Editorial Victoria Hattersley

EDITORIAL | Victoria Hattersley Editor

AT Packaging Europe Towers (or, more accurately, in our respective kitchen and bedroom offices) we’ve been busily preparing for our very first online Sustainable Packaging Summit. While this was certainly not what we’d envisaged last year, we’re very pleased to have the chance to address the crucial environmental issues we’d planned to – none of which have lessened in importance since the coming of Covid-19 has forced us to rethink the way we address our audience. This issue will bring you a taster of the agenda for the season of virtual events, in which we’ll be discussing the overarching strategic questions, the concrete challenges, and emerging areas of innovation that can drive us forward.

But putting the Summit aside for a moment, what else do we have for you? Following the announcement that the Loop zero waste shopping platform will be partnering with Tesco in the UK, Tim Sykes spoke to representatives from the retail giant to find out how this partnership will unfold and how it fits into its wider packaging and sustainability strategies.

Elisabeth Skoda takes a closer look at the recently opened Coveris Pack Innovation Centre and its quest to boost innovative packaging solutions and improve the recyclability of flexibles. She also speaks to VDMA to find out how the German packaging machinery industry has been coping with a challenging year. On top of all this, she found time to visit the AIPIA congress, which this year was an entirely virtual event, and reports on the latest smart packaging developments she discovered there. (Yes, it’s been a busy month for Elisabeth.)

Fin Slater has been burrowing into the world of pharma counterfeiting; he spoke to Pete Smallwood of Eltronis to learn about the threat Covid-related counterfeiting poses to society and how the packaging industry can address this. And for anyone wanting to know more about the impact the development of drone technology can have on supply chain efficiency, look no further than Libby White’s conversation with Robert Garbett, founder and chief executive of The Drone Major Group.

As usual, we also sound out some of the biggest voices in the packaging industry to get their perspectives on the many environmental challenges it faces. This time we hear from Amcor’s Gerald Rebitzer and Avery Dennison’s Hassan Rmaile. Meanwhile, our regular ‘On second thoughts...’ slot is given to APK’s Klaus Wohnig, who tells us why multi-layer flexible packaging should not be written out of the circularity equation just yet.

In the next edition we’ll bring you the inside story of the Sustainability Awards 2020 winners. In the meantime, we hope you’ll join us for the Sustainable Packaging Summit. n Victoria Hattersley

vh@packagingeurope.com @PackEuropeVicky