Packaging World December 2021

IMPROVING EFFICIENCY

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Seventh Generation to CPG Peers— It’s Time to Get Greener Together 32

L’Oreal Converts CO2 Emissions into HDPE Bottles 35

Robotic Palletizers Boost End of Line 36

Cold Conditions No Problem for EOAT 40

Meal Kits Test ‘World’s First’ Edible Film

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from PMMI Media Group

Featured in this year’s View from the Top coverage was Burlington, Vt.-based Seventh Generation. Shown here left to right are CEO Alison Whritenour, Director of Packaging Development Derrick Lawrence, Manager of Packaging Development Kelly Murosky, and Global Director of Advocacy and Sustainability Ashley Orgain.

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FEATURES 26 COVER STORY Sustainable Packaging— Seventh Generation Keeps Moving the Needle

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Seventh Generation, which was knee-deep in sustainable packaging when it was hardly even a thing, is waiting for their CPG peers to sense the urgency and catch up—now.

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32 L’Oréal Pioneers Bottle Made from Industrial Emissions The prototype HDPE package is the result of a partnership with LanzaTech and TotalEnergies that converts carbon emissions from a steel mill into recycled polyethylene with the same properties as virgin plastic.

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36 AUTOMATION Vacuum Technology Solves Palletizing Challenge While palletizing corrugated cases is a regular automation application, doing so in a cold room that is regularly hosed with water to stay clean is especially challenging.

35 Robotic Palletizers Boost Production Efficiencies

40 Meal Kit Brand Tests ‘World’s First’ Edible Film

Award-winning U.K. soft drinks producer Radnor Hills installed three ABB endof-line robotic palletizers from robotics integrator RMGroup. The move has enabled the manufacturer to benefit from process efficiencies throughout its production.

Meal kit pioneer Gousto Recipe Box trialed a pea protein-based film that exhibits some of the barrier properties that plastic provides to powdered product. The edible film dissolves in hot water along with the stock cube, and is consumed along with the meal.

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DEPARTMENTS 18

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COLUMNS

End-of-line Robotic Palletizing

7 Lead Off 20 The Legal Side 22 The Big Picture 24 Sustainable Packaging 42 Shelf Impact!

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Aladin Alkhawam Director, Packaging Operations, Par Pharmaceutical

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Jan Brücklmeier Technical Application Group Packaging Technology Expert, Nestlé

David Smith, PhD Principal, David S. Smith & Associates

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Brian Stepowany Packaging R&D, Senior Manager, B&G Foods, Inc.

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Patrick Keenan R&D Packaging Engineer, General Mills/Annie’s Organic Snacks Mike Marcinkowski Global R&D Officer, GPA Global & Hub Folding Box Co. Paul Schaum Chief Operations Officer, Pretzels Inc.

Jasmine Sutherland President, Texas Food Solutions; Vice President, Perfect Fit Meals

Connect with a Leaders in Packaging supplier and support packaging education!

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Packaging World® (ISSN # 1073-7367) is a registered trademark of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. Packaging World® is published monthly by PMMI with its publishing office, PMMI Media Group, located at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60611; 312.222.1010; Fax: 312.222.1310. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices. Copyright 2021 by PMMI. All rights reserved. Materials in this publication must not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Applications for a free subscription may be made online at www.packworld.com/subscribe. Paid subscription rates per year are $200 in the U.S., $285 Canada and Mexico by surface mail; $475 Europe, $715 Far East and Australia by air mail. Single copy price in U.S. is $20. To subscribe or manage your subscription to Packaging World, visit Packworld.com/subscribe. Free digital edition available to qualified individuals outside the United States. POSTMASTER; Send address changes to Packaging World®, 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60611. PRINTED IN USA by Quad. The opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PMMI. Comments, questions and letters to the editor are welcome and can be sent to: editors@packworld.com. Mailing List: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we don’t include your name, please write us at the Chicago, IL address.

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EDITORIAL Matt Reynolds Editor Patrick Reynolds Vice President, Editor Emeritus @Packcentric Iris Zavala Managing Editor Anne Marie Mohan Senior Editor @PackagingTrends Jim Chrzan Vice President, Content and Brand Strategy Kim Overstreet Senior Content Strategist, Alignment Sterling Anthony, Eric F. Greenberg, Ben Miyares Contributing Editors

PMMI MEDIA GROUP Joseph Angel President, Publisher David Newcorn Executive Vice President Sharon Taylor Director, Marketing Amber Miller Senior Marketing Manager Janet Fabiano Financial Services Manager Lloyd Ferguson Founding Partner

ART David Bacho Creative Director Packaging World • PMMI Media Group

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LEAD OFF

Need Operators?

A Farewell Lead Off This column was my responsibility each month for many years. In 2018 I placed it in the capable hands of my successor Matt Reynolds, as plans for my phased-in retirement began to take shape. But with this issue of Packaging World, a magazine I’m proud to say I helped launch in 1994, my retirement becomes official (more on that in a moment). That being the case, we figured it was a good opportunity for me to reclaim this space for one last Lead Off column. If nothing else it gives me a chance to say thanks to the countless packaging professionals I’ve met over the years, without whose input I’d have had nothing to write about.

Also deserving buckets of thanks are the mentors I’ve had the pleasure of working with. A short list would include Lloyd Ferguson, Chuck Winnicky, Bob Heitzman, Sarah Lee Gerrish, Arnie Orloski, Joe Angel, Jim Chrzan, Dave Newcorn, Ben Miyares, Jim Butschli, and Anne Marie Mohan.

Who would ever have thought that packaging could be so endlessly fascinating? Watching the emergence and commercialization of things like servo technology and compostable packaging— not to mention things like predictive maintenance via Artificial Intelligence—has been like having a birds-eye view as the future becomes the now. Digital printing is another one that still just knocks me out. I’ll never forget encountering Indigo for the first time somewhere in the bowels of McCormick Place long before Indigo was acquired by HP and thinking to myself, “Those nut jobs actually think they can print packaging in the complete absence of any kind of plate!”

Looking back, I’d like to think I worked hard at the business of packaging journalism. But don’t imagine for a minute there wasn’t a whole lot of fun involved. How about foreign travel? Trade shows like Emballage, interpack, Ipack-Ima, and Anuga FoodTec brought me to Paris, Dusseldorf, Milan, and Cologne a number of times. Just don’t ask me about my trip to Moscow, where a misunderstanding about the duration of my visa could have put me in the slammer. And then there was that time in Florida when I found myself in the ER getting stitches in my head the night before delivering a presentation at one of Ron Schotland’s conferences. Let’s not revisit that one either.

Various speaking engagements added China, Japan, and Australia to the list of unforgettable places I’ve been able to see. Shown here with a friend she made in Australia when we were invited there by the Australian Institute of Packaging is my wife Sue, without whom, just by the way, I couldn’t have had a 38-year career in packaging journalism. In Japan it was a Tokyo Pack conference I addressed, thanks to an invitation from the Japan Packaging Institute. The show had plenty of new technology to suss out, but the highlight of the trip was a dinner cruise of Tokyo Bay during which I joined my Norwegian editorial counterpart Per Nordberg in a Karaoke version of “Born to Run.” Let me just say we absolutely crushed it.

Also on that cruise with Per and me were a number of our fellow members of IPPO, the International Packaging Press Organisation. These talented journalists, representing some 80 different countries, were always a valuable sounding board at whatever show in whatever country we’d find ourselves together. My time as a packaging journalist would not have been the same without them. Again, my sincere thanks to all of you.

As for my retirement becoming official, I lied. Through the end of 2022 I’ll function as Contributing Editor, though on very few projects. Which reminds me that I also want to thank the leadership group at PMMI for being as flexible as they’ve been the past few years where my phased-in retirement is concerned. I hope they are as pleased as I am at how smoothly the succession has gone.

Let me end this Lead Off farewell by offering my sincerest thanks to the vibrant packaging community that took me in nearly four decades ago and made me part of something reynolds@packworld.com truly special. All the best to all of you. PW

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NEWS

Snacking Soared in 2020: Growth to Continue at Slower Speed The multi-billion dollar snack market is projected to grow 3 to 4% in 2021 according to SNAC International; still an impressive number after the soaring growth of 2020, when the pandemic had families in lockdown and snacking at home increased sales by double digits in some categories.

David Walsh, VP of Membership and Communications at SNAC International, shared insights at the PACK EXPO Las Vegas Innovation Stage about the State of Snacking. SNAC also released its annual State of the Industry report, which was shared at the show.

During the pandemic, consumers turned to snacking for comfort, often purchasing family-size or multi-pack snacks online. Of particular focus during this time was holistic health and wellness goals. During 2020, 10- to 16-oz, and 4.5- to 8-oz sizes saw the most dramatic increase in sales.

The SNAC report mentioned that 2020 resulted in slowed new product development due to the pandemic, but we should see evidence that this has reversed in the second half of 2021 and into 2022.

SNAC’s David Walsh speaks at PACK EXPO Las Vegas.

Walsh said that there is less “on the go” consumption, but consumers are still snacking more times per day. Holistic and health immunity are top of mind, making functional snacks more important with ingredients such as high fiber, protein, whole grains, calcium fortified, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, probiotics, and collagen.

Millennials and Gen-Z consumers snack more frequently and are more likely to use snacks as a meal replacement (92% report replacing at least one meal per week with a snack.)

Consumers are demanding sustainability, and health is important, but taste is still the driving factor, as are price, packaging, loyalty, and reach.

Online snack sales and marketing are now crucial. However, since snacks are often an impulse purchase, “producers need to engage consumers differently to maximize online sales.” Social media and online initiatives such as providing recipes that use snacks as ingredients are key to reaching and engaging with consumers.

According to the special report, 2022 will bring challenges to the industry from continued supply chain and labor challenges, as well as rising prices for commodities and oil. This will require companies to be innovative throughout their entire chain of operations to increase efficiency.

Product diversification is key, and growth drivers are flavor, packaging, and sustainability. Walsh adds that to adapt to the evolving environment, producers must balance price, quality, and wellness, and pay attention to

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pack size and variety, while also building for online sales. Leveraging targeted media to reach consumers at home, and taking advantage of more in-home celebrations, is key.

Some emerging trends are the addition of probiotics, functional latenight snacks, lab-grown or plant-based protein, and collagen.

Key Category Insights: • Popular Flavors: super-hot and spicy paired with sweet flavors, hot with added nuance, and sweet flavors such as fruit, chocolate, maple, and nut butters. International flavors such as Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern.

• Savory snacks are up 8.2% from May 2020 to May 2021.

• “Other” Savory Snacks are up 14.8%, with $4.8 billion in sales. The “other” category features many “better-for-you” snacks and includes examples such as Veggie Straws, Veggie Crisps, or Green Pea Snack Crisps. Fruit chips overall are up 7.1%, and apple chips are up 18%.

This category also sees the growth of incubators and start-up companies that are supported by co-manufacturers across the U.S. • Tortilla chips were up 6.3% to $4.9 billion, and come in new shapes, sizes, and flavors. Popular choices include chips made with peas, carrots, plantains, and feature spicy flavors, or protein-added ingredients.

• Protein was popular in other areas too, with meat snacks/jerky up 24% so far in 2021, and 17% in 2020. Category innovations include meat and cheese combos, and “clean” products with no added ingredients or sugar. Companies are touting environmental friendliness with sustainable sourcing and free-roaming herds.

• Pork rinds were up 11% in 2020 and are up 7% so far in 2021, with some producers seeing double-digit growth. A popular option for Keto diets, new flavors such as dill pickle, hatch chile, and apple cinnamon have come to market.

• Cheese snacks are up 8.2% to $2.2 billion, with new spicy flavors, and formats such as parmesan cheese crisps or pepper jack crisps in demand. Another category that is Keto-friendly, some producers also saw double-digit growth from May 2020 to May 2021.

• Ready-to-eat popcorn was among the top-selling snack in 2020, up 10.3% to $1.4 billion. By 2023 this category is expected to grow 8.3%, making it the fastest growing snack.

• Pretzels are up 7.3% to $1.2 billion, and benefit from a “betterfor-you” perception as formats such as protein-filled or grain-free.

Popular alternative ingredients include cassava, sorghum, and root vegetables. —Kim Overstreet

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NEWS

Haircare Line Commits to 100% Post-Consumer HDPE Ingreendients’ brand founder, Rajat Sharma, had a goal to be at the forefront of reducing the amount plastic waste from personal care products entering the landfill by repurposing existing plastic and not creating any new plastic. So, his company recently launched shampoo and conditioner bottles made from 100% recycled plastic, supplied by Berry Global Group, Inc. “The beauty industry is responsible for a third of the landfill waste in America,” Sharma says. “One of the core pillars for Ingreendients is sustainable packaging so that we are not creating virgin plastic and adding to the pollution problem. Hence our focus was on having the product packaged only in bottles made fully from PCR plastic.”

The HDPE bottle is made with 100% PCR, produced at Berry’s manufacturing facility in Winchester, Va. A flip-top polypropylene closure, also made with 100% PCR, creates a total container system made completely from recycled plastic that aligns with Ingreendients’ commitment to sustainability.

Ingreendients’ commitment to responsible product manufacturing extends further than the container, and is thoughtful in all elements of the product.

Ingreendients believes it matters what’s on the outside as well as inside the bottle. In addition to the container elements, the brand formula is made with the 100% plantderived ingredients to formulate a salon-grade haircare product line.

“The Ingreendients brand set out to make the impossible possible by creating thoughtful products using only safe and simple ingredients backed by absolute integrity and transparency, with zero tolerance for misleading claims. This means we only call a product ‘natural’ if every ingredient in the bottle is derived from plants, period,” Sharma says.

And this no-compromise commitment to absolute integrity in all aspects of its business drove the brand to use 100% recycled resin for their packaging in both bottle and cap. Sharma notes the industry expertise, product knowledge, recycled material availability, and collaborative relationship made Berry the ideal partner to produce the packaging that fit Ingreendients’ needs.

“I wanted to work with an industry leader who is at the forefront of sourcing recycled materials and Berry is a leader in packaging for my industry,” says Sharma. “In addition, as I started to work with them, I was pleasantly surprised by the collaborative process and helping me figure out what was the best result for Ingreendients.”

“We are happy to partner with Ingreendients to help support what’s important to all of us—a healthy planet,” adds David Long, Regional Business Director, Berry Global.

“100% PCR packaging is one of the ways that our plant in Winchester, Virginia, can help new, inspiring brands meet their sustainability goals.” —Matt Reynolds

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LESS IS MORE New Packaging from Mars Petcare UK Cuts Plastic by 15M Pieces With its recent switch from shrink film to paperboard for mixed-multipack cans of four of its pet food brands, Mars Petcare UK estimates it will eliminate an elephantine amount of plastic—30 elephants’ worth, in fact. In September, the company switched to cartons for its multipacks of Pedigree and Chappie wet dog food and for its Whiskas and Kitekat wet cat foods, making the packaging for these products 100% recyclable.

The move is expected to remove 180 metric tons, or approximately 198 U.S. tons, of plastic film from the environment annually.

“Prior to the elimination of shrink film on the mixed-multipack cans of Pedigree, Whiskas, Chappie, and Kitekat in the U.K., Mars Petcare UK was using a monolayer structure for the film packaging,” explains Kim Smet, Interim General Manager at Mars Petcare UK. “While this was a recycle-ready material, it is not yet widely recycled in the U.K. The new packaging is now fully recyclable, removing 15 million individual pieces of plastic annually. In addition to this, the updated packaging has contributed to a reduction of energy usage on-site.”

Mars Petcare UK’s use of paperboard for the multipacks will contribute to its sustainable packaging goals of using 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging and reduce its use of virgin plastic by 25% by 2025. “Following a significant investment into our U.K. Melton Mowbray [Leicestershire, England] pet food site, the packaging changes we have made have helped us to take a step closer toward achieving our target of cutting our virgin plastic use by 25%,” says Smet. “Moreover, the new paperboard packaging has resulted in multiple sustainability-focused benefits as opposed to the previous shrink-film packaging.”

The switch to paperboard is just one of the initiatives undertaken by Mars Petcare UK in 2021 to meet sustainable packaging goals. In July, it launched a recycling program with Pets at Home that provides for dedicated in-store recycling points for pet food packaging across 40 U.K. stores. Also this year, Mars reduced the material in the flexible packaging for its Pedigree Schmackos dog treats by 12% and redesigned the flexible pouches for its 60-g Dreamies cat snacks to be thinner, which it said led to a combined 27.6 metric tons, or more than 30 U.S. tons, of virgin plastic saved in the U.K. “At Mars Petcare, we’re on a mission to future-proof the growing pet population and industry,” says Smet. “We know that over the past year alone, the U.K.’s pet population has skyrocketed to an all-time high, tipping 20 million dogs and cats [per a 2020 annual survey from The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA)]—nearly a third of the size of the U.K. human population, so as an industry, our sustainability efforts must reflect this and improve, at speed, to create the world we want tomorrow.” —Anne Marie Mohan

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NEWS

Iconic Brand Adopts a Fresh Flexible Look Even iconic, recognizable brands like Ajax sometimes seek a fresh design approach to packaging when they introduce something new to the market. With the backing of brand owner EU Colgate (European Union), the well-known household cleaning brand recently launched a new line of plant-based, disinfecting disposable wipes targeting Millennials and GenZers. With a little help from New York-based brand consultancy Little Big Brands (LBB), the decades-old brand showed it wasn’t afraid to shake it up and target a younger demographic with bold pack design ideas.

“Wipes are largely used by younger consumers that we discovered desired more sustainable solutions; this was one of their top pain points in using wipes, as they realized every cleaning action led to a wasteful tissue,” says George Kechris of the Home Care Brand Team at Colgate-Palmolive. “This was also one of the reasons why some other people were not using wipes at all. In our Ajax Plant-Based Biodegradable and Compostable antibacterial wipes we were looking for a design that can convey sustainability as the core of the concept for those audiences to engage from far away from the shelf. As Ajax was not known on this format, we wanted that people discover first that there is a solution to their pain point, that this coming from Ajax, and this eco-look to come in a contemporary design that talks to this young audience and makes it so appealing to them that they feel proud to keep those wipes visible on the counter and not hidden on shelf, so at the end they can use the wipes even more conveniently—a format well known for its convenience.”

Since this was an entirely new product to the brand, there was no heritage or parent packaging to borrow from in tailoring a new pack to the product.

“The package design for this wipe needed to lean into design codes that were appealing for a younger demographic” says Richard Palmer, Ex-

ecutive Creative Director, Little Big Brands. “From speaking with our target consumer in both the French and Swedish markets, we knew that we would need to deliver against a minimal design that felt simple yet chic.“ That meant exploring designs that spanned across three visual territories: Eco Lush, which leveraged greens, whites, and plant-based codes; Fresh & Fun, featuring vibrant color codes that reflect the brand’s optimism; and Earthy Modern, favoring earthy colors and simplified codes.

The messaging hierarchy on the pack goes as follows: 1. Ajax 2. PlantBased 3. Biodegradable & Compostable, and 4. Variety/Use. The agency wanted to lead with brand, but clearly articulate that this was something new and different to appeal to a younger audience through graphic treatment of plant based supported by the copy itself. The patterns help elevate the eco features from a visual standpoint. The film pack uses eight colors and two varnishes to accomplish this. The closure is a self-adhesive closing design that’s typical of the category.

Individual wipes sit within a retail-ready style corrugated tray for merchandising purposes. While the wipe itself is biodegradable and compostable.

“The agency explored various design routes to express the design objectives in a simple way,” Kechris says. “The designs incorporated audience’s feedback in the early design stage and a clear winner indicated the route to pursue. The final outcome was gorgeous with the right balance of efficacy, sustainability, and great, fresh-looking design patterns.”

Palmer adds, “Unlike the Ajax global brand vernacular we are all familiar with, our final, consumer-validated design perfectly balances the brand’s expertise, while leaning into eco cues that feel fresh and stylish.”

Consumer reaction to Ajax wipes bears out the success of the design, garnering 4.5 stars on Amazon France, and having doubled sales in Europe within just two years. —Matt Reynolds

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New Absolut Bottle Design Pays Tribute to Brand’s Credentials The Absolut Vodka brand is known for its commitment to art and design, having partnered with 550 artists on 800 original, limited-edition bottle designs since its first collaboration with Andy Warhol in 1986. Meanwhile, its flagship bottle has remained unchanged for more than 40 years. That is, until a design refresh nearly four years in the making, with the weighty project name Atlas, resulted in a new look for the brand that launched on shelves in September.

“At Absolut, we always strive for better,” says Elin Furelid, Global Head of Product Portfolio & Design, Absolut Vodka, The Absolut Company. “Our passion for our business, product, and brand means that we see the potential in everything we offer and are always asking ourselves how we can take Absolut Vodka one step further and into the future.”

Commenting on the lengthy project timeline, Furelid says that because the design update was the largest one since 1979, Absolut knew it would take time to get the bottle right.

“When we started the process, we knew it was important to reflect on our past, and especially our heritage,” she says. “We asked ourselves, what makes our iconic bottle so popular? And, most importantly, how can we continue to drive it forward? As part of our approach, we also wanted to showcase the craft and expertise that takes place locally to create our premium vodka—to show consumers the community and culture driving our brand forward.

“We used this thinking to distill the design to its fundamental components, updating it to pay homage to our credentials—provenance, heritage, and authenticity. We were keen to capture our rich quality story and make that clearer on the bottle, signposting to what makes our vodka unique.”

Absolut Vodka is produced and distilled in and around Åhus, Sweden, and is one of the few brands to produce To see more pictures everything within a 75-mile radius. Its community of farmers, of the new bottle, distillers, and bottlers blend winter wheat with pristine water visit pwgo.to/7344 from a local well to create the vodka. Says the company, “Up to 10% of all wheat in Skåne [Skåne County, the southernmost county in Sweden] is purchased for Absolut Vodka, and the brand works with 400 farmers in Sweden, promoting sustainable farming techniques and values to ensure a sense of care for the local land and community.”

To tell one rounded story of its product, place, and people, Absolut evolved the bottle’s graphics to highlight the brand’s provenance, heritage, and authenticity, while retaining the iconic, lightweight bottle, the shape of which is based on an 18th century apothecary bottle. “One of the key changes was redesigning the legibility of the script to give a human touch to the bottle, while emphasizing that we ae indeed a Swedish Vodka, produced and made in Åhus, Southern Sweden,” says Furelid. “As well as embossing the glass with ‘Country of Sweden’ and including text alongside an illustration of the original distillery, we wanted to enhance our provenance messaging while delivering a minimalistic, clear bottle to help convey our high quality.”

Other changes include a new two-line brand logo, a redesigned medallion bearing the name of founder Lars Olsson Smith, and a label on the front of the bottle with the address of the original Absolut Vodka distillery. “This provides transparency about our location and helps communicate that Absolut’s brand home welcomes visitors to discover more at its site,” says the company. The paper label is the first of its kind on an Absolut bottle.

Says Furelid, “We’re extremely proud of the new design and how it represents Absolut in the way it should be—as original now as when it was first launched.”

—Anne Marie Mohan

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11/11/21 3:40 PM

14 PW DEC2021

BY THE NUMBERS

$33.2bn The brand value of Coca-Cola, which retains the title of world’s most valuable and strongest soft drink brand, according to rankings from Brand Finance; its value is almost double that of Pepsi, which comes in at second place at $18.4bn

65%

The percentage of consumers who prefer single-serve glass bottles for no/low-alcohol beverages, followed by multi-serve glass bottles at 48%, and single-serve plastic bottles at 46%, according to AMC Global

2,000

The number of shelf-stable products— from pantry staples to snacks, drinks, and supplements from around 400 vendors—that are now available through BUBBLE, a platform that enables new and emerging natural food brands to set up DTC operations

5.5%

The decline in calories per person from soda in 2020, leading to a total reduction of 11.8% since 2014 due to a switch to low- and zero-sugar versions, according to the Beverages Calorie Initiative

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QUOTABLES

“Experience has shown that care and scientific analysis is needed to ensure that an environmental measure actually achieves its objectives. For instance, if a refilling facility is too far away from a collection point, the emissions from transport may cancel out the benefits of a return scheme, and another method may make more environmental sense.” ​ –Christian Verschueren, Director-General of EuroCommerce, in an article from FoodNavigator.com, “Plastics recycling: Campaign for supermarkets to install reverse vending machines for bottles launches in Europe”

“We don’t really think that [PepsiCo and Coca-Cola] are going to morph into full-blown alcohol companies. I think this is out of their bailiwick, but we do think that they’ll look at areas where it makes sense. They’re just looking for any avenue where they can put a beverage in front of the consumer.”

–John Boylan Senior Equity Analyst, Edward Jones, in an article from Food Dive, “Coca-Cola and PepsiCo wade into booze amid an uncertain future”

“California consumers are dedicated to doing their part to recycle but many don’t understand that the HDPE used for plastic milk jugs is one of the most widely accepted plastics in recycling programs across the United States. It’s highly desirable by recyclers because of its value and ability to be turned into new materials. We want to encourage consumers who buy milk in the jug to make sure that jug makes it to the recycling bin to help keep plastic out of landfills.”

–John Talbot, CEO of the California Milk Advisory Board, as quoted in a press release, “New Statewide Education Campaign Aims to Increase Recycling of Plastic Milk Jugs,” from CMAB

“The worker shortage is real—and it’s getting worse by the day.

American businesses of every size, across every industry, in every state are reporting unprecedented challenges filling open jobs. The worker shortage is a national economic emergency, and it poses an imminent threat to our fragile recovery and America’s great resurgence.”

–Suzanne Clark, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, quoted in an article from the Flexible Packaging Association’s FlexPack Voice, “FPA Combats Critical Worker Shortage”

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11/11/21 12:18 PM

16 PW DEC2021

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

PMMI’s Annual Meeting Offers Optimistic Inflation Perspective businesses, particularly those made up of an increasingly younger workforce of Gen Z and Millennials. In his opinion, the U.S. has been fortunate to avoid the double-digit interest rates of the 1970s and 1980s, something Baby Boomers remember. A deep breath is in order. “[Us baby boomers have] been there so many times, and we have survived each one,” he said. “Prices come down on the other side, and it’s just business as usual.”

He further pointed out myths around the supply chain and the bottlenecks with container ships at U.S. ports. Because of government stimulus and consumer spending, the supply chain issue is not a result of companies falling behind in the production of goods. Instead, consumers bought more and continue to buy more than they previously did. As the stimulus and unemployment checks dry up, the supply chain will stabilize.

“This is a demand problem, not a supply chain problem,” he explained. “As demand eases, you see the supply chain delivering more, then all of a sudden, the situation works its way out, and prices will reflect that [with lowering inflation].”

For now, packaging and processing companies need to take advantage of what he still feels are low-interest rates by investing in innovation and processes that drive efficiency.

Internally, determine ways to combat supply chain issues by reshoring and embracing The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, in green) model, a leading indicator of packaging automation to handle the workforce issues. supplies like paperboard, expects prices to fall back to earth.

What he implores all companies not to do is spend cash on hand. Therefore, borrow right up until the interest Cerf welcomed 36 new PMMI members, bringing the total PMMI rates begin to climb.

Membership to 961. He announced that he, along with the current “Acquire as much as you can until your banker worries about you,” Executive Committee (Mark Anderson, Pro Mach, Inc.; Patty Anderson, he said. “Save your cash for when interest rates are higher.”

Delkor Systems; Inc., Jim Pittas, PMMI), was re-elected to another Workforce issues will not let up based on his data for the simple term. Timothy Hudson, Honeywell Intelligrated; Matt Jones, Dorner; reason that the biggest issue is an aging population. The best defense and Bruce Larson, BW Packaging Systems; were reappointed to the for packaging and processing companies, in addition to increasing Board of Directors. Kevin Mauger, NCC Automated Systems; Kevin automation, training, and apprenticeships: higher than traditional Roach, Harpak-Ulma Packaging; and Tom Sioui, Slideways; were salary starting points for younger employees. announced as new board members.

“The first thing that you want to do when you want to hire a One of the highlights of every PMMI Annual Meeting is the Millennial is to make sure that you pay them well. Not just enough, economic forecast provided by ITR Economics. As he did before but well,” Beaulieu explained, adding ITR has incorporated higher COVID shut down much of the globe, Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR salaries into its own hiring practice. “You want to pay them well Economics, remained highly optimistic about the U.S.’s near and longbecause they’re quickly going to jump ship for something else if not.” term economic future, particularly as it pertains to packaging.

He noted that not paying well to start creates a two-fold problem.

“Manufacturing in this nation is strong. It’s vibrant,” said Beaulieu.

The company still faces a workforce issue and needs to spend “We are going to see manufacturing continue to grow and forecast additional capital on starting all over with training and onboarding a record levels of output in this country in about a year.” new employee. —Sean Riley He also gets that current inflation in the U.S. is jarring to The PMMI Annual Meeting returned in-person in a big way after 2020’s event was forced to go completely virtual due to the pandemic, with Detroit hosting over 300 members from 146 member companies, including nearly 90 first-timers. The three-day event included business sessions on navigating a COVID-influenced world, breakout sessions on workforce, cybersecurity, and digital marketing strategy, a tour of the world-renowned Ford River Rouge Plant, and networking opportunities to reconnect business and create new partnerships.

Chairperson Emmanuel Cerf, Vice President, Polypack Inc., kicked off the business portion of the program with a Chairman’s Update.

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11/16/21 1:20 PM

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11/11/21 12:15 PM

18 PW DEC2021

FIRST PERSON

Own Brand Proves Paper-Pack Concept for Store Brands The fifth largest producer of tissue paper in the world, Sofidel in 2012 expanded beyond its established 13-country European footprint to enter the American market. Built primarily on selling into retail private label, the company recently launched a consumer brand of its own, one that existed in the U.K. as Nicky, to serve as a proof of concept and market testing brand for a unique paper pack solution for bath tissue and paper towels. Packaging World sat down (via Zoom) with Derek Dafoe, a Sofidel Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, to learn more.

Packaging World:

Explain the genesis of Nicky, a new, own-brand complement to Sofidel’s U.S. store brand portfolio.

Derek Dafoe Nicky had existed in Europe before it came to the U.S. It does have a portfolio of products in poly-based packaging, and they launched into this new paper pack slightly before us. Nicky is not a traditional big brand play. It’s what we would call a B-brand in Europe, and it tends to be something that we do in smaller markets with smaller customers. In the United States, though, Nicky has never existed until now. The Nicky paper packs you see pictured on these pages is the first time we’re even seeing Nicky in the U.S. market. So we’re taking that brand that already existed, but making it more North American-friendly.

Here, it’s focused specifically on sustainability, and specifically on the innovation around the product and the paper packaging format we’re using. That’s the groundbreaking difference here.

Then give us the genesis of the new paper pack.

Most of Nicky’s legacy packaging was the standard poly-pack that you see when you’re dealing with standard consumer products—Charmin, Bounty, or other big national brands. But the real impetus to go to a paper pack was that Sofidel has a commitment around reducing plastic from its production by 50% by 2030, compared to 2013. One thing that’s a little different about Sofidel comes from our founders Giuseppe Lazzareschi and Emi Stefani—it’s a privately owned company. They’re honestly looking out for the future of the planet. It’s not so much about just making a product to meet a need, as much as it’s about making a product both to meet a need and also do something that’s giving back.

The fact that you make paper didn’t directly contribute to your opting for paper packaging, then?

Some of that contributed to the decision, but it was also about changing our plastic format in a lot of our other areas. It wasn’t as simple as just

FirstPerson_1221.indd 18

saying, “Hey, we make paper. Let’s package the product in paper.” It really started about three and a half years ago, and the initial thought from our CEO Mr. Luigi Lazzareschi was, “well, we could wrap it in paper.” As it turned out, it wasn’t quite that simple to accomplish. But that literally was the environmental consideration: paper makes sense, it’s recyclable, we’re good at it, so we should be able do it. Then, of course, we had a hard time finding a packaging supplier that could actually give it to us in a format we could use.

What were the challenges that came with launching an all-paper pack for roll-based tissue products?

Our initial tests reminded me of wrapping Christmas presents; if you wrap the paper too tight around the present, it pops around the edge, right? The result is puncture, then tear. We don’t want that in a retail brand, so we had to work on that.

Then we’ve got to seal the paper pack at the seams. But all of our existing equipment used heat mold formers to melt what used to be plastic film together. That doesn’t work so well on paper, it tends to light it on fire. So, there were a lot of developmental issues around this project. But the main impetus was that we think paper is better for the environment and we really want to move away from plastic as much we can. So instead of trying different types of plastic that might incrementally improve our sustainability profile—post-consumer resins and such—we wanted to try and go all the way to a totally different substrate and see if we could do it. That’s what resonated in the paper pack.

OK, so no plastic at all? Company-wide, and in other applications I understand that Sofidel has taken measures to down-gauge plastic film thickness, for instance. But it sounds like you’re saying this Nicky pack moved away from plastic entirely. Is that correct?

That’s correct. Nicky is a fully paper pack. It has a limited coating of a natural adhesive barrier—only applied in certain areas—to enhance the seal-ability of the package structure. But that’s not over the whole

11/18/21 11:44 AM

19

packaged product. So, the reality is we are using 100 percent kraft paper that is then printed on with adhesive as a sealing mechanism, as well inks for the usual branding and messaging.

There is no plastic in the product.

What’s unique about the sealing adhesive?

Save for inks, it’s only coating we’re putting on the package, and it doesn’t affect the pack’s recyclability. And from an operations standpoint, the adhesive layer allows for us to run and heat seal rolls of tissue on our existing heat-sealing equipment, with only a few retrofits, without the heat damaging the paper product. Or worse yet, starting a fire, like I mentioned earlier. This helped us avoid buying new sealing equipment for all of our lines.

Interesting that you’re able to run this all-new substrate on existing equipment. But speaking of inks, how do you keep the ink from bleeding through the paper into the tissue?

While the paper itself is a standard kraft, we use a special ink substrate that resists bleeding. The best way I can describe it is that both the paper and the ink are designed together in a way that the ink doesn’t permeate through the package, even when it’s wet.

That brings me to my biggest question about the pack structure.

You make tissue paper with a primary function of absorbing moisture and wetness. How does this paper pack protect against moisture?

This is the interesting part, and I realize it’s counterintuitive. But in consumer products like this one, this moisture barrier piece isn’t really a concern. How often do you take your toilet paper or paper towel out in the rain? And once in the home, people don’t tend to put their paper towels right next to the sink, they’re tucked into a cabinet or storage closet. It turned out that we didn’t need to be concerned whether the package would get wet. We were more concerned that if the package got wet through any residual moisture, that the package ink wouldn’t bleed through to the product itself. That’s just messy, it doesn’t look right, and it’s the wrong feel for a product associated with sanitation and hygiene.

We’ve put this package through its paces without any problems.

We’ve done drop tests, crush tests, wet tests, etc., and it’s held up. Also considering all the upstream supply chain, from the pallet all the way down to the retailer, there have been no concerns about stability in corrugated cases or on a wrapped pallet. From the packaging machine, through to the warehouse, on to the truck, all the way to the retailer, we haven’ had any problems.

There have to be some functional differences between the traditional poly-based pack though, correct? What tradeoffs are you making for sustainability’s sake?

Compared to plastic film, paper lacks some flexibility. If you were to grab ahold of a three- or six-pack of paper towels in poly, and clasp in the open space between rolls, your thumbs would be able to stretch that poly a bit before puncturing it. Paper is certainly sooner to puncture, it doesn’t have that give, and we’re OK with that. There may be some increased appearance of minor damage at a retail level, and that’s a tradeoff we’re making. But it’s not significant damage, since the thickness of the gauge of the paper is such that the pack is still

FirstPerson_1221.indd 19

structurally sound after minor punctures. It’s just another example of packaging having to balance between thickness, strength, flexibility, and in this case, sometimes long fingernails!

Is the paper packaging 2-D, with a single sheet wrapping around the rolls to cover the front, sides, and back? Or is there a top and bottom element of kraft to fully enclose each pack?

It’s fully enclosed, and that’s where that printed adhesive comes in. We’re able to crimp and heat seal a top wall and a bottom wall to the single sheet of kraft that makes up the front, back, and side wall layers. In doing so, the pack becomes fully enclosed and fully sealed. There’s no ink in that joint between kraft paper sheets to distort with a seal, just the adhesive layer on the top and bottom. It bears mentioning that there’s also a vertical adhesive strip on the back of the pack, where the wrapped strip of sidewall paper comes together. There is ink in that spot, proving it’s possible to heat seal over ink, you just can’t put a lot of intricate text or graphics in that specific spot.

As we speak, Nicky is only three months in market in the U.S. Was there any beta testing, and how’s the go-to-market going?

The reality is we’re kind of in our beta testing right now. We’re not yet out in every retailer on the shelf. We’re not positioning Nicky to go side-by-side with other national brands at every retailer you can find. Currently [Nov. 2021], we’re in one key retailer in the North East (Wegman’s) and we’re monitoring how the product sells, how it’s received, and we’re working on some of our in-store communications.

We’re also on Amazon, so we have an Amazon store. We could reach any consumer, but we’re targeting more of the Millennial and younger consumer.

It sounds like this package style might have implications for your private label and store brand customers.

That’s the next piece. Yes, we’re trying to establish Nicky as a North American brand for Sofidel. But more primarily, we want to introduce some innovative things to our customers in our private label world, as well. Most private labels position themselves in the context of a national brand equivalent, so they’re not necessarily trying to be the leader in the market. But there are a few, Wegman’s being one, that will lean out a little bit to compete with the national brands.

So, in the end, Nicky serves three purposes. First, it helps us get learnings on communication and how to connect with U.S. consumers, understand what they’re doing, and establish an in-road for the future of Sofidel having a consumer-packaged brand. Two, it shows innovative, environmentally sustainable ways to develop paper and packaging.

While Nicky is innovative on the packaging front and different in the U.S., the paper inside is also different—it’s far more energy efficient in how it’s made, and performs to the level of a national brand without using as much input energy. The third part is to test out the e-commerce messaging and see how that channel works.

This paper pack is a test-and-learn for Nicky, and we believe it has legs, but we believe the package is also something that could benefit our private label customers in the long run. We’re just putting in the testing on our own brand, and we’ll be able to share our learnings with our customers. —Matt Reynolds

11/12/21 3:26 PM

20 PW DEC2021

THE LEGAL SIDE

By Eric F. Greenberg, Attorney-at-law

One New Regulator, and Thoughts About All of Them Whenever a president nominates a new commissioner to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it inspires in me some thoughts and questions about the agency, and regulation generally.

This time, one can’t help but notice that President Biden was in office almost a full year before he nominated someone to be commissioner of FDA. He offered up Dr. Robert Califf in mid-November.

My first question is, Who cares?

Well, we care because many of the big policy issues on FDA’s plate directly affect the packaging industries, including controversies over the safety of substances in packaging that migrate to food, the recent revision of the nutrition label, how to deal with GRAS substances in food including those from packaging, and what exactly to do about cannabis and CBD products.

Even so, why do we care if FDA goes along operating under an ‘acting’ commissioner, as they did ever since Biden took office, instead of a President-nominated-then-Senate-confirmed head, informally referred to as a ‘permanent’ commissioner?

After all, even without a permanent head, thanks to the thousands of lesser officials at any agency, petitions still get analyzed and applications still get processed and facilities still get inspected and enforcement actions get advanced. The pandemic has slowed FDA, as much or more than the absence of a permanent commissioner.

The conventional answer is that agencies with permanent heads can more clearly set and pursue long-term programs and goals, and inspire personnel. That all sounds vague, but the effects are real. That’s especially so right now, as FDA contends with important decisions about new vaccines and drugs for COVID-19, every one of which is controversial and seems to inspire not just public controversy but real animosity.

The current acting FDA commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, is a widely respected veteran who has been at FDA for over 30 years, but was not nominated to be the permanent head reportedly because she was opposed by some Senators who said she was too buddy-buddy with the drug industry and didn’t effectively fight against opioid addiction.

The nominee, Dr. Califf, has been FDA commissioner before, serving 11 months during the Obama administration. He’s a cardiologist with a specialty in issues relating to clinical trials.

Before he was confirmed back in 2016, he too was accused by some Senators of being too close to drug makers, and was also criticized for his handling of the opioid epidemic while he was FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical product and tobacco regulation. We’ll see if he can weather those objections again in the Senate.

Next question: What kind of person makes a good FDA commissioner? Before you answer, keep in mind that FDA regulates

about 80% of the U.S. food supply, plus all drugs, medical devices, vaccines, cosmetics, tobacco, radiation-emitting devices, and animal food and drugs. It is frequently found squarely in the middle of public controversies about many of its decisions, controversies that are often quite emotionally charged, but are sometimes fueled by misguided nonsense on social media. Either way, FDA’s got to contend with them.

A better question might be, who would even want this job?

Commonly, FDA commissioners have come from industry or academia or public health roles. The choice often reflects a specific philosophy: you won’t want an industry veteran to run it if you think FDA isn’t tough enough on industry, or, if you think they’re already too tough, you won’t want an individual with a history as a regulator.

Decisions like this reflect a broader debate over the role of regulators generally. If you believe government regulation helps protect the public from danger and fraud, then you want effective regulation. If you tend to think government actions are always a failure and waste of money, then you’d say there shouldn’t be an agency mediating between drug or device or food packagers, and the public.

For an example of differing ideologies, remember that former President Trump used to loudly and frequently tout his opposition to ‘regulations,’ (never acknowledging that some regulations were useful even if some were wasteful). Remember his Executive Order to regulatory agencies that for every new regulation they make, two older ones need to be withdrawn? Reflecting his different ideology, President Biden swiftly withdrew that order when he took office.

Besides, the 2-for-1 order doesn’t appear to have caused many regulations to be cut, in part because the last administration was ideologically opposed to making new regulations anyway.

Debating the best regulatory philosophy is part of the traditional operation of our democracy. I’m a bit concerned that some academic types, and even some members of Congress, appear to be giving up on those debates and are instead sympathetic to scrapping the democracy model altogether, with its rights to free speech and voting and impartial courts of law and the like.

If you doubt that more and more folks are in favor of such an extreme approach, think about how often, when the topic is something mundane like how much the government should spend on building roads or defense, people now refer to their political opponents as ‘enemies’ worthy of violence and destruction because they ‘hate America,’ rather than fellow citizens whose policy ideas are worthy of robust debate.

So, I wish Dr. Califf good luck in leading FDA, and encourage him to act fairly and reasonably and not to place too many new burdens on packagers. And here’s hoping that future debates over regulatory approaches are drawn within the traditional lines. PW

Eric Greenberg can be reached at greenberg@efg-law.com. Or visit his firm’s Web site at www.ericfgreenbergpc.com.

INFORMATIONAL ONLY, NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

LegalSide_1221.indd 20

11/16/21 2:08 PM

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packexpoeast.com 11/17/21 6:27 PM

22 PW DEC2021

THE BIG PICTURE

By Sterling Anthony, CPP, Contributing Editor

A Look at Metal Lug Closures A lug closure’s short profile and simple appearance belie the Also known as lug lids, lug caps, and engineering and tight tolerances necessary for an adequate pairing twist caps, lug closures are the choice with the glass container. Lug closures are designated by an inside for a variety of products that are heatdiameter (in millimeters), joined by a hyphen to a standardized processed and hot-filled in glass jars. Lugs description code (designating whether the closure is of the 2-lug, are the equally spaced tabs around the 4-lug, or 6-lug variety). The description code, in turn, corresponds to a skirt (under-rim) of the closure. Their purpose is to interlock with specific finish (threaded neck) of a container. What’s to be appreciated the interrupted tread of the container’s finish (neck). Due to that is that the manufacture of lug closures entails more than just interlocking, lug closures can be applied or removed with less than a stamping them out on a machine press. If closures arrive at the user’s full turn. Continuous-tread (C-T) closures, by contrast, interlock with facility “out of spec,” subsequent operations will be all for naught. the continuous thread of the container’s finish and require at least a At the capping station, the closures are full turn to apply or remove.

On the inside of lug closures is a A lug closure’s short profile and positioned and torqued at programmed speeds. However, immediately preceding compound (typically plastisol), essential in simple appearance belie the those operations, it’s advisable to apply effecting a hermetic seal. When the closure is applied, the compound compresses engineering and tight tolerances heat to soften (not melt) the sealing compound, so that it spreads more around the lip (land) of the container, necessary for an adequate uniformly around the container’s land. filling any void between the container’s lip pairing with the glass container.

Another factor impacting seal integrity and the underside of the closure. is the amount of headspace. Too little Heat-processed high-acid foods, such headspace runs the risk of product getting into the sealing areas. as sauces, soups, marinades, and jams/jellies/preserves, are heatToo much headspace runs the risk of it not getting sterilized. The processed, hot-filled into glass jars, and crowned with lug closures. sterilization of the headspace (and the interior of the lug closure) is Processing, filling, and capping are components of a system for achieved by the temperature of the contents (typically 190° to 200°F), producing shelf-stable products. Processing and filling must be done when the filled and capped container is inverted. The duration of under strictly controlled temperature setting to destroy harmful the inversion should be for one minute or longer, during which, microorganisms. After that, the lug closure becomes the main agent the container should be in motion toward the location where the in maintaining shelf-stability until the container is opened. container is turned right-side-up. After all, a hermetic seal on nonLug closures fulfill all the functions of packaging: containment/ sterile contents serves no purpose. protection, communication, and convenience/utility. Containment/ Even the cooling period influences seal integrity. As the contents protection has been addressed by preceding comments. cool, a vacuum is created, applying greater hold-down on the lug Communication can be had with printing on the top and around the closure. A loss of vacuum (which only is intended to occur at the side, conveying brand name, product line variety, and promotional consumer’s in-home removal of the lug closure) is evidenced by the claims. Also under communication is safety information, such as aforementioned pop-up of the safety dimple/button. refrigerate after opening. Another type of safety communication As for capping stations, there is no universal configuration. Capping warns against purchasing the product if the center-located dimple/ stations differ in terms of machines and button has popped up (which happens models. Nonetheless, they all encounter when the hermetic seal has been broken). problems that happen with varying freConvenience/utility accrues from the twistMarch 21-23, 2022 Pennsylvania Convention Center quency. One such problem is loose engageon-and-off feature and can be enhanced Philadelphia, PA USA ment between lugs and threads. Another is with ribbed sides for better gripping. closures that sit cocked, like a fedora slantGiven that glass containers and metal ed on someone’s head. One more is flatlug closures are complete barriers, the tened or crushed lugs. Yet another is enammost likely cause of lost sterility is a el that’s been stripped from the underneath poor seal. When experienced on a large Interested in the latest closure of the closure. These and other problems scale, lost sterility can result in rejected tech? Don’t miss PACK EXPO East can result from a variety of causes, thereby shipments or even a product recall. It where a wide range of closures and complicating troubleshooting. But without behooves a brand-owner, therefore, to containers will be demonstrated. a fast and accurate identification and soluhave quality-assurance measures geared to tion, output will be slowed at best, or even achieving quality seals.

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Each year, ProFood World recognizes outstanding food and beverage processing and packaging innovation projects via the Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards competition.

Produced by

Multiple awards will be named in the program and project categories including: ● ● ● ●

Awards to be presented at

Reduction in water and energy Waste conservation Pollution prevention Packaging reductions

N R R C N LY ADD D PROC SSOR/ SUPPLI R PAR N RS IP CA GORY!

Join past winners such as Campbell Soup, Land O’Lakes, McCormick, Smithfield, Conagra Brands, Hormel, Hiland Dairy, Big Heart Pet Brands, Liffey Meats, and Graphic Packaging International.

Learn more at pfwgo.to/sema

Entries are due March 1, 2022.

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SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor

Paper Can for Sangria is the Full Package Splash Beverage Group, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company specializing in the manufacture, distribution, sales, and marketing of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, announced in June that it was “enhancing its commitment to developing market share for innovative, socially conscious brands that are sustainably focused.” Walking the walk, the company is the sole distributor outside of Spain of a sangria brand with indisputable sustainability Lid street cred: Pulpoloco Sangria.

Says Splash CEO Robert Nistico, three things attracted Splash to the brand: “The sustainable, gamechanging packaging, the sangria liquid itself, and the branding!”

Imported from Spain, Pulpoloco is made from a blend Edge of Tempranillo wine, fruit, and Protection Strip spices, and comes in Soft Rosé, Crisp White, and Smooth Red flavors. What really differentiates the brand, however, is its unique packaging. Instead of glass or aluminum, the mixed alcoholic beverage is packaged in a 250-mL, smooth-finish, aseptic paper can, the CartoCan®, developed by German equipment supplier Hörauf, that’s decorated in colorful, mosaic-like graphics. It’s the full package.

“Pulpoloco launched [in 2017] in the paper CartoCan packaging because the founder became aware of how special the packaging was,” reports Nistico. “The aseptic processing allows the flavor complexity to come through… . Sustainability should be important to all beverage companies, and the Pulpoloco brand is enjoyed by a generation of consumers who want their brands to prioritize their environmental impact.”

The CartoCan has five components: the body, lid, edge protection strip, bottom, and pull tab. With the exception of the pull tab, the can is made from a four-layer barrier structure, 60% of which is paper that is Forest Stewardship Council-certified. Nistico says the current construction includes foil, but Splash is beta testing a version without the aluminum layer. The CartoCan is said by the company to be 30% more eco-friendly than aluminum or PET and to use 30% fewer total raw materials to create. An icon on the back of the Pulpoloco can reads, “20-60% Less CO2 Than Alternative Packaging.” The CartoCan also offers a 12-month shelf life without preservatives and is fully recyclable.

While there are other aseptic packaging technologies on the market, Nistico says CartoCan was chosen because it provides a better

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experience for wine. “The perfect cylinder shape and soft-touch finish make the package so much more elegant than the other [aseptic] packages,” he says.

However, the cylinder shape does present challenges for forming and filling. “Hörauf had to create a two-stage process in a single machine,” Nistico says. “Where the blocky-style aseptic packages envelope the liquid in a singlePull Tab stage form, fill, and seal, the CartoCan requires a cup-formation stage and then a subsequent but separate filling and sealing stage.”

Body Pulpoloco Sangria is co-packed in Austria by dairy company and Hörauf partner Ennstal Milch, which has operated several

Bottom

CartoCan machines since they first became available in 2013. Hörauf converts the can rollstock, which is printed in five colors. It also provides the film/foil pull tab that is adhered over the opening of the can in the first stage of the packaging process.

Splash currently distributes Pulpoloco Sangria in 22 U.S. states and has plans to expand to all 50, as well as to two Central American countries. The product is sold in single cans or four packs, with a suggested retail price of $3.49 per can. PW

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Sustainable Packaging— Seventh Generation Keeps Moving the Needle Seventh Generation, which was knee-deep in sustainable packaging when it was hardly even a thing, is waiting for their CPG peers to sense the urgency and catch up—now.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Expanding use of PCR

Managing supply chain surprises

By Pat Reynolds, VP Editor Emeritus Ask the CEO of just about any Consumer Packaged Goods company what it’s been like to persevere in the face of COVID-19 and words like “challenging,” “difficult,” or “disruptive” are bound to surface. But picture someone who was just named CEO on July 7 of 2021. Then throw in the fact that her company is a leading supplier of household cleaners and paper goods, two product categories that pandemic-rattled consumers couldn’t get enough of for a period of time. And then, just for good measure, factor in that this particular CEO is a mother of three children aged 8, 6, and 4.

“I’ll be honest with you, it’s been really hard,” says Alison Whritenour, CEO of Burlington, Vt.-based Seventh Generation, the 30-year-old maker of household and personal care products that from day one has been on a mis-

A

The breakthrough component in this package for concentrated laundry detergent is a cap that doses precisely 11 mL each time the consumer squeezes the PET bottle.

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sion to prove that business can be a force for good in the world. “The amount of business disruption on top of employee disruption combined with a huge surge in demand for certain products was a big challenge. It continues to be a challenge now, though I feel incredibly proud of our team’s resiliency, of their ability to be clear on what’s important.”

Few things at Seventh Generation are more important than sustainability. The firm has established itself as a leader both in plant-based product formulas and in packaging that is not only source-reduced but also has as much post-consumer recycled (PCR) content as possible. Setting the organization’s sustainability goals is a task overseen by Global Director of Advocacy and Sustainability Ashley Orgain’s team. “It’s our job to understand the societal and environmental issues that we as a business want to act on,” says Orgain, who reports directly to Whritenour. “Based on that understanding, we set goals that are relevant to the product categories we operate in. Then we partner with R&D to execute against those goals.”

For a fuller look at the firm’s assessment of its key environmental goals, go to pwgo.to/7331 to read Seventh Generation’s 2020 Corporate Consciousness Update. In it, Whritenour proudly states that in some areas, 2020 goals have been met. For example, in 2020, 97% of product packaging, by volume, was what the firm considered to be “Zero Waste”—reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable. She also candidly admits that in other areas, the firm fell short. “We don’t have a good methodology for measuring the end use of our products—in other words, is our packaging reused, recycled, or biodegraded?”

Seventh Generation, of course, was purchased

by Unilever in 2016. When asked what kind of im-

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Pictured from left are CEO Alison Whritenour, Director of Packaging Development Derrick Lawrence, Manager of Packaging Development Kelly Murosky, and Global Director of Advocacy and Sustainability Ashley Orgain. pact the acquisition had on her department, Orgain says it’s been all good. “Part of Unilever’s rationale for buying the company in the first place is that we are a leader in sustainability and have a commitment to making the world a better place,” she points out. “As for my team specifically, we’ve not only retained the talent we had at the time of the acquisition, we’ve gone from two to three and now to five people.”

Manager of Packaging Development Kelly Murosky completely agrees with Orgain’s assessment of how mutually beneficial the Unilever acquisition has been. She adds that when the acquisition was announced, the unstated objective embraced by her and her Seventh Generation colleagues was “to infect the host.”

“It was a matter of injecting our sustainability knowledge into the parent company,” says Murosky. “When we launched Seventh Generation products in Europe, it marked some of the first 100% PCR bottles for Unilever. We were even able to help a Unilever manufacturing facility transition to PCR bottles. It was definitely cool to be involved in that.

Though to be perfectly honest, even before the acquisition Unilever had done some amazing things with their Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.”

(For more on that, go to pwgo.to/7332.)

One unexpected benefit of the Unilever acquisition is in the area of purchasing power. As more brand owners begin to see increased use of

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PCR content as a way to accomplish their sustainability goals, availability of material becomes an issue. “Being part of Unilever has helped on that front,” says Murosky. “Securing contracts is easier when you have that kind of buying power.”

Recycled or bio-based A key goal at Seventh Generation is to have 100% of its packaging materials be either recycled content or bio-based. “It’s all about eliminating the use of virgin materials, both plastic and fiber, in our packaging,” says Murosky. “We have a hierarchy of sorts. Post-consumer is our preference, but when 100% PCR is not available, then we look to post-industrial materials, because that’s still a pretty clean stream. And if neither of them can be implemented, we look for bio-based options.

A great example is our 100-oz extrusion blown HDPE laundry bottle. It’s virgin-petroleum-free. 80% is PCR. But we discovered that if we went beyond that, we began to experience stress cracking in the sidewalls. So we supplemented the last 20% with a Braskem drop in bio-resin that, because its monomers are the same as traditional virgin PE resin, is fully recyclable in the existing PE stream.” The Braskem resin she refers to is I’m green™ Polyethylene.

Getting back to the impact of the pandemic, Vice President of R&D

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Tim Fowler says it brought valuable lessons. “We learned a lot about ourselves and our ability to be flexible without compromising on our core principles. As plenty of other companies discovered, there were times when we couldn’t get enough spray dispensing heads or bottles for disinfectant products. So we had to ask ourselves what is it about our principles as a company that is absolutely critical, what are the things we must hold to? It was also about finding the right partners for what we needed.

Even if the shape was a little different or the color was slightly off, as long as we were still meeting our PCR standards we felt we were fundamentally on track.”

Worth noting is that Seventh Generation is what’s known as a virtual manufacturer. When it comes to manufacturing and packaging, it outsources everything except product formulation and package design. Since the Unilever acquisition, some of its products come out of Unilever facilities, but the point is, when Fowler says “partners,” he is referring to the network of third-party contract manufacturers that are the very foundation of Seventh Generation’s whole business model.

“I look at these partnerships in two ways,” says Fowler. “First, we have these deep connections with the firms that make and package our products, and throughout the pandemic they were able to help us tap their supplier connections. Second, we have our own network of material supplier connections, whether it involves a resin or a blown bottle or some other package component.

By utilizing that total network of third-party manufacturers plus their suppliers as well as that next tier of suppliers we’ve identified ourselves, we were able to be very responsive in the pandemic.”

The other advantage to Seventh Generation being a virtual manufacturer is that the contract manufacturers they rely on pride themselves on flexibility. “They tend not to be capital intensive facilities,” says Fowler. “So think back to the paper bottle from Ecologic Brands that we launched nearly 10 years ago. It consists of two molded pulp

Getting Started with Sustainable Packaging Looking for information on how to get started with sustainable packaging? This Packaging World primer will provide an overview on what sustainable packaging is, what’s driving the push for more sustainable packaging, and how to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. Includes links to resources. Download this free PDF today at pwgo.to/7345.

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This 100% PCR cap for a line of dish washing liquids is made in large part from recycled PP clothes hangers. shells and an inner liner made of plastic, and those components had to be hand assembled before filling could take place. If we had already owned huge manufacturing lines cranking out plastic bottles at high speeds, there’s no way we would have been in a position to start that kind of operation. So having this network of contract manufacturers who actually seek out these kinds of projects helps us innovate at a quicker pace than we could if we had a lot of fixed capital assets. Sure there’s a downside in terms of what it costs to outsource that way, but on balance it has helped us a lot, especially in terms of fostering innovation.”

Before leaving behind the paper bottle, two things are worth considering. First, how might Ecologic Brands have fared had Seventh Generation not bought into its potential a decade ago? Since then a number of advancements have been made at Ecologic where automated assembly systems are concerned. Moreover, Ecologic was purchased in February by Jabil, which ranks 104th on the Fortune 500 list. That makes available to Ecologic— which for most of its existence has been basically a cash-starved startup—considerable resources for improvement and optimization. Seventh Generation will no doubt be a beneficiary of such progress. So their willingness to invest in a paper-bottle startup 10 years ago is poised to pay real dividends.

Second, Unilever for some years now has been pursuing paper bottle technology along an entirely different technology track than Ecologic’s, relying instead on work done by Pulpex, a collaboration between Unilever, Diageo, Pilot Lite, and others. A Pulpex prototype developed for Unilever’s leading laundry brand OMO is set to debut in Brazil by early 2022, with a plan to roll out in Europe and other countries soon after.

Unilever brand hair care bottles are being looked at, too. Imagine the potential for progress in the quest for a paper bottle when a global juggernaut like Unilever and a sustainable packaging leader like Seventh Generation get together and share notes.

Cracking down on over-dosing One package everyone at Seventh Generation sees as a sign of real progress on the sustainability front is the 23.1-oz EasyDose™ Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent. It uses 60% less plastic than the firm’s 100-oz laundry bottle yet still delivers the same number of uses. That’s because what Seventh Generation means by “ultra-concentrated” is not two-times or four-times but eight-times concentrated. At that level of concentration, a whole lot of laundry loads can be taken care of by a very small bottle of product—as long as the consumer doesn’t overdose. And that’s where packaging innovation comes in.

“The breakthrough is the cap’s auto dosing feature,” says Manager of Packaging Development Murosky. “For many consumers, the whole problem with concentrated products is pouring the right dose. They are so conditioned to thinking they need X amount of liquid detergent that

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When ‘Technical Rigor’ Entered the Picture Director of Packaging Development Derrick Lawrence has been with Seventh Generation for 10 of the firm’s 30 years in business. A graduate of the RIT Packaging Science program, he later added a Masters Degree in technology management and an MBA, both from Fairfield University. After working for Beiersdorf, Pepperidge Farm, and Mentholatum, he joined Seventh Generation, a firm he’d always had an eye on because its emphasis on sustainable packaging was a fundamental value that he also embraced.

“When I arrived here they were doing some really great work, especially in expanding the use of PCR,” says Lawrence.

“But they didn’t really have dedicated packaging people. So I saw it as a great opportunity to bring some technical rigor to

the work that was being done.”

Lawrence says that in everything the firm develops, he and his team sit at the table right alongside the brand and formula people from the get-go. “Sometimes we’re even driving formulation to match a packaging concept,” he says. “The EasyDose Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent is a good example. It was packaging that drove the decision-making on what that formula would be.”

“It’s incredibly important to have the voice of packaging and R&D at the table,” says CEO Whritenour, “to ensure that we’re not just making immediate choices to satisfy the needs in front of us but are thinking about material usage in terms of generations beyond today.” PW

Seventh Generation’s Kelly Murosky and Loop/ they figure ‘No way is this small little dose going to clean my laundry.’ So TerraCycle’s Tom Szaky talk reusable packaging we came up with EasyDose. When you turn the bottle upside down and platforms with PW at pwgo.to/7348. squeeze once, it doses precisely 11 milliliters. It even brings an element that Lawrence and Murosky were more directly involved than he in the of convenience to the task, as consumers have told us that they can pick development of the EasyDose. “My role is more one of setting the goals up the bottle with one hand and deliver the correct dose—even with a and standards of how we’re going to behave, while Kelly and Derrick are child in the other arm. Try that when you’re measuring into a cap from more about execution. And they’ve done well on this package, which is a heavy bottle of liquid.” a win on so many levels. First it’s less plastic, and the plastic used on the Injection stretch blow molded of PET by Amcor, the bottle is dePET bottle is 100% PCR. Then, with the concentrated formula, so many signed to have just the right memory, says Director of Packaging Develbenefits begin to trickle down, beginning with having to transport so opment Derrick Lawrence. “Most laundry bottles are pretty large and many fewer bottles. Then the retailers get savings in their shelf space, need a handle, which makes HDPE the obvious choice,” says Lawrence. every inch of which is extremely valuable. And think of the consumer “But in this bottle we need the memory of PET so that when the plunger who perhaps does laundry away from home. How much easier is this goes down and dispenses the dose, the bottle sidewalls will spring back small container than the large handled HDPE to help return the spring in the piston.” containers typically seen?”

The dosing cap, supplied by Silgan, consists Launched in 2019 as an e-commerce-only of four parts (see Photo A on page 26), all inoffering, the EasyDose Laundry Detergent is jection molded of PP except for the stainlessnow also available on store shelves. Successful steel spring. As the consumer squeezes, product as it’s been, Fowler admits that consumer eduflows under the orange dosing barrel and out of cation remains an essential part of the firm’s the orifice. The force of the squeeze overcomes efforts to grow this format. “Keep in mind that the spring constant and the dosing barrel the consumer likes to over-dose,” says Fowler. moves to the bottom to seal off the orifice. As “That can be good for business, as it leads to the consumer releases the squeeze, the spring more product consumed. But it’s bad for the re-sets the mechanism for the next dose. environment. This closure makes it easy to The “guts” of the cap, as Lawrence puts it, control dosing. But it will take some education is pretty much a Silgan thing. “But the outer to get it to the next level.” portion of the cap is something we designed,” The other built-in disadvantage that Easyhe adds. “Initially we had more of a stock SilDose Laundry Detergent has on store shelves is gan outer cap, and since this format was first its noticeably diminutive size, says Whritenour. launched through e-commerce channels we “Getting consumers to believe that a package needed to add tape to the cap to guard against this small can do so many loads is challengleaks. But once we saw real consumer interest ing,” she points out. “It remains a visual value in the product, we came up with more of a that we need to help consumers deal with. custom cap design that includes some special Still, we believe that we’ve placed the right bet ratchets to keep the threaded cap from backVice President of R&D Tim Fowler: on this format, it’s just going to take some time ing off during transit. That let us eliminate the “People don’t want to trade something off to help consumers along. But that is one of the taping that was initially needed.” by embracing sustainable packaging. They things we hold as a key to our whole brand, Murosky reports to Lawrence, and he reports want it to be as good as or better than making sure we are leading in the sustainable to Vice President of R&D Fowler, who in turn realternatives.” packaging space, ensuring that every decision ports to CEO Whritenour. Fowler readily admits

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we make considers the next seven generations. As we look around, we see signs of progress, especially when we see other, bigger brands moving into PCR content. That’s terribly important, because we know that as a smaller company we won’t be able to do it alone. To get where we need to be the big brands will have to help move the needle.”

First 100% PCR cap Elsewhere in the cap development program at Seventh Generation is the 100% PCR cap for the company’s Natural Dish Liquid. Engineered by TricorBraun and reaching store shelves in 2018, it’s made in large part from recycled polypropylene clothes hangers. Among the challenges to developing such a cap was identifying a consistent PCR supply chain for material that makes it possible to give the cap key performance characteristics such as hinge functionality, impact resistance, and injection mold-flow consistency. A second challenge is achieving marketing and aesthetic attributes. PCR materials traditionally have an inherent odor and typically present difficulties when it comes to integrating custom color masterbatches. Identifying a clean and controlled source of incoming materials was critical, and recycled plastic hangers turned out to be that source. TricorBraun and the Seventh Generation team collaborated on coming up with the cap.

Another package the Seventh Generation team is excited about is its Zero-Plastic Homecare line. “We’ve left the plastic behind,” says the Seventh Generation website, “and provided packaging made of steel—the most recyclable and recycled material in the world.”

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Consisting of both powder-based cleaners as well as pressed-powder tablets, the line features tin-plate steel canisters supplied by TinWerks Packaging. Launched in 2020 exclusively through Grove Collaborative, an online retailer specializing in sustainable cleaning products, this year the line became available through Walmart.com and Target.com. (For more on this package, go to pwgo.to/7333.)

“We’re finding the e-commerce channel to be a good way for us to test new products, especially when it’s a concept that might be a bit of a stretch from either a consumer acceptance or consumer use standpoint,” says Lawrence. “With this next version of Zero-Plastic now going out to larger e-comm retailers, we’ve tweaked the sizes, the doses, and the graphics. We’ll continue to test and learn and modify the packaging as we move forward.”

Murosky says there are plans to put the Zero-Plastic line in brick-and-mortar stores and also plans to develop a refillable version, a packaging format she’d like to see more of. “We’ve seen some competitors launch refills,” says Murosky, “and from my point of view I’d love to see reuse and refill become more commonplace. But once again it comes back to that consumer education component. How do we design packaging that’s convenient for consumers while also helping them make that behavior change that will be necessary to make refills work?”

When asked if the expansion of refills should be done internally by Seventh Generation or through Loop, the global circular shopping platform that relies on durable and reusable containers, she says both should play a role. “Considering how multifaceted and multichannel the marketplace is today, I think we have to recognize that convenience is king. That being the case, there should be a couple of different solutions to suit different consumer behaviors.”

844.293.2816

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Seventh Generation was one of the earliest adopters of paper bottle technology when it launched product in the Ecologic bottle (far left). Now the firm is part of Unilever, which is exploring paper bottle tech with its OMO, Skip, and Persil brands.

Importance of the Consumer Experience Fowler, too, emphasizes how important consumer behavior and the consumer experience is. “From a strategic perspective, we focus a lot on getting sustainability, cost, and performance right,” he says.

“Within that performance vector, we consistently ask if consumers are having at least an equally satisfying, if not a better, experience than they would if they were using more conventional packaging materials. Because if they’re not having a good experience, if they continue to see sustainable packaging as some sort of tradeoff, then our product and packaging offerings may never occupy more than a niche status. A good analogy is electric cars. I’ll only drive an electric car when it performs as well as or better than my gas-fueled car. Some of that applies to sustainable packaging. People don’t want to trade something off by embracing sustainable packaging. They want it to be as good or better than alternatives.”

While Fowler believes sustainable packaging breakthroughs will continue to emerge, he thinks change will come incrementally. In the meantime, he and his Seventh Generation colleagues are as committed as ever to driving that change. One thing they’ll continue to focus on is expanding the use of PCR. “We need to drive the systems and the infrastructure that will allow PCR and recycling to grow because that’s going to be part of the long-term solution,” he says. “Let’s also look for ways to use less plastic without demonizing it. It’s not plastic that’s evil, it’s how our society handles plastic.

One of the things we as a company pride ourselves on is that we search for solutions that are systemic in nature. So we’re trying to create a system that allows the benefits of plastics to shine through while mitigating their downside. Recycling has to be part of that system. So does the understanding that if you rely on packaging that is not recyclable, maybe you get charged for that somehow. Boil it all down and what we’re all really looking for is a system of zero waste. It doesn’t matter if packaging is refilled, recycled, or composted—as long as we arrive at a system that leads us closer to zero waste.”

When asked what she thinks is especially challenging today in fostering the growth of sustainable packaging, Global Director of Advocacy and Sustainability Orgain says it’s scale. “There are a lot of awesome innovations coming down the pike that we have visibility into,” she notes. “But as a small business some of them are just out of reach. While that’s a challenge, it’s also an opportunity. Being part of Unilever, we’d like to be the nimble speed boat that pioneers innovation out in front of a massive cruise ship that has the resources to turn new technologies into scalable commercial realities.”

CEO Whritenour, who’s been at Seventh Generation for just under 10 years and has been able to watch the sustainable packaging landscape evolve, thinks packaging now plays a bigger role than ever when it comes to consumer purchasing behavior. She also thinks it’s time that all Consumer Packaged Goods companies, especially the largest ones, do whatever they can to take sustainable packaging seriously.

“When we look at the IPCC report that just came out from the United Nations, and then we look at the climate-related weather happening right in front of us, I think we all know we are on borrowed time,” says Whritenour. “So while it’s important that Seventh Generation keeps pushing the envelope on sustainable packaging, it’s essential that all companies in this space make sure they’re doing everything possible to help consumers along in this journey. The small changes we’ve seen historically have certainly been encouraging, and they provide us with a firm foundation. But I think we need some big changes now, and I hope others are up for the challenge the way we are.” PW

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L’Oréal Pioneers Bottle Made from Industrial Emissions The prototype HDPE package is the result of a partnership with LanzaTech and TotalEnergies that converts carbon emissions from a steel mill into recycled polyethylene with the same properties as virgin plastic.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Advanced recycling

100% rHDPE cosmetics packaging

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor “Turning trash into treasure”: That’s how Freya Burton, Chief Sustainability and People Officer for carbon recycling company LanzaTech describes the process used by L’Oréal earlier this year to produce the first cosmetics bottle made from industrial emissions. The prototype bottle is the result of a collaboration between the French cosmetics giant, LanzaTech, and energy company TotalEnergies that began in 2016.

The partnership one of a number of strategies L’Oréal is employ-

ing to meet its L’Oréal for the Future 2030 sustainability commitments.

Among these commitments is a plastics roadmap target of 100% refillable, recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2025 and 0% fossil-based packaging by 2030. Says Brice Andre, Global Director Sustainable Packaging and Development for the company, “To achieve the objectives of the L’Oréal for the Future program in terms of sustainable packaging, L’Oréal is working with a number of strategic partners, giving it access to the best technologies.”

Because mechanical recycling presents limitations in terms of the availability and quality of feedstock, Andre shares that L’Oréal is pursuing alternative technologies to meet its ambitious plastic packaging goals. In 2019, the company announced an agreement with PureCycle Technologies for the use of its Ultra-Pure Recycled Polypropylene (UPRP)—a material produced through a chemical recycling process developed by Procter & Gamble (see pwgo.to/7336)—when the material becomes available at commercial scale. Also in 2019, L’Oréal worked with packaging supplier Albéa to develop a tube made from a biobased, paper-like material as an alternative to traditional plastic cosmetics tubes (see pwgo.to/7337).

And, just recently, in June 2021, the company announced that along with consortium partners Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe, it had produced the first cosmetics bottle made entirely from PET produced through Carbios’s enzymatic recycling technology (see sidebar opposite).

For high-density polyethylene packaging, however, L’Oréal’s work with LanzaTech and Total in the form of a plastic bottle made from industrial carbon emissions is a world first.

A common goal of circular packaging To ferret out innovative, game-changing technologies, Andre says L’Oréal has put a streamlined process in place. “Our teams first conduct active worldwide scouting of new or improved rising technologies that allow us to find alternatives to virgin plastics or reduce its use,” he explains. “Our packaging and design departments then analyze these options for quality, robustness, and consumer experience.”

In LanzaTech and TotalEnergies, L’Oréal found partners that shared

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PET Bottle from Enzymatic Recycling In June, a consortium of global brands comprising L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe, along with green biotech company Carbios announced they had successfully produced the world’s first food-grade PET plastic bottles made entirely from enzymatically recycled plastic.

Each company was able to manufacture sample bottles for some of their leading products. L’Oréal produced a bottle for its Biotherm skincare brand. Its goal, it says, is to put rPET Biotherm bottles based on this disruptive innovation into production in 2025.

Said L’Oréal Packaging and Development Director Jacques Playe at the time of the announcement, “We have been working with Carbios since 2017 to develop this first bottle made from PET derived from enzymatic recycling technology, an alternative to mechanical recycling. We are pleased to announce today the feasibility of these Consortium partners Suntory, Néstle Waters, L’Oréal, and PepsiCo each made a bottles in a pilot phase and are delighted to bottle from Carbios material for their (l. to r.) Orangina, Perrier, Biotherm, and Pepsi be in a position to create the packaging of the Max brands, respectively. future with our partners. This is a promising Carbios adds that the process can also be achieved at high innovation for the years to come that demonstrates our speeds, breaking down 97% of plastic in just 16 hours, which commitment to bring to market more environmentally friendly it says is 10,000-times more efficient than any biological packaging and which is part of a circularity initiative begun plastic recycling trial to date. It also adds that enzymatic more than 15 years ago.” recycling overcomes the issue of degradation in conventional According to Carbios, the technology was the culmination recycling. And, because the process works under mild of nearly 10 years of research and development to create a conditions, it could also lower the carbon footprint of PET new process to supercharge an enzyme naturally occurring in waste treatment by saving 30% of CO2 emissions compared compost heaps that normally breaks down the leaf membranes of dead plants. By adapting this enzyme, Carbios says it has to a conventional end-of-life mix of incineration and landfill, fine-tuned the technology and has optimized the enzyme to taking virgin PET production substitution into account. break down any kind of PET plastic—including clear, colored, In September, Carbios broke ground on a demonstration opaque, and multilayer—into its building blocks, which can plant; a 40,000-ton-capacity industrial facility is scheduled for then be turned into like-new, virgin-quality plastic. launch by 2025. PW

the same goal of developing a circular economy for plastics. “And through this partnership, we together found a common purpose for reusing industrial carbon emissions,” Andre says.

LanzaTech’s “trash-to-treasure” process, described as CarbonSmart™, allows carbon waste to be captured and converted into new products using the biological process of gas fermentation. Explains LanzaTech’s Burton, “If you think about traditional fermentation, you use sugars and yeast to make alcohol. We actually do the same thing, but instead of using sugars, we take waste carbon in a gaseous form, like carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, for example, and then, instead of yeast, we have a clever bacteria that converts the carbon in the gas into ethanol.”

Typically, the gases used for the process are those combusted and emitted as carbon dioxide, or pollution, from an industrial process.

Through the CarbonSmart technology, LanzaTech pipes that gas into

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a special reactor. “In the reactor, bacteria are swimming around in a liquid medium, and the gas sort of bubbles through the liquid, where the bacteria can then eat it more efficiently, and they produce ethanol as a byproduct of their growth process,” says Burton. “They eat it, they divide, and they make ethanol.”

Interestingly, the CarbonSmart process can also potentially use as feedstock agricultural waste and residues or unsorted, unrecyclable household trash that would otherwise be landfilled or burned for power. In this scenario, LanzaTech would partner with a company using gasification to turn the solid wastes into a synthesis gas stream (syngas), which would then be converted to ethanol via the CarbonSmart process.

LanzaTech’s first commercial site capturing industrial emissions, located in China, has been in operation since 2018. There, the company is taking emissions from a steel mill to make ethanol. As of early 2021,

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LanzaTech had produced more than 20 million gallons of ethanol— the equivalent of mitigating more than 100,000 tons of CO2—from the mill’s emissions. In April 2021, the company opened a second facility in China. Other projects in the works include a plant in Belgium with ArcelorMittal, the largest steel company in the world, and a plant in India that will take in refinery emissions, both of which are scheduled to become operational in 2022.

Other developments from LanzaTech include production of PET fibers for use in clothing, with a partnership with Lululemon making sports apparel, and the production of food-grade packaging with Consumer Packaged Goods company Mibelle Group, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s largest retail group, Migros, which won the German Packaging Award 2021 in the Sustainability category (see pwgo.to/7342).

In the case of the prototype bottle made for L’Oréal, the ethanol was produced at LanzaTech’s first commercial site in China. The next step in the process was handled by TotalEnergies. Using a dehydration process developed in partnership with IFP Axens, TotalEnergies converted the ethanol into ethylene and then polymerized it into a polyethylene material having the same technical components as virgin, petroleum-based plastic.

Watch a video of the LanzaTech process at pwgo.to/7343.

The fact that the material is chemically identical to virgin HDPE is an essential requirement for L’Oréal. “We have the same requirements [for the recycled material] as for virgin, fossil-based plastic,” says Andre. “We aim to match the same level of quality, purity, appearance, and mechanical properties.” He adds that the prototype bottle, manufactured by one of L’Oréal’s strategic bottle suppliers, fully confirms the material’s indistinguishability from virgin HDPE.

Partners needed for scale-up While L’Oréal’s prototype bottle was a great success, much work needs to be done by the partners in order to meet L’Oréal’s target of commercialization by 2024 for its shampoo and conditioner packaging. “What we’re doing now is working on the scale-up,” says Burton.

“So we have the ethanol scale-up; that part is done. The next part is the scale-up of the conversion into ethylene and polyethylene, and then production of the bottle. What we’re also doing is looking at more locally available sources of ethanol, with our facility in Belgium coming online in 2022. That will help reduce the carbon footprint because we won’t be shipping ethanol around the world.”

The partners are also working to involve other companies interested in using the technology. “When you’ve got greater volumes to convert, it becomes more economic for everyone concerned,” Burton adds.

Agrees Andre, “As with most innovation, there are risks connected with feasibility, price, timing, scalability, and performance, including environmental performance. Beyond these aspects, it is key to consolidate production quantities with more companies. The more quantities there are, the more we secure the investments and the economical equation.”

He notes though that L’Oréal is working to enlist other partners in the technology not only to consolidate volumes, “but also to share this breakthrough technology with the industry.” PW

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Robotic Palletizers Boost Production Efficiencies at Soda Producer Radnor Hills Award-winning U.K. soft drinks producer Radnor Hills installed three ABB end-of-line robotic palletizers from robotics integrator RMGroup. The move has enabled the manufacturer to benefit from process efficiencies throughout its production.

Manufacturing a wide range of spring waters, flavored waters, functional waters, school compliant drinks, premium sparkling pressés, fruit juices, and private label brands, Radnor Hills is an award winning and growing beverage business. To keep up with demand, it first approached robotics integrator RMGroup to investigate automating an end-of-line palletizing operation with a robot arm.

Watch a video of Radnor Hill’s end-of-line robotic palletizing system in action at pwgo.to/7346.

On the line, packs of bottles needed to be palletized at a rate of 14 packs per minute. Given the throughput and pallet stack formats, RMGroup needed to ensure that the robotic solution could multi pick packs up to four at any one time, and then place them onto a pallet in formats of one, two, three, or four to keep up with the production line throughput.

Following the success of the initial installation, RMGroup has since supplied another pair of ABB end-of-line palletizing systems at the site.

Packs of bottles needed to be palletized at a rate of 14 packs per minute.

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RMGroup’s mechanical design and technical department recommended the use of a bespoke gripper, thereby enabling the robot to stack the packs onto pallets at the desired rate.

A second was installed on Radnor’s Tetra Pak line, the requirement being to palletize paperboard cartons from dual production lines at a rate of six cases per minute; a third line was installed on Radnor’s canning line, involving a much higher output of 24 packs, 12 of which needed to be palletized on euro pallets, at 20 cases per minute.

“The benefits of working with RMGroup and what we feel they particularly do well, is first and foremost they listen to us,” says David Pope, Radnor Hills’ General Manager. “They take on board our requirements— they don’t tell us what we should be doing, they listen and come back with us with solutions to make it happen. The whole team has been a pleasure to work with, especially the engineers, who have been extremely knowledgeable and helpful throughout the whole process.”

William Watkins, Radnor Hills’ Managing Director added: “I think RMGroup’s experience, their backup and the fact that they have a very conscientious team, means that they really make sure that they don’t leave you until you are absolutely 100% happy that the machinery they’ve installed is working absolutely as you expect it to.”

—Matt Reynolds

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AUTOMATION

OEM APPLICATION NOTE

Vacuum Technology Solves Palletizing Challenge While palletizing corrugated cases is a regular automation application, doing so in a cold room that is regularly hosed with water to stay clean is especially challenging.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Improved vacuum cup gripping A producer of sweet teas and juices whose corrugated cases of product are palletized and stored in rooms where the temperature averages 35°F recently came to Motion Controls Robotics Inc. for help in replacing vacuum cups and pumps that weren’t performing adequately in such cold temperatures.

The problem was that the vacuum cups became rigid and the pumps wouldn’t provide enough vacuum to hold cases reliably. A better system had to be found to handle the cases, which can weigh as much as 42 lb (19 kg). But due to the washdown process, any kind of area gripper consisting of closed cell technical foam had to be excluded from consideration. Also out of the question were fork style or mechanical tools due to working-space limitations.

“With these two options eliminated, it was clear that the only possible solution would be cold-resistant silicone cups and high-quality, powerful vacuum pumps,” says Nathan Baker, Mechanical Engineer at MCRI. “So I immediately contacted Piab distributor Neff Distributor Group, who always provides me with multiple product suggestions as well as detailed engineering support. It was Neff’s suggestion, after fur-

Optimizing vacuum pressure ther discussion with Piab on the most suitable pump, that we use the SX12 ejector, a vacuum cartridge for Piab’s line of vacuum pumps and generators that generates the vacuum pressure.”

The SX12, the ejector Piab uses in its flagship piCOMPACT®23 SMART pump for high-vacuum performance, is based on Piab’s COAX® vacuum generation technology. This ejector was particularly optimized for high reliability, flexibility, high vacuum flow, and fast cycle times, and it’s specifically recommended for palletizing solutions requiring large vacuum systems. That made it the right solution for the application that MCRI was working on.

Piab Application Engineer Oliver Lizotte elaborates further on why this particular ejector was such a good fit. “Thanks to its higher vacuum flow the SX12 ejector not only offers a stronger holding force but is also dust and debris tolerant—an important feature in packaging applications dealing with corrugated cases.”

The COAX® vacuum technology minimizes energy consumption and offers a safe and quick hold due to the high initial vacuum flow. COAX® ejectors are up to twice as fast as other ejectors and deliver three times

The Fanuc robot has end-of-arm tooling that uses Piab vacuum technology to pick either heavy cases or tier sheets.

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previous one. “With this case handling setup, we were able to gain an more volume flow than conventional vacuum ejectors with identical additional 10 lb (4.5 kg) of holding force per main cup. In fact, we went air consumption. The ejectors can deliver high performance even when from a system dropping nearly every case to a solution that picks any the supply pressure is low or fluctuating. This has been proven in incase—even wet cases or cases with cut tape and glue where the flaps dependent comparative tests at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine are loose. The EOAT with Piab’s B75.20 suction cups and SX12 ejectors Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Dresden. These have shown that still makes the pick!” —Pat Reynolds the Piab ejectors require significantly less compressed air than ejectors from other manufacturers to achieve the same performance. Since they have no moving parts, they are also practically maintenance-free and are resistant to most environmental conditions such as cold. Their use accordingly reduces the costs for the provision of compressed air as well as downtimes for maintenance intervals and thus the overall handling costs.

MCRI’s Baker adds this: “We conducted numerous in-house tests at MCRI to compare the SX12 holding force with that of the VGS™ 3010 generator using multiple different cups both in size and style. The result showed that the selection of the SX12 ejector is perEncoders Designed for Food & Beverage Packaging fect. We also tested cups of various material for cold resistance by placing them for one week into a freezer, and then conducting different stress and compression tests on the cups thereafter. After that we knew that Piab’s silicone B75.20 cup was the right one for this application also because these cups are suitable for height differences and slightly uneven or curved surfaces particularly when several short bellows cups are combined in one lifting device. Piab’s policy of providing suction cups 30 days free of charge for testing allows us as system integrators to really test them in the application and be sure we’ve selected the best possible product in each case.”

The system starts with the Fanuc robot picking up a pallet and placing it onto a roller conveyor. To do so the end-of-arm-tool (EOAT) extends four mechanical clamps that grip underneath the pallet top. After the robot places the pallet on the roller conveyor the robot moves over to a plastic belt conveyor on which the cases filled with sweet tea or juice arrive to be palletized.

Using the silicone B75.20 Piab cups, the robot’s EOAT grips a row of four boxes (nearly 170 lb/77 kg) and places them on the pallet. After building two layers Get the precision motion feedback of product the robot grabs an intermediate tier sheet that your industrial applications demand. by extending four B50 multi-bellows silicone suction cups attached to VGS™3010 pumps placed at the outer At EPC, you’ll talk to engineers and encoder experts corners of the EOAT. The cups perform a slight lifting who will help you spec the right encoder for your application. movement to easily separate the thin tier sheets. For light-weight tier sheet handling, the standard COAX® technology-based ejector performs reliably.

Two of these palletizing cells are mirrored next to Learn more about encoders each other, both feeding a finished pallet stretch wrapin packaging: per through a roll up safety door. The safety door prevents an operator from entering either palletizing cell.

Nathan Baker of MCRI summarizes the improvements in the new palletizing cells, compared to the

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AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY

Servomotors Siemens introduces the SIMOTICS S-1FS2 line of servomotors designed for the clean condition requirements of the food, beverage, sterile packaging, pharmaceutical, and other process industries.

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Industrial PC Direct-drive Actuator Genesis Robotics & Motion Technologies’ LiveDrive® LDD 1800 Series direct drive actuator is designed for robots and machines in the food, packaging, pharmaceuticals, and electronics industries.

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Beckhoff’s C7015 ultra-compact Industrial PC is designed with IP65/67 protection for direct installation on machines or other equipment.

It integrates space-saving, fanless machine control directly into harsh production environments.

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Sustainable Barrier Coatings VerdeCoat® barrier coatings offer exceptional levels of water vapor and grease resistant barrier protection to

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Electronic Position Indicator SIKO’s AP10 IO-Link electronic position indicator with communication interface is used for monitored format adjustment to reduce setup times and increase machine efficiency.

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Wago introduces the 750-527 and 750-528 solid state MOSFET digital output modules designed to switch 2-Amp resistive loads at a frequency up to 1 Hz.

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Meal Kit Brand Tests ‘World’s First’ Edible Film Meal kit pioneer Gousto Recipe Box trialed a pea protein-based film that exhibits some of the barrier properties that plastic provides to powdered product. The edible film dissolves in hot water along with the stock cube, and is consumed along with the meal.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Package as part of the meal

Plant protein polymer film

By Matt Reynolds, Editor British meal kit pioneer Gousto Recipe Box delivers kits containing pre-measured ingredients and expert instructions to help consumers create delicious meals for themselves at home. The company recently teamed with Xampla, a mission-based commercial spinout from the University of Cambridge, U.K., to trial an edible film specifically engineered for a commercial stock (bouillon) cube packaging application in one of Gousto’s meal kits. After

Made of a tasteless edible combination of pea protein and starch, the film in this application has sufficient barrier properties for a powdered stock cube application in a dry ingredients box.

15 years of research and one year of development, Xampla says the application is a world-first edible packaging solution made from pea protein. The product can also be described as a plant protein polymer, natural polymer, or protein polymer. This product is a single layer film, designed for this precise application. The edible stock cube packaging is being trialed to replace Gousto’s existing stock mix sachets, for a packaging-free stock that’s full of flavor.

Gousto beta-tested the technology in November 2021 as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce plastic packaging in its recipe boxes. Follow-

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ing its first full year of profitability in 2020, the recipe box company recently became a certified B Corporation™, joining a global community of businesses that are committed to growing the right way for people and the planet, including Xampla.

This was achieved in part by Gousto’s ongoing work to reduce plastic packaging in their recipe boxes. Last year the business cut plastic by 50% in their boxes by switching to more cardboard packaging and launching the Eco Chill Box, an innovative insulator made of recycled cardboard, that keeps ingredients fresh in boxes.

A further 17 tonnes [18.8 tons] of plastic could be saved by Gousto annually if the new edible stock cube packaging is rolled out in full to customers in the future, the company says.

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How the pea protein film is made The edible packaging is made primarily by engineering and drying a pea protein material into sheets that have the same benefits as plastic, being able to preserve the food’s flavor and shelf life, but with none of the packaging waste, the company says. The material is vegan and gluten-free.

“The film is created using starch and pea protein,” says Simon Hombersley, CEO of Xampla. “Our process for manufacture includes the use of vinegar, but none remains in the final product. This process of controlling the self-assembly of proteins is how we create the strong, flexible film—precise formulation of the material is a trade secret, but everything is 100% natural, we use no synthetic materials in our product or process.”

Home cooks who took part in the trial enjoyed the vegetable stock cube in Gousto’s Indian Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup recipe, by simply dissolving the stock cube and its packaging in hot water.

step towards reducing plastic packaging even further. We’re excited to see what our customers think, and to continue paving the way for innovative sustainable solutions in our industry.”

The edible packaging was available for customers to choose to add to deliveries in November 2021, as part of the Indian Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup recipe. 1PW11/3/21 4:13 PM 3138TS-[Half-Page].pdf

Savings are just the beginning.

Characteristics and barrier properties “We have worked with Gousto to create a bespoke stock cube wrapper that delivers the barrier properties that their stock needs (in box and transit) but that dissolves in use,” Hombersley says. “This precise formulation to meet the customer requirements is Xampla’s expertise. For Gousto, the requirements for oxygen barrier are limited. Plant-protein films generally have very good oxygen barrier performance, and for other applications we are developing this is a priority.

“There is no specific secondary packaging required for this stock cube wrapper. It is packaged alongside the other food ingredients in Gousto’s recipe box. This application is dry, but we are working with other clients on applications for pastes, powders, and certain liquids,” adds Hombersley.

Sustainability profile The new innovation comes after a recent study by environmental services company Foodsteps revealed that dinners from Gousto produce 23% less carbon emissions than equivalent meals from supermarket stores. If every home in the country replaced supermarket dinners with meals from Gousto for just one year, 10.3 million tonnes [11.35 million tons] of CO2 [equivelent] could be saved, the same as taking nearly 140,000 buses off the road for a year, according to the company.

Adds Gousto CEO and founder Timo Boldt, “At Gousto, our purpose is to build products that have a positive impact on people and the planet, and we invest in innovations that will help us get there. We are so proud of our Eco Chill Box and the significant amount of plastic we cut from our boxes as a result.

This partnership with Xampla is another super exciting

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By Tristan Le Breton, Contributing Editor

6 Brands Reinventing the Memphis Retro Trend If you’re not familiar with Memphis Design by name, you’d likely recognize it by sight.

Featuring bold, graphic patterns and retro, clashing color palettes with plenty of neon hues, the ’80s design aesthetic is hard to miss.

Design styles are often an indication of, or a reaction to, the times we’re living in; Memphis Design is the perfect example of this—both when it first came onto the scene and now.

The 1960s and 1970s were heavily influenced by modern minimalism, which played by the rule “less is more,” encouraging clean lines and neutral tones. Tired of this lack of excitement in design, a group of architects and industrial designers in Milan, Italy, responded by doing the exact opposite. Calling themselves the Memphis Group, they rebelled against the wave of understated design with a style centered around vibrant colors and a jumble of geometric shapes, stripes, and bold patterns. Initially coming to life in the form of furniture, the trend soon expanded to art, design, fashion, and popular culture.

Given that we’ve all spent much of the last 18 months stuck within the four walls of our homes, it’s no surprise we’re seeing a collective yearning for more excitement in design and beyond. Brands are once again embracing more artful trends for their packaging that not only show off their personalities, but also brighten up their customers’ days too.

Memphis Design’s loud presence may be polarizing, especially when not approached in the right way, but many brands are finding impressive ways to put their own spin on the trend and expertly walk the line between fashionably retro and dated.

Here are six brands doing a great job of bringing back Memphis Design in a modern way, one package at a time.

1. Who Gives a Crap This Australian-founded company’s ethos is all about doing things differently, and this rings true for everything from its product to its packaging. While most of us had written off toilet paper as a boring, bland necessity, Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) saw an opportunity to innovate and stir things up, while having a positive social and environmental impact.

While WGAC’s intentions are obviously very serious, its brand personality is anything but (does toilet humor ever get old?), and it has

Image credit: Who Gives a Crap

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adapted Memphis Design to epitomize this in its packaging.

Using bright colors and a mix of patterns consisting of lines, circles, and geometric shapes, it’s eye-catching, fun, inviting, and, most importantly, matches the energy of the brand. Plus, all these elements create the perfect backdrop for its logo to really stand out.

2. Temescal Brewing From its glassware to its beer cans, Oakland, Calif.-based Temescal Brewing plays with multiple elements of Memphis design across all its brand assets. In some instances, it’s a more traditional look, using those recognizable clashing patterns and vibrant color choices. In others, they have experimented with cool letterforms infused with Memphis vibes to let the product names and styles speak for themselves.

Image credit: Temescal Brewing

Temescal’s aesthetic is ultimately a perfect example of how versatile Memphis Design can be, even within one brand. Depending on the feel they want to evoke for each product, they adapt the style accordingly. The brand prides itself on being fresh and welcoming, and they cleverly use Memphis Design to send that message.

3. Doritos While Doritos obviously has an assortment of different packaging designs, this limited-edition tangy pickle flavor is giving off serious Memphis energy. This may be the most obvious example of Memphis Design on this list, almost transporting you back to the ’80s just by looking at it.

From the flashy geometric shapes and lines to the neon colors, the design is Image credit: Doritos unquestionably in your face, giving off the intensity Memphis Design is known for. While this packaging design would likely be a bit over the top for many, in this case, it’s a perfect representation of the intense flavor of the chips inside—stimulating the senses just as much as the taste!

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4. Halo Top Ice Cream Halo Top is a game changer in the ice cream category. Much like the Memphis Group, the brand wanted to rebel against something that felt stagnant. In this case, that thing was the idea that ice cream could and should only be enjoyed in small doses.

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REGISTER TODAY packexpoeast.com chaotic and can sometimes look out of place randomly applied to a packaging design. However, by embracing it across all touchpoints of its brand, Calexo maintains brand consistency and recognizability— which are vital attributes for building trust and long-lasting connections with customers.

6. Mighty Gum Image credit: Halo Top

While a bit on the more subtle side, the brand’s minimalistic use of Memphis Design aims to evoke the same pleasure and joy that comes with eating a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting. Just by looking at the variety of colors, shapes, and strokes used cleverly for each flavor, you have an idea of what the product will taste like. It feels a bit extravagant without being overly so, and this clever use of miniature shapes and lines encompass the Memphis feel without clashing with the essence of the brand.

Mighty Gum’s packaging shakes things up with a softer take on classic Memphis Design. Instead of straight lines, rigid geometric patterns, and bright colors, the brand mixes things up by incorporating more organic shapes, and muted and restrained colors, all overlaid with tiny zigzag illustrations.

5. Calexo California-based Calexo makes sparkling cannabis beverages designed to “bring a smile to your mind.” This is perfectly embodied in its packaging, which is full of vibrant colors and graphic geometric patterns reminiscent of the fresh nature of the Memphis aesthetic. But the smiles don’t stop there, as the brand has extended the design right through its suite of brand assets, from social media to its website.

Memphis design can (intentionally) feel quite spontaneous and

Image credit: Calexo

SI_1221.indd 43

This is a great example of reworking a trend to best suit your brand ethos and better appeal to your target audience. The way in which Mighty Gum has applied Memphis Design helps the brand differentiate itself from other gums on the market, without distancing itself from its ideal customers. And following the crowd was never what Memphis was about anyway!

There’s a common theme that all these brands share, and that’s the desire to be known for doing things a little differently. If you’re also looking to help your products stand out from the crowd, then Memphis may be the design style for you. But, as is the case with any packaging design, whatever you choose should be reflective of your personality, values, and goals as a brand. Feel free to make Memphis entirely your own—after all, the style itself was born out of breaking the rules! PW Tristan Le Breton is Creative Director of 99designs

by Vistaprint.

11/12/21 3:01 PM

Visit the link below each item for more info.

44 PW DEC2021

TECHNOLOGY

Wrap Labeling System Label-Aire introduces the Inline 5100-TS wrap labeling system designed for reliable full- and partial-wrap labeling at medium to high speeds, for high-volume and multi-shift operations.

Label-Aire pwgo.to/7338

Label Printer Applicator

CRSF Flexible Packaging

Weber Packaging Solutions’ Model 4050 label printer applicator is available in right- or left-hand application models and can be outfitted with a wide variety of label applicators.

Nosco developed certified child-resistant/ senior friendly (CRSF) press-to-close flexible packaging utilizing Zip-Pack’s Safety-Lok closure available in stand-up pouch and sachet (gusseted or non-gusseted) designs.

Weber Packaging Solutions pwgo.to/7340

Nosco pwgo.to/7054

Wide-Mouth To-Go Glass Bottle O-I Glass offers the Drinktainer, a glass bottle designed for to-go services with a wide mouth that combines the convenience of a glass bottle with the sensory consumption experience of a drinking glass.

O-I Glass pwgo.to/7055

Robotic Pick-and-Place Platform The Syntegon RPP robotic pick-and-place platform can automate process steps such as product handling, feeding, and loading. It is designed as a modular system and allows individual configuration of the robotic cells.

Cobot Universal Robots launches the UR10e cobot designed with an increased payload of 12.5 kg. It is suitable for a variety of applications, including palletizing, machine tending, and packaging.

Universal Robots pwgo.to/7053

Syntegon pwgo.to/7103

Shrink Wrapper Controls Update The TLS Series L-Sealer shrinkwrapping system from Texwrap features upgraded Allen-Bradley controls and a standard HMI touchscreen interface, making it easy to program with 24/7 operation.

Texwrap pwgo.to/7257

Technology_IW_1221.indd 44

Inkjet Printer Squid Ink’s CoPilot Max 512i Turbo inkjet printer is designed to print high-resolution characters on porous or non-porous surfaces. It prints at speeds up to 480 ft/min.

Squid Ink Mfg. pwgo.to/7339

11/12/21 3:03 PM

INDUSTRY WATCH

45

Companies Pearson Packaging Systems spun-off of its systems integration division, Pearson Systems Solutions Group, and the newly formed entity was named Syntakt Packaging Integration to underscore the separation from Pearson’s machinery business.

Modular Multi-lane Weighing System WIPOTEC-OCS’ modular multi-lane system is 50% smaller than the previous model and features a modular, plug in-and-out design that enhances the unit’s flexibility.

WIPOTEC-OCS pwgo.to/7297

Berry Global expanded its North American foodservice packaging operations to manufacture clear drink cups and lids for quick-service restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores, and other foodservice markets.

A group of regional packing companies backed by Kelso & Company, including Inmark, C.L. Smith, Silver Spur, and Container Supply, united to form The Novvia Group, a packaging solutions company with domestic and international customers.

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mold-Rite Plastics, LLC from Irving Place Capital.

GTCR acquired PPC Flexible Packaging.

Regal Beloit merged with Rexnord PMC, creating Regal Rexnord Corp.

Rohrer Corp. acquired Coburn Carton Solutions.

Mobile Industrial Robots teamed with CSi palletising to automate material transport within CPG facilities.

Marchesini Group acquired Dott.Bonapace.

Recyclable PE Mono-material Pump Aptar Beauty + Home launches Future, a recyclable PE monomaterial pump designed for the beauty and personal care industry.

Aptar Beauty + Home pwgo.to/7106

Michelman and CMS Industrial Technologies entered into a strategic partnership where CMS will manufacture Michelman’s coating equipment and perform engineering, part replacement, and service.

Honeywell’s UpCycle Process Technology is designed to expand the types of plastics that can be recycled using advanced or chemical recycling.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co. completed the acquisition of AR Packaging Group.

ProMach acquired CL&D Graphics and CL&D Digital, expanding its film and label converting capabilities for flexible and rigid packaging.

People Brad Rogers was appointed CEO of Robatech USA Inc.

Vacuum Packaging Machine Greif-Velox’s VeloVac FIBC uses a specially designed vacuum process to fill ultra-lightweight powders, such as carbon black and fumed silica, in a clean, safe manner into FIBCs.

Greif-Velox pwgo.to/7317

Steve Johnson and Timothy Upshur were appointed Regional Sales Managers in North America for tna solutions.

Kevin Wilson was named Account Manager—Healthcare & Specialty Packaging for Spartech.

Recyclable PET Blister Film

Jorge Yanez Penabad was named Managing Director of Multivac S.A.S.

Klöckner Pentaplast launches kpNext recyclable PET blister film, which is compatible on pharmaceutical manufacturing f/f/s equipment.

In Memoriam

Klöckner Pentaplast pwgo.to/7299

Technology_IW_1221.indd 45

Jeff Miller was appointed Regional Sales Manager, Central United States and Central Canada for Pharmaworks.

Jim Navin, founder of Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, passed away on October 15, 2021.

11/12/21 3:03 PM

46 PW DEC2021

AD INDEX

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (Requester Publications Only) 1. Publication Title

2. Publication Number

Packaging World

1 0 7 3

4. Issue Frequency

3. Filing Date

7 3 8 7

5. Number of Issues Published Annually

Monthly

Search Packworld.com for additional information on any of the advertisers listed or visit their website directly

_

12

N/A

Contact Person

7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (Not printer) (Street, city, county, state, and ZIP+4 ®)

George Shurtleff

PMMI Media Group, 401 North Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60601

Telephone (Include area code)

312-205-7890

8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (Not printer)

ADVERTISER WEBSITE PAGE

ABB Motors US www.baldor.abb.com

OBC

Allied Technology LLC www.Allied Technology LLC

7

Domino Amjet, Inc. www.domino-na.com

11

EAM-Mosca www.eammosca.com

31

Encoder Product Company www.encoder.com

37

Focke & Company. www.focke.com

39

Garvey Corporation www.garvey.com

PMMI Media Group, 401 North Michigan Ave., Suite 1700 Chicago, IL 60601 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor (Do not leave blank) Publisher (Name and complete mailing address)

Joe Angel, PMMI Media Group, 401 North Michigan Ave., Suite 1700 Chicago, IL 60601 Editor (Name and complete mailing address)

Matt Reynolds, PMMI Media Group, 401 North Michigan Ave., Suite 1700 Chicago, IL 60601 Managing Editor (Name and complete mailing address)

Iris Zavala, PMMI Media Group, 401 North Michigan Ave., Suite 1700 Chicago, IL 60601 10. Owner (Do not leave blank. If the publication is owned by a corporation, give the name and address of the corporation immediately followed by the names and addresses of all stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of the total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, give the names and addresses of the individual owners. If owned by a partnership or other unincorporated firm, give its name and address as well as those of each individual owner. If the publication is published by a nonprofit organization, give its name and address.)

Complete Mailing Address Full Name

PMMI

11911 Freedom Drive, Suite 600, Reston, VA 20190

6

High Tek USA www.hightekusa.com

17

ID Technology www.idtechnology.com

5

Intralox, Inc. www.intralox.com

1

Klöckner Pentaplast Food & Consumer www.kpfilms.com

IFC

Label-Aire, Inc. www.label-aire.com

41

11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities. If none, check box.

None Full Name

Complete Mailing Address

12. Tax Status (For completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at nonprofit rates) (Check one) The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months Has Changed During Preceding 12 Months (Publisher must submit explanation of change with this statement.)

PS Form 3526-R, July 2014 [Page 1 of 4 (See instructions page 4)] PSN: 7530-09-000-8855

PRIVACY NOTICE: See our privacy policy on www.usps.com.

13. Publication Title

Mantrose-Haeuser Co., Inc. www.mantrose.com

38

Michelman, Inc. www.www.michelman.com

10

Modular Conveyor Express www.modularconveyor.com

30

Nercon www.www.nerconconveyors.com

13

Norwix www.norwix.com

15, 25

Nuspark Inc. www.nuspark.com

IBC

Packaging World www.packworld.com

47 21, 34

Siko www.siko-global.com Triangle Package Machinery Company www.trianglepackage.com Van der Graaf www.vandergraaf.com

9 12 3

November 2021

Average No. Copies No. Copies of Single Each Issue During Issue Published Preceding 12 Months Nearest to Filing Date

52,747

a. Total Number of Copies (Net press run) Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541.

(Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing, and Internet (1) requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.) b. Legitimate Paid and/or In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541.

Requested (Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing, and Internet Distribution (2) requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, (By mail employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.) and outside Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter the mail) (3) Sales, and Other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS® (4)

d. Nonrequested (2) Distribution (By mail and outside the mail) (3)

(4)

Outside County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, bulk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources) In-County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, bulk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail (e.g., First-Class Mail, nonrequestor copies mailed in excess of 10% limit mailed at Standard Mail ® or Package Services rates) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail (Include pickup stands, trade shows, showrooms, and other sources)

Total Nonrequested Distribution [Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)]

f.

Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and e)

g.

Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4, (page #3))

h.

Total (Sum of 15f and g)

i.

0

0

0

34,381

30,978

Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15f times 100)

0

17,916

21,951

0

0

0

0

300

1300

18,216 52,597 150 52,747 65%

* If you are claiming electronic copies, go to line 16 on page 3. If you are not claiming electronic copies, skip to line 17 on page 3.

23,251 54,229 121 54,350 57%

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (Requester Publications Only)

12a OFC

0

0

16. Electronic Copy Circulation

WestRock www.westrock.com

30,978

Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS (e.g., First-Class Mail®)

e.

54,350

34,381

c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4))

ProFood World www.profoodworld.com 23 SATO America, Inc. www.satoamerica.com

14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below

Packaging World Magazine

15. Extent and Nature of Circulation

(1)

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies www.pmmi.org

Oct 1 2021

6. Annual Subscription Price (if any)

Packaging World Magazine a. Requested and Paid Electronic Copies b. Total Requested and Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a) c. Total Requested Copy Distribution (Line 15f) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a)

PS Form 3526-R, 2014 (Page 2 Circulation of 4) d. Percent PaidJuly and/or Requested (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c Í 100)

Average No. Copies Each Issue During Previous 12 Months

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

6,101 40,482 58,698 69%

6,310 37,288 60,539 62%

I certify that 50% of all my distributed copies (electronic and print) are legitimate requests or paid copies.

Connect with a Leaders in Packaging supplier and support packaging education!

www.packworld.com/leaders

17. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the issue of this publication.

18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner

George Shurtleff, Production Manager PMMI Media Group

December 2021 Date

10/1/2021

I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

Dec21_adindex.indd 46

11/17/21 6:24 PM

Each of the following market-leading companies* participating in Packaging World’s 2021 Leaders in Packaging Program are named sponsors of PW’s Future Leaders in Packaging scholarship. This year’s recipient is Purdue Northwest (PNW), College of Technology. We appreciate the support of all participants on behalf of packaging education.

M *These logos represent some of the recent Leaders in Packaging Participants. Sponsor recognition will alternate every other month. ©2021 PMMI Media Group

LIP2021_Ad_1.indd 1 _PW_Ad_PreflightTemplate_UpdatedSpecs.indd 1

11/11/21 1/6/21 11:55 12:20 AM PM

48 PW DEC2021

THE INSIDER

By Ben Miyares, Packaging Sherpa

Sustainability by the Numbers Small numbers. To almost no one’s surprise, action to keep global warming from rising 1.5º C (2.7º F) above pre-industrial levels failed to materialize at COP26, the United Nations Climate Conference in November.

Marine packaging waste wasn’t part of the COP26 agenda, although bulging black plastic bags, overflowing dumpsters, and mounds of trash from an eight-day garbage collectors’ strike in Glasgow, Scotland where the meeting was held reminded delegates that post-consumer waste and rising sea levels are aspects of the global warming problem that scientists say are triggering “worsening storms, wildfires, droughts, and sea-level rise.”

“We must end fossil fuel subsidies, phase out coal, put a price on carbon, protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change and make good on the $100 billion climate finance commitment to support developing countries,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the conclusion of the conference. “We did not achieve these goals at this conference, but we have some building blocks for progress.”

Big numbers. When I was a kid, “a mile-a-minute” was very fast.

One million was higher than I could count. I knew a gazillion wasn’t a real number, and I wasn’t sure about a trillion, either, although I was told it was an immense amount. Living in Tokyo, Japan, the closest connection I had to recycling was a small fleet of toy cars made out of used soft drink and beer cans. Wish I’d kept them, but I wrecked most of them on the living room mat a week or so after I got them.

Today, plastic packaging and marine waste are what some people think of when they hear a number in the millions. No one knows exactly how much plastic marine waste there is, but it’s estimated that 8 million metric tons (more than 17 billion pounds) of the stuff is released into the oceans every year. It makes up 80% of all marine debris, according to the folks who make those estimates.

More big numbers. A study in 2016 found that the U.S. was the largest producer of plastic waste worldwide, creating 42 million metric tons of plastic waste out of an estimated total of 321 million metric tons. The study, entitled “The United States’ contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean,” published in the October 2020 issue of ScienceAdvances, notes that the U.S. was “the third largest contributor to mismanaged plastic waste with as much as 1.45 million metric tons of plastic debris estimated to have entered the coastal environment from the United States.”

Biggest packaging number. I used “quintillion” in this publication in 2012 (pwgo.to/7349) when reporting on a unique glass bottle decorating technique that enabled Absolut Vodka and Ardagh, their development partner, to offer up to 94 quintillion “one-off” bottle designs, each individually numbered. I still have numbers 231 187 and 798 690.

Reduce. Walk through any Costco, Sam’s, or BJ’s Wholesale outlet and it becomes immediately evident why they’re called “big

box stores.” They’re full of them! Shelved and racked and palleted; contents held snugly by vinyl shrink bands, bags-in-boxes, bliss boxes, and “dog bone” handles in two-, three-, and multipack configurations.

We don’t know if this is a fact, but the big box stores around here seem to have the lowest package-to-contained-product ratios of any retail trade class. In a market that’s transitioning to e-comm, their package-to-product ratios are something that are worth emulating.

Eliminate supply chain numbers. Speaking of e-commerce, Amazon, which has been pushing to reduce packaging through its Frustration-Free Packaging (FFP), Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN), and Ship in Own Container (SIOC) certification initiatives, is now looking to further streamline its packaging supply chain by buying a minority stake in CMC Machinery, an Italian firm based near Perugia that makes customized (sized-to-product) shippers that reduce or eliminate the need for plastic void packaging in ecommerce shippers. By bringing CMC in-house, Amazon will have better control over its fulfillment operations while potentially reducing supply chain friction for its shipping boxes. CMC claims its technology can save customers up to 40% on the cost of shippers.

Eliminate sizes. Small numbers can have a big impact on sustainability. Bottled water provides a good example. In Northeast Ohio where our family lives and shops, popular drinking water brands are commonly available in 8-, 10-, 12-, and 20-oz PET bottles topped with 28 mm continuous thread screw closures with shallow skirts.

Here’s a radical thought: why not eliminate the 8- and perhaps the 10-ounce bottles and sell water only in the larger bottles in the range?

While you’re at it, why not switch to larger-diameter closures? These small packaging changes would make opening and drinking from single-serve containers—not to mention blow molding, filling, capping, labeling, and case packing them—a lot easier while having big carbon reduction footprint advantages over smaller packages. Eliminating the smallest in a 3- or more member family of bottle sizes poses some intriguing sustainability possibilities. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

Collaborate. Many innovative and important packaging advances are outputs of joint ventures. Two-piece metal cans, thermoformable paper, barrier rigid and flexible plastics, form/fill/seal machinery, aseptic packaging, standup pouches, the 100% plant-based polyester bottle—all resulted from ventures that reached beyond the boundaries of a single individual or corporation. These innovations were the brainchildren of teams of inventive men and women.

To skeptics, supporters, and critics of the men and women who participated in COP26, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry said the Glasgow climate pact, “although imperfect,” brought the world “closer than we have ever been before to avoiding climate chaos and securing cleaner air, safer water and a healthier planet… Thanks to the work here in Glasgow, the goals we are setting ourselves are much, much closer. As we leave Glasgow, our code words are going to be implementation, follow-up, and follow-through.” PW

Ben Miyares, Packaging Sherpa, is a packaging market and technology analyst and is president of The Packaging Management Institute, Inc. He can be reached at bmiyares@packmgmt.org.

Insider_1221.indd 48

11/16/21 11:21 AM

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11/11/21 10:26 AM

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11/11/21 11/16/21 2:34 9:34 PM AM