridge. The company said the next, obvious path for its development was a move towards more sustainable packaging – and Sonoco helped it to achieve this goal by converting its current packaging to EnviroCan™ with paper-bottom.

Hoping to increase the uptake in recycling by end users, Wojciech Mlodawski, Procurement Director, at OneDayMore said: “We wanted to design our packaging in a way that used the most environmentally friendly raw materials possible, while also ensuring consumers have no doubts about recycling the packaging at home, once the cereal inside was consumed..”

Previously, OneDayMore was using Sonoco’s metal-end cans, but it has since added paper-bottomed cans to its packaging lines in 13 European markets – and it hopes to expand into more. Its end goal is to have converted all of its packaging to paper by the end of 2024.

Mateusz Kurij, Business Development Manager at Sonoco said: “Sonoco