Packaging World December 2022

THE FUTURE OF KEEPING FOOD SAFE

Zipper packaging has never been simpler or more sanitary for protein, produce and frozen food processors. Easily package bulky foods in bags that fully open while ensuring food safety. Quick change jaws offer ultimate versatility.

ClearMark™ HR

The Next Generation in Direct-to-Case Printing and Barcoding

The all-new ClearMark™ HR is a high-resolution inkjet system engineered to deliver simplicity, reliability, flexibility, and lower total cost of ownership over the life of the system.

Built on years of experience and industry-leading print engines, ClearMark™ HR is designed to be integrated into numerous production lines to deliver excellent print quality on porous surfaces, even in the most challenging of industrial environments. The new print head design also allows for an easy swap between a 2-inch printhead and 4-inch printhead, improving versatility, and drastically reducing downtime.

ID Technology is your single source provider of labels and labeling automation systems. To learn more, visit IDTechnology.com or contact an account representative at IDT@ProMachBuilt.com today.

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EDITORIAL

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AUDIENCE & DIGITAL

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PMMI MEDIA GROUP

David Newcorn President, PMMI Media Group

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A Peek at PACK EXPO

It’s been four years since PACK EXPO International graced the halls of Chicago’s McCormick Place with its dynamic presence, and what a return it was. Be sure to check out next month’s issue of Packaging World for our annual PACK EXPO Innovations Report. In the meantime, a few random observations of the October 23-26 show.

Supply chain challenges were a topic of discussion at countless booths, including that of Hamrick Packaging Systems. Especially difficult to get were controls components like servo motors and drives and HMI screens, noted President Jordan Hamrick. “So we found new vendors in some cases,” he explained. Take the Model 600D/TS tandem servo drop packer being introduced at the show. Servo drives and motors came from Mitsubishi, while the HMI is from Weintek. “We’ve been very impressed by the expanded capabilities of the Weintek HMI,” said Hamrick. “You can play training videos on it, or store manuals with it, and the interface is so intuitive.”

One thing that leaped out at me was how remarkably interconnected the exhibitors at the show are. One good example was on display at Triangle Package Machinery, which, by the way, just marked its 100th anniversary. Featured by Triangle at PACK EXPO was a cartoner whose capabilities were pretty impressive in their own right—like recipe-driven automated changeover in six minutes. But what’s also striking is that the system on display at the show included contributions from at least four other PACK EXPO exhibitors: Rockwell Automation for controls, Markem-Imaje for date coding, Valco Melton for adhesive application, and Cognex for a vision system.

Another good example of this interconnectedness involved Universal Robots, Columbia Okura, and Rocketfarm. UR chose PACK EXPO as a good place to introduce its biggest cobot yet. The UR 20 handles a payload up to 44 lb and has a reach of 1,750 mm (5.75 ft). Robotic palletizing integrator Columbia Okura will leverage the capabilities of the UR20 next year when it unveils its miniPAL+, a compact palletizing system that features an integrated lifting column for tall loads, dual stacking locations for continuous load building, and built-in fork pockets that make it easy to reposition it within a plant. Among the things that Columbia Okura President Brian Hutton likes about cobots from UR is that they feature Pally software from Rocketfarm, a palletizing software that not only optimizes case configuration but also offers a digital twin simulation tool. “It’s a way of quickly determining if a new pattern or speed or case size will work or not,” said Hutton. “Without this software, you’re looking at a lot of trial and error, a lot of building things out and physically testing them. Instead of that, this software lets you just put in a set of parameters and have the software run the algorithms to answer questions like can this reach or lift or speed be done or not?”

Sometimes it’s machine builder and packaging materials converter that team up to bring a new solution to market, which is what we saw at the booth of Mpac Group. Well-established as a maker of tray and carton erecting machines, Mpac showed an impressively compact carton erector capable of erecting corrugated cookie trays from flat blanks at 200/min. And to bring a touch of sustainability to its offering, Mpac teamed up with PilloPak as the supplier of the unique F-flute corrugated tray material, which has grease-resistant properties yet is perfectly acceptable in the regular paper recycle stream.

Finally, it was fascinating to see how creative packaging machinery OEMs have become in their use of independent movers using linear servo motors. To get an idea of the modularity, versatility, accuracy, and speed that can be gained with this technology, visit pwgo.to/7769 to see what WestRock is doing on its CanCollar Fortuna machine thanks to Acopos intelligent servo drives from B&R. PW

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Amid Beer Sticker Craze, Can Labels Become the Sticker

Whetstone Station Brewery in Brattleboro, Vt. recently rebranded to Whetstone Beer Co. In doing so, it reimagined its packaging with respect for the environment by way of fully recyclable cans, and added labels with a surprise inside: a keepsake peel-off sticker on every can.

it is the rst to incorporate a built-in, removable sticker within a fully recyclable beer can label.

The peel-off sticker concept embraces brew culture where beer and brewery stickers are collected, traded, and used as artwork on “sticker walls” at stores, restaurants, breweries, ski lodges, and construction shops, among others. For individuals, beer stickers cover coolers, water bottles, laptops, kayaks, man caves, and she-sheds to represent favorites and themes.

“People reach out all the time requesting stickers,” adds Whetstone brewer Derek Hall. “We send ours, and they send some of their favorites in return.” Collecting brewery stickers is so popular, that a Facebook group called “Brewery Stickers and Beer Stickers Collectors & Traders” has 1,100+ members swapping stickers across the country. Stickers are also hotly sought at “breweriana” events and conventions.

“We spend a lot on printing custom can labels, which nearly always just end up in a recycle bin,” co-owner Tim Brady says. Depending on the material recovery facility (MRF) and label material used, on-can labels can be tricky to remove from the cans for full aluminum recyclability.

“I thought, there has to be a way to make the label useful beyond simply showcasing the beer on the shelf. Now when you purchase any of our Whetstone Beer Co. cans, you get a unique sticker for free,” Brady adds.

Here’s how it works. The Brady-imagined custom labels were developed with Integrity Label. The peel off sticker is die-cut into a ap that folds over an identical design on the full p-s sticker/label. Whetstone says

As an added bene t, stickers remind restaurateurs and retailers to order more beer from the brewery supplying them. According to Whetstone Director of Sales, Brayton Brown, “When I brought a sample to a new customer, the manager peeled off the sticker, pasted it in the middle of his beer cooler and said, ‘It’s of cial. I need to order something from you now.’”

This punchy label innovation comes on the heels of a slick Whetstone Beer Co. redesign for the company’s 10th anniversary, thanks to a local Vermont artist. On shelves at retail locations, bars, and restaurants around New England, the new merchandising and packaging showcase a take on “travel by rail” posters popular during the early 1900’s golden age of train travel. That’s why a miniature “travel poster” sticker adorns each can, while the sticker wrap portion includes hidden elements with scenes harkening back to owners’ adventures. —Matt Reynolds

Kraft Heinz’ Shake ‘N Bake Drops Shaker Bag

A Kraft Heinz Company icon, Shake ‘N Bake ushers in a new era for its signature packaging, announcing the removal of the plastic “shaker” bag from its products. Effective across its full product portfolio, the brand says this is the rst step towards a more sustainable future—and an easy way for fans to make a difference. That’s because according to the Hartmann Group’s “Sustainability 2021: Environment and Society in Focus Report,” 73% of consumers say they want to use less plastic, but don’t know how.

In place of the shaker bag, consumers are encouraged to coat their protein or veggies with the crunchy seasoning using a reusable container as the vessel. This simple change is helping eliminate 900,000 pounds of plastic waste— equivalent to the weight of more than 270 mid-size cars, according to the company.

“As a family staple for over 50 years, we are proud to evolve with the world around us, ushering in a new effort to help our

brand—and our fans—take steps toward a more sustainable future,” says Brianna Galvin, brand manager, Shake ‘N Bake. “While the ‘shaker’ bag is an important part of our legacy, our product is just as effective and delicious without the plastic waste, and we are excited for all the good to come from this simple, yet effective packaging change.”

Shake ‘N Bake’s packaging update comes during a time of continued growth. The brand has consistently maintained its spot as the market leader, experiencing a steady double-digit growth of 10.1% since 2019.

Shake ‘N Bake’s sustainability efforts contribute to The Kraft Heinz Company’s broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy, designed to prioritize the issues that matter most to the company’s business and stakeholders. Speci cally, this development works towards a goal to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. —Matt Reynolds

Scent-Flavored, Refillable Drinking System Comes to the U.S.

Originating from a bachelor’s thesis, the novel Air Up scentflavored hydration system comprises a custom-engineered, refillable water bottle and flavor pods that transmit flavor through scent, for a zero-calorie, zero-sugar beverage without additives. In June 2022, Air Up expanded beyond its European roots, launching in the U.S., with support from investors that include PepsiCo, Ashton Kutcher, and Guy Oseary.

from our flavor pods in the water through the mouth all the way to your olfactory receptor, where your brain perceives the smell as taste,” she explains. “The air bubbles are the ‘flavor transmitters’ that help you taste the flavor of your pod.”

The pods are in the shape of a ring and are made from polypropylene. Pod flavors are supplied by a scent manufacturer that extracts them from natural products such as fruits, spices, or herbs. Air Up’s scent creation team then uses these ingredients to produce a range of diverse flavors. The flavors, in the form of a liquid, are then applied to a non-woven carrier material within the pod. To activate the flavor, consumers slide a pod onto the mouthpiece of the refillable Air Pod bottle. Each pod is crafted to flavor approximately 1.3 gal of water.

Pods are sold in a three-count flexible Doypackstyle pouch with a resealable zipper. Each of the pods inside is covered with a removable film lidding that acts as a protective layer over the pod and conserves the flavor to ensure the scent-flavored experience functions properly and lasts as long as possible. Once the freshness seal is removed, the pod will retain optimal flavor for around seven days.

“The idea for Air Up first formed in 2016 when my cofounder, Tim Jäger, and I were working on our bachelor’s thesis, ‘Neuroscience meets Design,’ analyzing one of the greatest social problems of our time: unhealthy nutrition,” relays Air Up co-founder and Chief Evangelist Lena Jüngst. “We knew hydration was essential for supporting our overall health and wellbeing, and most of us vastly underestimate how much we actually need. In fact, according to the National Library of Medicine, 75% of Americans remain chronically dehydrated. With Air Up, we saw an opportunity to inspire change and delight the world with revolutionary and exciting scent-based taste experiences.”

According to Jüngst, just 20% of what we perceive as taste comes from our taste buds; approximately 80% actually comes from our olfactory receptors, where the brain interprets scents as flavor (as opposed to smell). Science calls this concept “retronasal smell,” which, in layman’s terms, translates to tasting with the nose. The Air Up system transports the pod’s scents through the mouth, triggering said effect—so the body sips plain water, while the brain “tastes” flavor.

The reusable, 22-oz Air Up bottle is made from Eastman’s Tritan BPA-free copolyester, with the mouthpiece that holds the pods and a strap for carrying made from silicone. According to Jüngst, the proprietary design of the Air Up system is what makes the experience so innovative. “The bottle is expertly engineered with a tilt to allow each sip to transport carefully crafted flavors

In addition to providing consumers with a healthy hydration system, Air Up also provides a more sustainable packaging system. One Air Up bottle and a three-count pack of pods is equal to around four gallons of flavored water. This represents the equivalent of 30 single-use 16.9-oz plastic bottles, Air Up notes. “Doing the math, it’s 88% less plastic—a pack of three pods represents 35 grams compared to around 300 grams for 30 16.9-ounce bottles,” it says.

The Air Up system originally launched in Germany in 2019 and quickly spread to nine other European countries, reaching more than 2 million consumers and eliminating up to 130 million single-use plastic bottles and 2,600 tons of sugar. To date, the 300-person company has raised more than $60 million dollars in capital, which has been used to accelerate expansion across Europe and into the U.S.

According to Jüngst, to manufacture the pods, Air Up has invested in highly automated, proprietary equipment that will become operational by year-end 2022 at a facility in the Netherlands.

Air Up is available in 14 flavors, from classics like Lemon and Cucumber to layered options like Orangeade and Mango-Passion Fruit, with more varieties on the way. The bottles—in a range of color options—as well as the flavor pods are sold on the Air Up website, with prices starting at $39.99 for a starter set that includes a bottle and a three-pack of pods. A standalone pack of pods ranges in price from $7.99 to $12.99, depending on flavor.

“Having a direct-to-consumer first approach as our primary sales channel has many advantages and, most importantly, allows us to connect with consumers most effectively,” says Jüngst. “We love having a direct line to our community and will continue to evaluate the best ways to sell and distribute Air Up moving forward.” —Anne Marie Mohan

How do you fit a year’s worth of laundry deter gent in a single tissue box? Tru Earth, a Van couver, Canada-based eco-friendly household cleaning products company has found a way with its Eco-Strips dissolvable laundry detergent strips. Launched in 2019, the business has grown 944% since then and has attracted 1.2 million #TruChange Makers—also known as Tru Earth customers.

The technology behind the strip was invented a decade ago, but it was only in 2019 when Tru Earth’s founders recog nized the potential of the concentrated product. “We under stood the pains people went through in doing laundry, which is the second most hated chore in the house,” says Tru Earth cofounder and CEO Brad Liski. “The ease of use of the product solved the problem of using too much and wasting money and chemicals. The size hit the pain point of lack of space in our homes, and the effectiveness hit the expectation of cleaning clothes. We realized we don’t need to put chemicals over clothing, we just need to clean them. Most of all though, we needed to eliminate the plastic jug.”

According to Liski, 645 billion plastic household product containers are dumped in landfills and oceans worldwide each year. Eco-Strips are packaged in a recyclable, compostable paperboard en velope that contains 8, 32, 64, or 384 strips/pack. While Liski says the company has not encountered any moisture problems when testing the paper packaging under sinks or in cabinets, it offers a reus able tin storage container for consumers who want to be extra cautious.

The strips themselves—the only patented detergent strips on the market, according to Liski— measure approximately 4 x 4 in. and are made with non-toxic, eco-friendly ingredients. “The ingre dients used in the manufacturing of Tru Earth Eco-Strips, which can be found on our website, have been carefully selected to minimize our impact on the environment from sourcing to end of life,” says Liski. “While they contain PVOH [polyvinyl alcohol, a water-soluble, non-toxic thermoplastic] to adhere and strengthen the cornstarch, they do not contain microplastics that end up in grey water. Our binding agents are biodegradable as tested and passed by the Organization for Economic Coop eration and Development—OECD 31, method D.”

The strips are pre-portioned, with one strip recommended for a regular-sized load of laundry, two strips for an extra-large load, and a half-strip for a small load, eliminating consumer confusion over proper dosage. “Overusage isn’t just an inconvenience,” says Liski. “In the U.S., $2.2 billion is wasted on over-pouring detergent every year.”

Because it eliminates water in the formulation, Eco-Strips also significantly reduces carbon emis sions in transportation, “because what would traditionally need a pallet for transport can now fit in a single box,” Liski notes.

Tru Earth manufactures all of its products in North America to ensure that it is not only being kind to the environment, but also so that it’s operating in countries with strict labor laws and health code regulations where the worker is protected. “Our commitment to helping create a clean, healthy environment takes a cradle-to-grave view on our products,” says Liski. “It’s not all about the end product, we consider every ingredient source and end-of-life impact.”

Tru Earth Eco-Strips Laundry Detergent is available in Fresh Linen, Fragrance-Free, Lilac Breeze, and Baby formulas, in four sheet counts, priced from $9.95 to $149, depending on the variety and size, when purchased through the Tru Earth website. The product is also sold on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada and in-store across 6,000 locations. It can be found in 78 countries worldwide.

Most recently, the company has introduced concentrated all-purpose and toilet-bowl cleaning strips. “We have only just begun,” says Liski. “The 944% growth has come essentially from one prod uct. We started in the laundry room, but we are also in the kitchen and bath. Ultimately we want

your laundry room, kitchen, and bathroom. We’ve already extended

Will Digitalization Replace Sustainability as a Focus for Packagers?

Sustainability has been an important focus for the packaging industry for the past few years, but digitalization could now take over as the key driver as supply chain efficiencies and proactive cost reductions are required for companies to ride out current inflationary pressures. That’s according to data and analytics company GlobalData, which notes that the global consumer packaging industry recorded more than 4.1 trillion packaging units in 2021 after a 1% decline during the pandemic in 2020. However, it says, future growth in the industry will be dependent on companies being able to mitigate the effects of inflation on the supply chain, which may require a shift in strategic focus for some companies towards digitalization. Digitalization combines various technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR).

Saya Jenny Questier, senior consumer analyst at GlobalData, “Sustainability has been at the top of many agendas, particularly as regulatory pressures have required companies to focus on compliance. However, the macroeconomic situation has shifted, and businesses simply cannot afford to ignore the cost implications that are resulting from rising energy and material costs.”

According to GlobalData’s Q3-22 consumer survey, 90% of global consumers currently say they are concerned about the impact of inflation on their household budget, demonstrating that this is an unavoidable factor in purchasing decisions.

“Sustainability could now be viewed as somewhat of a luxury when it comes to packaging, as both consumers and customers may be willing to compromise on this to achieve the lowest possible price points for products,” says Questier. “Packaging companies will be feeling the pressure from both rising costs in the supply chain and the reduced spending power of consumers, meaning they will need to do as much as they can to cut costs in the middle, and that will inevitably come through digitalization. The digitalization of supply chains will be imperative in ensuring packaging companies can optimize efficiency and automation.”

According to GlobalData, a key development in supply chain management over the next decade will be the integration of these digital technologies throughout the supply chain. For example, it says, AI can be used for supply and demand planning to predict peaks and troughs more accurately and, in doing so, optimize inventory management, cost savings, and supply chain efficiency. This will also aid the movement from just-intime delivery to just-in-case delivery to help maintain product availability at all times.

“Increasing digitalization in manufacturing can increase productivity, lower costs, and improve safety,” explains Questier. “The easiest way of digitalizing is starting with a single business process such as warehousing or front-end planning. Increased automation across all stages of the supply chain will improve resilience and reduce the risk of disruptions and help companies successfully manage costs and supply in future.”

—Anne Marie Mohan

Amer is the production manager at a major food company. He shoulders the daily responsibility to ensure all production runs smoothly 24/7. A faulty date coder can result in downtime. Wasted time and product is the last thing Amer needs. Every second of downtime means lost revenue.

Amer partners with Domino to eliminate the risk of downtime. Domino’s 24/7 availability, remote diagnostics and expert technical support make his job easy. He conserves product and keeps the line moving with vital analytics and system alerts that also reduce service costs and increase efficiency ... all the way from product to pallet. Amer knows Domino goes beyond the code.

BY THE NUMBERS

$66.7M

The additional amount beverage maker Monster paid in Q2-22 in freight costs to import aluminum cans; operational inefficiencies, including the importation of cans, cost the company $46 million in Q1-22

#1

Where advanced/chemical recycling landed on a list of the top scientific advances that will have the greatest influence on packaging, in a survey of packaging industry thought leaders conducted by PTIS

65%

The growth in the reusable packaging market for beauty and personal care products in the U.S. from June 2020 to May 2021, according to Mintel

$223,824

The value of counterfeit snacks, including Skittles, Cheetos, Life Savers, and Girl Scout cookies, laced with THC that were seized from store shelves across North Carolina by a special task force

“The use of robotics and automation is growing at a breathtaking speed. Within six years, annual robot installations in factories around the world more than doubled. According to our latest statistics, installations grew strongly in 2021, although supply chain disruptions as well as different local or regional headwinds hampered production.”

–Marina Bill, president of the International Federation of Robotics (IRF), in a press release from the organization, “US Robot Installations Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Level”

“I think a growing number of high-quality wine producers will move into alternative formats. The important thing is not to waste a lot of time soul-searching. There is a range of alternative formats that can get us a long way towards reaching the emission cuts that we need to make. We know that wine consumers are motivated to buy sustainably. The more they discover these formats, the more they will act.”

–Oliver Lea of the BIB Wine Company and a founding member of Wine Traders for Alternative Formats (WTAF), in an article from Decanter.com, “Leading wine professionals sign letter calling for alternative packaging”

“We made a bold move to remove un-needed toothpaste boxes last November on our own brand and have had positive feedback from customers. Now we are working with the major toothpaste brands to join us on this journey. Not only is there an opportunity to remove this needless packaging, but it also means being able to transport more tubes in the same amount of space, helping us take delivery lorries off the road too. We think that for customers the move makes sense, because the first thing they do when they buy toothpaste is throw the packaging box away.”

–Felicity Bexton, Tesco oral care buyer, as quoted in an article, “Tesco teams with toothpaste brands to ‘squeeze out’ cardboard packaging,” from Grocery Gazette

“We’re moving forward with plans for a half-billion-dollar investment in a new U.S. nutrition facility for specialty and metabolic infant formulas. We’re currently in the final stages of determining the site location and will work with regulators and other experts to ensure this facility is state-of-the-art and sets a new standard for infant formula production. We recognize there’s more to do but feel confident in the progress we’re making.”

–Robert Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott Nutrition, in a call with investors, as reported by CNN.com in an article, “Abbott plans new $500 million infant formula facility as shortage continues”

Are Plastic Neutrality and Carbon Offsets Effective?

Brad Liski, chief executive officer and co-founder of eco-friendly household products company Tru Earth, the maker of Eco-Strips ultraconcentrated laundry detergent strips (see related story on p. 10), explains why plastic neutrality programs and carbon offsets are not the right strategies for solving the plastic waste crisis.

Packaging World:

You have said that you see “plastic neutrality as a mask for companies to continue producing plastic en masse, but then being able to ‘offset’ through financial needs.” Can you explain what plastic neutrality consists of and why you feel it just gives license to large CPGs to continue what they’re doing?

Brad Liski:

Certainly. Plastic neutrality consists of balancing your plastic footprint by removing the same amount of plastic waste from the environment that you create. In other words, for every bit of plastic you create, you recover and dispose of it “properly.” While at first glance this sounds like an amazing idea, ultimately this ends up being a mask for companies to continue producing mass amounts of plastic. It allows large CPGs to appear as if they are part of the solution, when really they continue to be the problem. In order to join the solution, companies must eradicate plastic from the supply chain. It’s time to stop talking about what to do with waste and start caring about not producing it. We have proven that plastic is no longer needed for laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaners, and multi-surface cleaners. Now is the time to stop using it.

These types of projects are important, but they are a short-term solution. Doing these projects for the sole purpose of carbon offsets without a plan to transition to a net-zero future demonstrates the systemic problems we have in continuing business as usual. Buying carbon credits is a very slippery slope because if a corporation is making enough profit to pay for their pollution, the incentive is never there to actually stop—merely write a check and keep the smokestack running.

Consumers often seem confused about what sustainability means. What do you think they are looking for when it comes to more ecofriendly products and packaging?

Of course there are benefits to plastic neutrality, but the rate at which our economy is producing plastic—especially single-use plastics—far outweighs the amount that can ever be recycled.

Do you see any benefits to plastic neutrality/carbon

offsets?

Of course there are benefits to plastic neutrality, but the rate at which our economy is producing plastic—especially single-use plastics— far outweighs the amount that can ever be recycled. Did you know that every three minutes, humans dump the weight equivalent of a humpback-whale’s worth of plastic into the ocean? Every three minutes of every day.

As for carbon offsets, there are some benefits, but they can be misused. Carbon offsets allow corporations to pay for their carbon emissions through carbon credits and carbon reduction projects.

Sustainability is confusing, and greenwashing is a massive problem, often causing eco-anxiety in many people. We believe in the transparency of our ingredients, our manufacturing process, and paying living wages. These all factor into what is truly sustainable. A core belief of Tru Earth is that many small hinges can swing a very big door. For consumers, sustainability can be intimidating. They feel like they have to completely alter their everyday life in order to achieve a sustainable status. That’s not the case. Consumers want easy, convenient, familiar. So when it comes to sustainability, they are looking for products that don’t disrupt their everyday routine but make a positive impact on the world. We can all work together to help save the planet one change at a time.

What is required by CPGs to drive a more circular economy around plastics and packaging? What are the challenges?

If CPG manufacturers want to drive a circular economy with respect to plastics, they need to pause and think about reducing and eliminating single-use plastics in their production. This is especially true for product packaging. Unfortunately recycled plastic is often more

expensive than virgin plastic and can be harder on equipment. This makes a circular economy near impossible with plastic.

Overall, today’s materials must ensure that manufactured products remain within the circular economy and that nothing is manufactured based on single use. It needs to be the manufacturer’s responsibility to get their packaging back and process it again for re-entering the supply chain. This is very difficult in large countries like North America. I strongly believe it will be faster and better to just create packaging that biodegrades in backyard environments or have real recycling markets available. Furthermore, CPG manufacturers need to invest in educating consumers about how harmful single-use plastics can be, not only to their lives, but also to society and the environment.

Challenges to this are similar to what I mentioned earlier—it is cheaper to manufacture CPG products in plastic. It’s hard to break a cycle that hasn’t changed for decades. The process is slow, but we need CPG firms to commit to reducing and eliminating waste

to create lasting change that will help save the planet. Tru Earth won’t stop until this happens. It will cost more to manufacture, but it’s worth it and is at the core of our values. At Tru Earth, we want to be a role model in the marketplace and prove that a company can be successful and actively contribute to eliminating single-use plastic.

—Anne Marie Mohan

LABELING

Getting Started with Sustainable Packaging

Looking for information on how to get started with sustainable packaging?

This Packaging World primer provides 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. It also includes links to resources. Download this free PDF today at pwgo.to/7345

Labeling Solutions That Will Help You Reach The Top

No matter the type of job, our Label-Aire® Inline 5100-TS Wrap Labeling System is designed to handle a variety of product shapes and sizes while making labeling easier, faster, and more affordable. Our new touch screen interface makes setting up a breeze while the 5100’s smooth-running Variable Frequency Drive conveyor offers blazing line speeds up to 1,000 inches per minute with improved label placement accuracy. Our innovative Zero Downtime option means quick label roll changeovers without halting your operation resulting in tremendous cost savings over the long haul.

By Eric F. Greenberg, Attorney-at-law

More Attention (Controversy?) for Food Packaging

If you’ve been following the recent controversies over the federal regulation of food contact materials in the U.S., including packaging, you’ve seen a variety of types of activity. Non-government consumer advocacy groups, and even internal government watchdogs, have complained especially about the approach to substances considered Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) in petitions to regulators, an unsuccessful lawsuit, and now even before Congress.

Now, in November, came the latest important bit of attention, a new government oversight report that analyzes FDA’s food contact approval program generally, with specific focus on Food Contact Notifications, and finds what it calls deficiencies, and recommends changes.

The report is from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and was created with input from stakeholders inside and outside of government. The report examines the regulation of packaging materials in contact with food, and also substances used in manufacturing and transporting food.

There’s an emphasis in the report on post-market actions, that is, revisiting the safety of substances on the market that were previously found to be safe for use in contact with food. It examines the three examples of FDA stopping the use of food contact substances: perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), short-chain PFAS, and diphenyl ketone.

The report is focused on the substances FDA has cleared, and doesn’t encompass companies’ self-determined GRAS conclusions. Objections relating to such conclusions, including the fact that FDA isn’t aware of them, have been the subject of other proposals to change the law.

For example, there’s a bill currently under consideration in Congress that would create the Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act of 2022. If passed, it would instruct FDA to make revisions to its current regulations about GRAS substances such that manufacturers would have to give FDA notice of their GRAS conclusion.

It would also require the manufacturer to provide FDA with information about the cumulative effects of the substance and adequately protective safety factors in evaluating exposure to it, with particular accounting for vulnerable human populations. They’d also have to provide “information indicating that the weight of evidence shows” the substance hasn’t been found to cause cancer or reproductive or developmental toxicity (including consideration of “an endocrine mode of action”). There’s also a specific prohibition on cancer-causing substances being considered GRAS. For more, visit pwgo.to/7768

The new GAO report takes a deep dive into the workings of FDA’s Food Contact Notification (FCN) program, analyzing FDA data from 2000 to 2022. It notes that, since 2000, FCNs “represented about 93

percent of FDA’s total reviews resulting in food contact substances being allowed to enter the market.”

The report points out advantages that FCNs provide, namely, that the clearance they provide is company-specific, and that they have a four-month FDA review process, which is both relatively swift and is predictable. (There’s another important advantage, and that is that the law places the burden on FDA to object, if they have objections, within that four-month review period, otherwise the FCN becomes effective.)

The report’s conclusions include this: “…FDA does not have specific legal authority to compel companies to provide information on food contact substances’ safety or use for substances that are already on the market. FDA could strengthen its review process by requesting, in its required 2023 report to the House Appropriations Committee, specific authority to compel companies to provide such information and data, when directed. In addition, FDA does not track the date of the last pre- or postmarket review for all food contact substances in a way that allows FDA to readily identify substances that may warrant a postmarket review because new safety information may have emerged.”

The report recommends that FDA take these steps: “…FDA should request [from Congress] specific legal authority to compel companies to provide specific information that they have about food contact substances already on the market. FDA could do so when it submits its report to the House Appropriations Committee on options to systematically reassess the safety of food additives and obtain information on their use.” Also, “The Commissioner of FDA should direct the agency to track the dates of the last pre- and postmarket reviews for all food contact substances in a way that allows FDA to readily identify substances.”

This new GAO report is best seen as just another front in the ongoing momentum toward making some changes in how FDA regulates food contact substances, and some may well appear in coming months and years.

Yet, there’s a logical flaw in some of the long-expressed views of NGOs and others, and that is, that the fact that there are a very few examples of substances whose safety is now in question implies that the whole system is failing and needs to be changed. While some proposed changes make some sense, a full overhaul seems like an overreaction, and, thankfully, even this report isn’t calling for that.

It will be up to Congress, FDA, and industry stakeholders to hash out the correct balance among the need to protect the public health, available funds, and available personnel, and, we hope, they will consider as well whether new requirements really achieve better public protection in light of any new burdens they place on industry. PW

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

INFORMATIONAL

By Sterling Anthony, CPP, Contributing Editor

Advice About Vacuum Thermoformed Packaging

Technologies that use heat in converting plastic into packages can be called thermoforming. With vacuum thermoforming, however, radiant heat is used to soften plastic sheet. Next, vacuum draws the sheet down into a female mold or down over a male mold, where the plastic takes shape. The plastic cools inside the mold. The shaped part is removed. Lastly, the part is cut and trimmed.

Packaging types include trays, kits, tubs, cups, blisters, and clamshells, used for food, medical device, and hardware—among other applications. As its description and applications might suggest, vacuum thermoforming is comparatively simple. But no technology is so simple that it is without pitfalls.

The central objective of vacuum thermoforming is the faithful three-dimensional rendering of a design, having a targeted wall thickness, uniformly distributed. That objective cannot be achieved if the design is poor. And since no one intentionally develops a poor design, it’s typically the result of not being aware of certain pitfalls that can manifest themselves aesthetically, functionally, and cost-wise. Of the various design features in which pitfalls lurk, three major ones are draw ratio, draft angle, and corners & radii.

Draw ratio is a calculation that divides the surface area of the mold by the footprint of the plastic sheet. Setting math aside, empirically, the more a plastic sheet is stretched (i.e., the deeper the draw), the thinner the walls. Draw ratio, therefore, is useful in determining the minimal starting thickness for the sheet. Without such knowledge, walls can end up too thin and subject to physical defects/damage. In contrast, walls that are thicker than needed waste money, in addition to violating principles of sustainability.

being dispensed from a magazine, in package filling-line operations.

Corners & radii should be generously round. Sharp corners (90 deg, or close to it) are to be avoided because they require the plastic to be stretched farther into those recesses. The resulting wall thinning makes for weak spots that can rupture and leak. A related benefit of rounded corners & radii is that they have greater surface areas than do sharp corners; therefore, distributed stresses are lessened. Sometimes, female molds are operated with a plug assist, which pushes the softened plastic downward, facilitating the work of the vacuum. Plug assists are an aid to uniform wall thickness; nonetheless, they should not be regarded as a substitute for rounded corners & radii.

From a brand owner’s perspective, the quest is for a designer who is least susceptible to these (and other) pitfalls. Designs can originate from three sources: in-house, a design firm, and a mold designer firm. The last mentioned is where the most technical expertise is likely to reside. If the design originates from either of the other two, the mold designer should offer analysis, rather than just accepting what’s provided. If that sounds like a partnership, it’s because that’s what it should be—between in-house and outsourced parties.

The central objective of vacuum thermoforming is the faithful three-dimensional rendering of a design, having a targeted wall thickness, uniformly distributed. That objective cannot be achieved if the design is poor.

A requisite first step is in-house consensus on what’s required in a design. That’s a challenge, given the competing interests of the various departments and the tradeoffs they necessitate. The agreed upon requirements must be translated into design alternatives, and ultimately, into a chosen one. Those outsourced parties brought into the process should be supplied with all necessary information, especially product strategy. Any concerns about “secrets” can be addressed contractually.

Draft angle is the measure, in degrees, of how much the sides of the mold depart from vertical. Using a vacuum thermoformed tray as an example, its tapered walls reflect the draft angle of the mold. A plastic sheet expands when heated and shrinks when cooled. The extent of those dimensional changes will vary, depending on whether the plastic is amorphous or crystalline (molecular chains arranged randomly or orderly, respectively).

Since only one surface of the sheet contacts the surface of the mold, the cooled plastic will pull away from a female mold but tighten around a male mold. For purposes of releasing the formed package, a female mold requires a lesser draft angle than does a male mold. A different type of release consideration applies to finished packages that are nested. The proper draft angle facilitates separation when

One-stop outsourcing is a valued convenience, but not always available. An example is a vacuum thermoformed package that is matched with a card (either as a lid or as an internal component), each sourced separately. The lead time for finalizing the card likely will be shorter than that for finalizing the plastic part. To be avoided is a situation wherein die-cut cards have been delivered, but afterward, there’s a last-minute change requirement in mold design. Such a sequence can compromise the match between components. Skilled project management and good communications are indispensable in shortening time-to-market.

Whereas some technologies are better suited to intricate designs, vacuum thermoforming lends itself to designs that are less so. But as discussed here, simplicity is no synonym for fool-proof. PW

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor

EMF Signatories to Miss 2025 Goals

While it may come as no surprise, it’s still disheartening to learn directly from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation itself that the goals set by the 1,000 signatories to its New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to reduce their use of plastic by 2025 “will likely not be met.” In fact, not only will they not meet their goals, in a few areas, companies have increased their use of the material. That’s according to EMF’s 2022 progress report, released in early November 2022.

The Global Commitment is made up of five targets. The first is that 100% of signatories’ packaging will be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. According to the report, for two consecutive years, brands and retailers have slightly increased their use of reusable, recyclable, and compostable plastic packaging, from 63.2% in 2019 to 65.4% in 2021. Although that number reflects progress, to reach their goals, signatories will need to move the needle 34.6% in just three years—a massive jump from the 2.2% achieved over the previous two.

Another target, to increase the share of post-consumer recycled content across all plastic packaging, was embraced by all signatories, but to different degrees—from 20% to 100%, resulting in an aggregate target of 26%. Here, EMF says, the combined 2025 target remains in reach if efforts are accelerated, given that signatories more than doubled their use of PCR since 2018 from 4.8% to 10%.

Progress on another target, the commitment by brands and retailers to decrease their use of virgin plastic—from 0.5% to 100%, with an aggregate target of 20%—is moving in the wrong direction however. According to the report, following two years of declining virgin plastic use, brand and retail signatories’ aggregated use of virgin plastic has risen 2.5%, returning to 2018 levels of 11.9 million metric tons. While 59% of signatories did report a reduction in their use of the material, some of the largest global packaging users registered an increase. Among them, Mars, Inc. increased its use of virgin plastic by 11% (since 2019), PepsiCo by 5% (since 2020), Mondelez by 4% (since 2020), and The Coca-Cola Company by 3% (since 2019).

“The reason some businesses have not hit peak virgin plastic is due to increases in their total plastic packaging use,” explains EMF. “This reinforces the need for businesses to decouple growth from the use of plastic packaging.”

Regarding the signatories’ commitment to move away from singleuse to reuse models where relevant—a qualitative target—here too there has been negative progress, with a slight decline in 2021 to an average of 1.2%, from 1.5% in 2019. “The first quantitative reuse targets were announced by a few major brands this year. More broadly, however, both progress and ambition on reuse are still lacking as demonstrated by the low—and slightly decreasing—share of reusable plastic packaging,” reads the progress report.

“The shift away from single-use towards reusable packaging is a

critical part of eliminating plastic pollution,” the report continues. “While improving recycling is critical, we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic issues we currently face. Wherever relevant, reuse business models should be explored as a preferred option… .”

For a copy of ‘The Global Commitment 2022 Progress Report,’ as well as signatory reports, go to pwgo.to/7767

The fifth target, to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging, also a qualitative goal, has had some bright spots though, with examples of elimination efforts across all packaging types and categories increasing compared to 2020. These have mainly been delivered through changes in material, for example paper substitution or lightweighting, compared to a fundamental change in the packaging, or direct elimination, at 22%.

Overall, EMF believes that “measurable progress” has been made against the Global Commitment, but blames two factors for making 2025 targets unattainable: the use of flexible packaging and a lack of investment in collection and recycling. “Flexible plastic packaging, such as sachets and films, pose a significant problem,” says EMF. “The difficulty of recycling them—in practice as well as at scale—is a key reason why most businesses will miss their target of using only reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging by 2025.”

As regards the state of recycling, it says that “many businesses have been investing in ways to achieve 100% technical recyclability for rigid plastic packaging, but the benefit of this investment is being stifled by inadequate collection and sorting infrastructure around the world.”

Still, despite the signatories’ slow rate of progress toward the five targets and the hurdles that stand in the way of reaching these goals, EMF emphasizes that the Global Commitment will continue to drive progress, provide unprecedented transparency, and inform legislation.

Says Sander Defruyt, plastics initiative lead for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “The Global Commitment continues to provide unprecedented transparency on how major businesses are addressing the plastic pollution crisis. The latest findings demonstrate the need to urgently ramp up efforts—both from businesses and governments.

“Credible, ambitious plans are needed from businesses to scale reuse, to deal with the issue of flexible packaging, and to reduce the need for single-use packaging. Governments must take action to help accelerate progress.

“In parallel, we must work towards establishing an ambitious treaty to end plastic pollution. Organizations such as the recently launched Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty—convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WWF—are here to help governments grasp this once-in-a-generation opportunity.” PW

L k g COLLABORATION IS ESSENTIAL!

ProFood World added a new category to its annual Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards. The Processor/Supplier Partnership Category recognizes the growth and importance of collaboration between processors and industry suppliers in protecting the planet.

Learn how past winners in this new category— Liffey Meats and Graphic Packaging International—worked in tandem to create a new PaperSeal tray for Lidl.

View video at pfwgo.to/meat.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS MARCH 1, 2023.

Learn how to enter at pfwgo.to/sema.

Produced by Awards to be presented at

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Version 2.0 of Carlsberg’s paper bottle has an inner lining injection stretch blow molded of PEF, and it takes a steel crown. In development: an inner coating of PEF and a paper cap (opposite).

YOU’LL LEARN

The Carlsberg Approach To Packaging Innovation

Facing a ‘mountain of technical challenges’ in its quest for a paper beer bottle, Carlsberg Group sees clearly that slow and steady wins the race.

Innovation by collaboration Expanding the use of paper

By Pat Reynolds, Contributing Editor

“We understand that when making break-through innovations, we have a mountain of technical challenges facing us, so we’ve adopted a com pletely different way of moving a project forward. Our approach is to start with what we call the ‘minimum viable product.’”

This is how Marine Andre, packaging innovation director, sums up a relatively new approach to how break-through packaging innovation is driven at Carlsberg Group, the Danish multinational producer and supplier of beer, soft drinks, and other beverages. Headquartered in Co penhagen, the firm employs some 41,000 people, and in the fiscal year ending December 31 of 2020 it reported revenue of $7.8 billion US. Its flagship brand is Carlsberg beer, but other brands include Tuborg, Kro nenbourg 1664, Somersby cider, and more than 500 local beers.

Getting back to the firm’s method of pushing innovation based on the principle of minimum viable product, it’s all about baby steps. In other words, build slowly but steadily without worrying about a fully optimized and scalable solu tion. Nowhere is this approach seen more clearly than in the firm’s long-standing efforts to develop a paper bottle capable of holding beer. It all started in 2015 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That’s where Flemming Besenbacher, then Carlsberg Group CEO, held up a paper shell prototype and more or less challenged the entire world to join Carlsberg in taking this purely conceptual paper bottle concept from vision to reality.

“His message was that we needed help to make this happen because at the time all we had was a single supplier—innovative but small— working with us on molding a fiber shell,” says Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, senior director sustainability & ESG at Carlsberg Group. That supplier was ecoXpac, part of a development group with the Danish Technologi cal Institute. “He emphasized that if we were going to make this hap pen, we needed to team up with others.”

By 2019 the vision came a big step closer to reality when Billerud Korsnäs and Alpla acquired the majority stake in ecoXpac. It was a match made in heaven because it combined the tremendous resources of Billerudkorsnas, a world leader in all things fiber and forestry, with the barrier application and plastic molding machine technology of Alpla.

At that point in time, Carlsberg was able to test a molded fiber outer shell with an inner container that was injection-stretch-blow-molded

of Recycled PET (rPET). This was not a perfect, long-term, or scalable solution because it mixed a fossil fuel-based inner component with a renewably sourced outer shell. But it was a minimum viable product. So the Carlsberg team embraced it as such, knowing that by moving forward with this woefully imperfect Version 1.0, there would at least be something to test, something to put in the hands of consumers, some thing to optimize over time.

“The acquisition of ecoXpac by Billerudkorsnas and Alpla was a much needed next step for the fiber bottle development, and it enabled continued development,” says Hoffmeyer. “If in 2015 when the idea was first proposed at Davos we’d been narrowly focused on getting some thing scalable within two or three years, we would never have gotten to where we are now. Only by working step by step, by taking the time to wait for consumer feedback, by ticking boxes one at a time, could we have made this kind of progress. So much of it, too, depended on who could we partner with next.”

The partnering part has continued to be a strong priority when it comes to packaging innovation at Carlsberg, so much so that at this point Carlsberg and the newly formed company PABOCO (Paper Bottle Company) invited additional partners to join the development, in cluding Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, Pernod Ricard, The Absolut Company, and Procter & Gamble in something called the Paboco Pioneer Community. “Pioneer Owners” of this effort are Billerudkorsnas and Alpla, while

Updated ESG program

Last August Carlsberg Group launched an updated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) program called Together Towards ZERO and Beyond (TTZAB). It contains updated targets and new focus areas and it includes a roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions across the entire value chain by 2040. As the graphic shown here clearly demonstrates, reducing packaging waste is a key component of TTZAB. For more on this ambitious program, visit pwgo.to/7753 PW

“Pioneer Experts” are Blue Ocean Closures, recycl3R, Avantium, and the Forest Stewardship Council. Here’s how PABOCO describes its mission: “Developing a paper bottle is a commitment with great opportunities but no guaranteed result. To succeed, we are building a community of partners that share our vision and understand the complexity of in novation and the crucial importance of introducing smarter and more sustainable packaging solutions. Together, all partners provide cutting edge expertise, from technology and design to marketing and brand development, covering all project areas and making investments in the form of capital, resources, and working hours.”

On to Version 2.0

Carlsberg’s Version 1.0 paper bottle has now been replaced by 2.0, which began reaching consumers in a pilot launch in eight Western European markets this past June. 8,000 of the bottles are reaching local consumers, customers, and other stakeholders through select festivals and flagship events as well as targeted product samplings.

The chief difference in Version 2.0 is in the inner lining used to sepa rate the beer from the fiber shell. Like its predecessor, it’s still injectionstretch-blow-molded, and its rigid neck finish still accepts a steel crown closure. But it now consists of an innovative new material. Replacing rPET is PEF, or Polyethylene Furanoate. It’s supplied by Avantium, a developer of innovative chemistry technologies aimed at producing materials based on renewable feedstock instead of fossil resources. An aromatic polyester from ethylene glycol, PEF is a chemical alternative to PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) and PEN (Polyethylene Naphthalate). PEF has been described in patent literature since 1951, but it has gained

renewed attention since the U.S. Department of Energy in 2004 identi fied its building block, furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), as a potential biobased replacement for the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) used to make PET. Since FDCA is bio-based while PTA is not, using PEF in place of rPET for the component that goes inside the fiber shell makes it possible to create a container that is one step closer to being 100% plant-based, re cyclable, and degradable with no drop-off in performance or function.

Also notable is that PEF exhibits an intrinsically higher gas barrier for oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor than PET. No wonder it’s being explored these days as an interesting alternative for PET in a variety of packaging applications, including films and food trays in addition to bottles.

While the Carlsberg team and its partners are certainly encouraged by Version 2.0, they already have their sights set on 3.0. The fiber outer shell will be essentially unchanged. But instead of using an inner com ponent injection-stretch-blow-molded of PEF, Version 3.0 will have an inner coating of PEF. This will permit the use of less PEF, thus bringing a cost savings as well as environmental impact advantages. Further de tails on this coating are scarce because it’s in the early stage of develop ment. But no one should doubt how serious Avantium is about making PEF a widespread marketplace solution. The Amsterdam-based firm has started constructing the world’s first commercial facility for the produc tion of FDCA, that key building block of PEF. Located in Chemie Park Delfzijl in the north of the Netherlands, it will accelerate commercial ization of the technology and make PEF widely available.

It’s important to note here once again Carlsberg’s role in moving all of this forward. On June 22, Carlsberg Group signed an offtake agree

ment with Avantium to secure a fixed volume of PEF from the flagship plant that Avantium aims to start up in 2024. Without such agreements, Avantium would have difficulty satisfying their investors, and without satisfied investors, building a new plant gets downright difficult.

Crucial operational advancement

In all the excitement over what Version 3.0 will offer, Andre says it’s important to remember a significant operational advancement that came about when Version 2.0 bottles reached the filling line. For the first time a regular brewery was adapted so that the containers could be filled on an actual bottling line as opposed to the manual process that was used previously. That may not seem like such a big deal until you think about how beer is traditionally bottled. Ordinarily, there’s a lot of water involved, from cleaning the bottles to washing down the convey ors. Subjecting a water-sensitive fiber bottle to such a manufacturing environment is not for the faint of heart.

“It was a huge step forward,” says Andre. “And to make it happen we had to engage with the employees at a number of levels. So it’s important to keep in mind that when it comes to packaging innovation, it’s not just about the material itself or the machinery adjustments that might be necessary to make the material run smoothly in production. It’s about employee engagement, too.”

Even as Carlsberg continues working on a bio-based inner coating to replace the injection-stretch-blow-molded inner con tainer used for Version 2.0, the team recognizes that there’s work to be done where the closure is concerned. And that’s where PABOCO’s collaboration with Blue Ocean Closures and its fiber closure comes in. In what is referred to as a “groundbreaking development,” PABOCO and its partners are prototyping a recyclable paper closure that will fit the paper threaded neck of the PABOCO bottle. Blue Ocean Clo sures is the first to develop this innovative concept for fiberbased screw cap solutions in an industrial capacity. Still in the prototype stage, the caps are produced in Blue Ocean Closures’ proprietary vacuum press forming technology, which was developed during 2022. To enable rapid scal ability of the production, the machine base is taken from an industry outside of packaging and adopted to the needs of closure-making. Essentially, it’s a sintering process that causes material to coalesce into a solid or porous mass and then presses it into a shape with high strength and defini tion. According to Blue Ocean Closures’ Florian Heider, the technology has been developed specifically to meet the high demands in the clo sure business. “The real magic,” he adds, “is in the tooling.” When it comes to introducing a barrier layer, which will be needed if the closure is to be used one day for a carbonated beverage like beer, for now a top seal liner of unnamed plastic is used. But coatings are being explored.

Visit

One more observation on the paper bottle before moving on to Carlsberg initiatives involving other packaging materials. From a Life Cycle Analysis perspective, Version 2.0 already performs better than single-use glass bottles. But Carlsberg has high hopes for Version 3.0,

which is projected to achieve up to 80% less emissions than current single-use glass bottles. Ultimately, Carlsberg is aiming for the paper bottle to achieve the same low carbon footprint as the refillable glass bottle, which is generally recognized as the best-performing primary package when collected and reused in efficient systems. Worth noting, too, is that when the paper bottle is commercialized at scale, it will complement rather than replace existing packaging like glass bottles and aluminum cans.

More than paper bottles and caps

Carlsberg has also made significant strides on packaging materials other than paper. Take multipacking, for instance, where Carlsberg has been active in commercializing three different sustainable packaging technologies. Let’s start with shrink wrapping.

Like plenty of other beverage producers, Carlsberg breweries take in a lot of LDPE since incoming bottles or caps need to arrive in a hygienic state. Picture a hood of LDPE over glass bottles as they arrive at a brew ery for filling. As Carlsberg people started talking with an innovative French film supplier called Ceisa Packaging (which recently underwent a name change and now goes by the name of Reborn group), it became clear that a lot of that LDPE could be collected and sent back to Reborn in a closed-loop fashion. Because that material has a lot of value if you go to the trouble of collecting it.

The development of 100% recycled PE content for shrink film took a lot of effort on the part of Carlsberg and a key supplier.

Reborn is definitely going to the trouble of collecting it. “I believe we are the only ones producing a 100% recycled shrink film,” says Macie Szysz, regional sales manager at Reborn. “We even invested in our own recycling facilities. Two are in France and plans are in place to quadruple our capacity. This single-source approach means we don’t have to rely on outside suppliers of recycled and granulated LDPE. Everything is done by us. We collect from manufacturers like Carlsberg, from retailers, and from logistics centers, too. But we also collect post-household waste.”

According to Syzsz, the material is in the same 50-micron range as the virgin materials used previously by Carlsberg, and no new shrink wrapping equipment was required. All of which pleases Carlsberg’s

pwgo.to/7770 to read Packaging World ’s coverage of an ongoing Blue Ocean Closures paper cap project with The Absolut Company.

Hoffmeyer. He’s also impressed with how “it creates a link between our internal supply chain and our consumers. Reborn has really thrown themselves into this, and though producing 100% recycled shrink film may sound easy, it took a lot of focus and effort by us and by Reborn. It’s really quite amazing.”

Another multipacking technology that has been commercialized by Carlsberg is one known as the Innopack Nature MultiPack™ from KHS This format replaces plastic ring carriers with an adhesive that holds four or six cans together. Sometimes it’s accompanied by a thin handle enabling easy consumer handling. This has been most successful in the UK market, where something like 70% of Carlsberg’s cans in four- or sixpacks are in this format. Other markets where it’s in use include Latvia, Germany, and France.

“We worked with KHS for three years on optimizing this snap-pack format,” says Hoffmeyer. “Integrating the specialized machinery into a high-capacity brewery that has limited space is a big undertaking. And then there’s the challenge of getting the adhesive formulations right. Too strong an adhesion frustrates consumers because they can’t sepa rate a can from the pack, but too weak an adhesion means the multipacks break up during transportation or distribution.”

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Andre agrees that getting the adhesive formulations right continues to be a challenge. “You need to find something that works in whatever temperature and humidity conditions exist in that particular market,” she points out. “So even though we’ve successfully introduced it into a number of regions, we’re still working on optimizing it.”

In addition to the 100% recycled content shrink wrap and the snappack formats, Carlsberg is also paving the way with another innovative multipacking technology. Called LitePac, it replaces plastic rings with paperboard for multipacking cans. Hoffmeyer and Andre point out that LitePac entered the Carlsberg universe when Carlsberg UK and Marston’s brewery merged in 2020. The deal involved Marston’s six breweries and distribution depots, but not its 1,400 pubs. The new brewing company is headquartered in the UK town of Wolverhampton and is known as Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company. At the time of the merger, Mar ston’s had already begun the use of LitePac, which is how it became an offering of Carlsberg Group.

Developed jointly by paperboard expert Karl Knauer and packag ing machinery manufacturer Krones, the machinery involved is an ex pansion of the proven Krones Variopac Pro modular packers. “It’s defi nitely an interesting option in the overall drive toward a more circular economy,” says Andre.

Malaysia, Norway

Two final examples of innovative approaches to packaging that Carlsberg Group has come up with come from two very different mar kets. We begin with Malaysia, where returnable glass bottles are as com mon as they are in Germany. Consumers in Malaysia made it clear that the scuffed look the bottles take on after going through 10 or 15 cycles of being filled, returned, cleaned, and refilled was not something they were fond of. The solution? The application of Kercoat and Opticoat protective and masking coatings from Arkema. “It was a way of making sure consumers have the good experience they expect without reducing the number of cycles our glass bottles can withstand,” says Andre.

Shift now to Norway, where the Imsdal water brand was for a time being filled into bottles that were injection-stretch-blow-molded of 100% recycled PET. What Hoffmeyer and his colleagues discovered,

Getting the adhesive formulation right was one of the challenges that had to be met as Carlsberg optimized this snap-pack format.

however, is that once the percentage of 100% rPET goes above a certain level in the overall system, the quality of the material starts to deteriorate, especially where clarity is concerned. A certain amount of yellowing begins to appear, and even the gas barrier properties can begin to degrade. This happened due to the effectiveness of the deposit-driven recycling system in the Norwegian market, a system run by In nitum In other markets where the material is not collected, recycled, and sent back into new bottles quite as ef ciently, the problem would not surface. The solution for Carlsberg Group in Norway? To reduce the rPET content to 80%. “Just because we have the technical capability of using 100% rPET, that doesn’t mean it’s the most circular thing to do,” says Hoffmeyer. “Even though using 100% rPET might seem desirable, for Norway it would mean that the quality of the recycled PET would deteriorate over time, causing less viable recycled material rather than more.” Eventuallly, he adds, it will be possible to achieve 90% recycled content. This proportion limits how much recycled content can be used in the production of new bottles without destroying the balance in the system.

pany have little choice but to react quickly.” That’s one reason why, she adds, packaging is such a central pillar in Carlsberg’s TTZAB strategy (see sidebar on page 28).

“It all comes down to adding something to the consumer experience,” says Hoffmeyer. “Whether it’s shrink wrap made from 100% recycled content or a ber bottle and cap, our packaging innovation agenda is central to our business.” PW

All about the consumer experience

Both Hoffmeyer and Andre emphasize that at the end of the day, packaging at Carlsberg Group is viewed as a key value add—not a nice-to-have but a musthave. “The challenge lies in dealing with an environment that changes incredibly fast,” notes Andre. “A few years ago who would have thought that plastic in packaging would be viewed the way it is. We as a com-

Toy Fulfillment Center Streamlines Packaging Ops Via Material Handling Design

By Matt Reynolds, Chief Editor

Founded in Germany in 1935, schleich® is a manufacturer of realistic toy figurines and playsets that has grown into an internationally known brand. Recently, with help from Crown Packaging Corp., a supplier of industrial packaging solutions, the brand has made great strides in boosting efficiency to their packaging process.

Schleich’s toy figurines are manufactured in Europe and packed there into single-SKU primary packaging consisting of printed cartons or individual corrugated cases. Primary packs are then bulk packed into larger shipping containers that are sent to fulfillment center-style facili ties around the globe for more locally tailored distribution to retailers, e-tailers, and specialty toy shops.

One such facility is the headquarters of schleich North America in Charlotte, N.C. In this fulfillment center, shipping containers from Eu

rope and Asia are received at loading docks and allocated to one of two departments: B2B repack or B2B pick and pack. A manual, operatordependent unboxing process then begins in each respective depart ment, where individual SKUs are repacked for local shipping to U.S. and Canadian markets.

The B2B Repack department routes larger quantities of higher-vol ume SKUs to major retailers, often repacking or reworking whole pallets of a single item at a time to more manageable distribution sizes. Adapt ing to the needs of different mass retailers, this might mean repacking a 30-count of a single SKU in a corrugated shipper with a single UPC code so the shipper doesn’t know what is inside the box. Automated case erecting and case closing bookends the manual line here since there is little to no variability on order size.

With the holidays coming up fast, packaged toys like these playsets and action figures were selling fast with special consideration for a Christmas-day deadline. To meet demand, manufacturer scleich required efficiency and logistics upgrades to its North American fulfillment center in Charlotte, primarily to conveyance, to stay on top of skyrocketing seasonal orders, layered on top of already fast growth.

Fulfillment center pick and place High Mix, Low Volume (HMLV)

AFTER

The B2B pick and pack department, on the other hand, is a highmix, lower-volume (HMLV) environment. Operators (called pickers) there fulfill highly customized orders that are destined for independent toy stores or specialized e-commerce fulfillment. Every one of the com pany’s 3,000 SKUs are organized through dedicated rack locations in a racking system found only in the B2B pick and pack department.

In the B2B pick and pack department, shippers—corrugated cases in a legacy small size or a new large size—are hand-erected by the picker and associated with a specific shipping label and packing slip be fore being placed by conveyance ahead of the racks. Pickers scan each shipping label with hand-held devices that direct them to the appropri ate locations in the racks to retrieve each item that the order calls for.

This process is extremely streamlined with a constant flow between the pickers and conveyance working together in harmony, which was (and is) the backbone of the B2B pick and pack department’s repacking operation. New shippers are erected and placed on conveyance, picking and filling snakes around and alongside four consecutive lanes of racks,

Shown left is the previous layout of the picking and packing line with elbow sections that are smaller than the straight-line tracks and closely spaced rollers. Above, the new conveyance from the same angle.

and fulfilled orders leave the picking zone to head to the shipping department, where packing slips are added and box closing occurs.

“When you have an operation that is deter mined to work with flow, the operation shuts down without it,” says Terrell Jones, operations team lead at the Charlotte facility. “While it worked initially, our company is growing quickly. And over the last two years, business has skyrocketed. For our operations to keep up with the increased demand, we had to make some necessary adjustments to the operations in the B2B pick and pack department. Not only did we need to figure out ways to increase throughput and efficiency, but we needed to figure out an improved way to get products to our customers in a timely manner.”

Enhancing Conveyance Configuration

Jones and his operations team saw an opportunity to increase throughput of the conveyance by expanding and reconfiguring the B2B pick and pack department’s material handling system, which consisted of gravity conveyors used to move the shippers on wheels or rollers. Jones recognized that this would result in exactly what he needed: to get more operators onto the conveyor line in the B2B pick and pack depart ment and keep shippers moving smoothly. But that wasn’t possible in

the existing configuration of conveyance and material handling systems.

“When the company moved from Canada to Charlotte, a lot of equip ment was moved as well. In order to repurpose as much as possible, we utilized the same conveyor belt among other items when we redesigned the B2B pick and pack department,” Jones says. “To add complexity, our boxes have increased in size as the business continues to grow, so the belt was no longer large enough causing bottlenecks during the operation.”

Improving material handling

The company kicked off the project by moving its original conveyors into different positions to gain more floor space. The new configuration gave them space to consider implementing newer, wider conveyors that could accom modate the larger corrugated cases. Opera tors also discovered they needed someone with enough expertise to help them develop, implement, and test the upgraded system to make sure it operated at peak performance.

One of schleich’s vendors recommended Crown Packaging Corp., a supplier of indus trial packaging solutions, who ultimately was able to do the job efficiently and within the allotted budget. Jones and one of Crown’s packaging specialists, Ben O’Morrow, worked together to develop a turnkey solution for schleich, bundling the conveyance equip ment, installation, and support.

“With Ben’s help, they were able to not only get rid of the old conveyor belt, but they were able to install a brand-new con veyor belt using remnants from what we had and ultimately get the conveyor belt set up properly,” Jones says.

Crown Packaging’s automation experts worked with the schleich team to assess its

Figure A

needs and determine the best additional equipment for their application, which included 160 ft. of gravity con veyors and conveyor guards. Once the equipment and staff were assembled, finding the best time for the roll out was the next challenge. It was critical to minimize the impact on production during the equipment installation. The stakeholders agreed to do a full teardown and imple mentation over a weekend, allowing schleich to entirely avoid downtime and keep its business running without disruption.

Project highlights

As mentioned previously, what the B2B pick and pack department needed was two-fold: more pickers on the line, and capable conveyance that wouldn’t create box jams or bottlenecks. Previously, the arrangement could only accommodate four pickers. Now, as many as 10 can comfortably pick and pack variable-SKU orders, thanks to the new line configuration.

The new line is shaped “like the big dipper,” or as an incomplete “S” shape, accommodating four straight lanes of racked product with each rack stacked four high (see figure A). The first lane contains the largest items, mostly playsets, which can then be placed into the shippers as cleanly and neatly as possible. The remaining lanes consist of smaller five-packs of individual toy figurines, like five cows or five dinosaurs. These smaller items are placed on top of the larger playsets.

“We don’t want the pickers stacking a larger, heavy product on top of a box that’s already filled with small figurines,” Jones explains.

Another improvement was made in reducing the total number of rollers. schleich already had some existing equipment that it wanted to get the most out of, but spacing the rollers farther apart would make it roll better, and do so for less money since it would require fewer rollers.

Semi-automated case taping and labeling completes the packaging line.

“The space between the rollers when we were brought in was maybe a half an inch between edge to edge, which makes the con veyor heavier,” shares O’Morrow. “That actu ally makes it harder to roll boxes, especially if they’re lighter boxes. When we took over, we wanted to match what was done prior

The “big dipper-shaped” layout contains four consecutive, distinct picking lanes.

Study: Warehousing, Ful llment Still Largely Manual

Warehousing & Storage

The ever-increasing demands of e-commerce mean that CPGs are striving to build faster production lines, creating larger volumes of product. But this advantage can be lost at the end of the line because of the largely manual nature of storage and retrieval processes in warehouses. American CPGs report that the majority of operations relating to storage and retrieval of materials, pallet transport and distribution are still carried out by human operatives. Which areas/tasks are still highly manual in your plant(s)? ©2022

Warehouse management

because it made sense and worked as far as the rolling. By simply adjusting the spacing between these rollers to somewhere around three inches, compared to a half inch, signi cantly improved the ow.”

A nal major improvement to the B2B pick and pack department’s conveyance comes at the end of the picking processes, where schleich needed to divert packed and taped shippers into separate lanes based on destination.

“We needed a way to separate our U.S. shipments from our Canadian shipments,” Jones says. “Before, we had a heavily manual system in place in which pickers had to physically carry boxes to different conveyors.

Crown Packaging was able to design and create a system where the picker needs to only slide the box into the appropriate lane between U.S. and Canadian parcel shipments. The ow and the throughput work great.”

Results

With the new system in place, the positive impact on productivity at schleich’s Charlotte factory was immediate—Jones and his team increased ef ciency, eliminated issues with box jams, and accelerated production.

The success at the Charlotte location has been recognized across the company, including by its global headquarters. schleich’s senior man-

agement took notice and remarked about the great ef ciency gain that the system upgrade will provide.

In addition to the productivity boost, Crown Packaging Corp. was also able to help cut costs. Even with the enhanced level of support, Crown Packaging was able to provide equipment, quickly install it, and optimize the system for less than the purchase of new conveyors alone through their previous vendor. This allowed schleich to keep material handling equipment expenses low so it can invest those funds in other areas of the business, like their growing e-commerce line.

Following the success of the conveyance upgrade initiative, schleich is planning additional projects with Crown Packaging, including more systems optimization. The company is currently developing an automated solution with case erectors and sealers to maximize the ef ciency of schleich’s main production line.

“We’re looking forward to working with Crown Packaging again,” Jones concludes. “As our business continues to expand, we’re always brainstorming on new ways to improve ef ciencies and throughput in our B2B pick and pack department. The upgrades and the ef ciencies we gained with the new conveyor belt and setup are just the start. The business is just roaring right now, and it’s going to be a non-stop improvement process to match the demand.” PW

Pandemic-Driven Sales Lead to Pasta Co-Packer’s Growth

Pasta and skillet dinner co-packer EnterpriseCP sees sales skyrocket during COVID, leading to a new facility and new equipment installs, including a new bulk bag discharger and two new baggers.

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor

For many consumer packaged goods companies, the pandemic threw a massive monkey wrench into business as usual, with ongoing labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. But for EnterpriseCP, LLC (ECP), a contract manufacturer/contract packager (CM&P) of shelf-stable pasta-based meals in Long Prairie, Minn., there was one upside: With restaurants shut down, more consumers were cooking at home, which sent ECP’s sales soaring.

105 million. “Sales-wise, in 2022, we’re up 138% over 2021,” he shares.

Given the type of low-margin products ECP produces, “there is little room for error,” Wolkow explains. “You’ve got to make a lot of units, and you’ve got to do it really well. It comes down to speed, efficiency, and managing your waste.”

That’s why, when selecting packaging equipment for its two new lines as well as new equipment for one of its existing lines, automation, efficiency, and speed were important consider ations. Meeting these requirements were two new Syntegon SVE 1820 MR vertical form/fill/seal bag gers for its new lines, and a new Bulk-Out model BFF bulk bag discharger with a Bev-Con flexible screw conveyor from Flexicon for an existing line.

New bulk-bag discharger solves sticky situation

In fact, the demand for ECP’s products grew so significantly during CO VID-19 that in 2020, the company was forced to expand, moving from its existing facility—a former Kmart store—to a new 314,000-sq-ft plant and adding two new cartoning lines. According to Nolan Wolkow, ECP presi dent, over the last two and a half years, the company has doubled in size. In 2021, ECP produced 65 million units; this year, it’s on track to produce

ECP is a fairly new company. It was launched in 2015 as a co-packer of pasta, pasta-based meals, pancake mix, potato flakes, and stuffing for food banks. Co-founding the company were Brenton L. Smith and Bruce Satrom. Smith, the founder of Brenton Engineering, now part of ProMach, and founder and CEO of Aagard Group, provided the startup with the needed engineering and packag ing equipment expertise, while Satrom, previously with the Abbiamo Pasta Co. and Bektrom Foods, lent his pasta and food packaging experience. In addition to co-packing products for other companies, ECP also produces its own product line under the Premier Pantry brand. The line includes macaroni and cheese dinners, both with powdered cheese (standard) and cheese sauce (Deluxe), other pasta-based dinners, skillet meals, pasta sides, and stuffing. Of the company’s annual output, 30 million to 40 million units of 7.25-oz cartons of standard Macaroni & Cheese go to food banks. Its Premier Pantry brand is also sold in Menards, Dollar Tree, and regional grocery stores.

The new Bulk-Out model BFF forklift-loaded bulk bag discharger with a Bev-Con flexible screw conveyor simplifies the task of discharging and feeding sticky seasonings and reduces unnecessary operator labor.

To package its myriad products, ECP operates six packaging lines. Five of them are cartoning lines equipped with pouch llers that package the seasonings or cheese sauce. The sixth, one of four brought from ECP’s former facility, is a pouch lling line dedicated to several dinner products, for example, a lasagna skillet dinner and an alfredo fettuccini side dish. These products have seasonings that vary in stickiness, an attribute that was causing several issues during the packaging process.

As the line was originally designed, the ingredients were discharged from 2,200-lb bulk bags suspended from a frame above an open-top hopper, from which a screw conveyor transported the powder to the pouch ller’s feed hopper. However, the non-free- owing seasoning were making operation labor-intensive and inef cient. “Employees had to manipulate the bag to get the powder to ow out, and then had to hammer on the hopper,” Wolkow says. “There was a lot of operator intervention.”

In search of a system that could handle a wide variety of poorly owing materials, ECP contacted Flexicon, which evaluated the seasonings at its test laboratory in Bethlehem, Penn., and proposed a Bulk-Out model BFF forklift-loaded bulk bag discharger with an integral Bev-Con exible screw conveyor. According to Flexicon, the new equipment simpli es the task of discharging and feeding the seasonings and reduces unnecessary operator labor.

With the new system, bulk bags at oor level are attached to a bag-lifting frame by means of Z-Clip bag strap holders that secure the straps while allowing rapid insertion and removal, after which a forklift places the lifting frame, with suspended bag, into receiving cups on top of the discharger frame posts. The clean side of the spout is then secured to the clean side of the discharger’s hopper interface by a dust-tight Spout-Lock clamp ring, which is raised pneumatically by a Tele-Tube telescoping tube to make the connection. It is then allowed to descend by gravity, maintaining continuous downward tension on the clamp ring and bag spout as the bag empties and elongates, promoting material ow. According to Wolkow, the telescoping tube is a big plus. “It de nitely makes things cleaner,” he says.

Material ow is further enhanced by Flow-Flexer bag activator plates, which raise and lower the opposite bottom edges of the bag on timed cycles. The bag ultimately forms a steep “V” shape that promotes total discharge into a 3-cu-ft oor hopper equipped with an air displacement port and lter sock to contain dust. The hopper employs internal agitators and a wall-mounted vibrator to promote the uninterrupted ow of seasonings into the charging adapter of a 3.5-in.-dia Bev-Con exible screw conveyor, which extends 20 ft at a 41-deg incline to the pouch ller.

“Flexicon recommended the Bev-Con spiral to make sure we could handle the different owabilities of the powders,” Wolkow says. “It’s a different-style spiral than what we have on our other lines and works well.”

The screw is the only moving part contacting the material and is driven by a 3-HP gear drive located beyond the point of discharge, preventing material contact with seals or bearings. A PLC activates the discharger and exible screw conveyor according to signals received from high- and low-level sensors on the hopper of the pouch ller, while a low-level switch on the discharger’s hopper prevents the conveyor from operating in a “starved” condition.

The new discharger eliminates the need to promote ow using paddles and hammers. “We spent too many staff hours focused on that,” says Wolkow. “Now we hook the bag up, and the

operators leave it until it’s empty. The discharger does exactly what we need it to do.

“We prioritized the feeding on this line because that pouch filler is our biggest and most chal lenging packaging machine. We also wanted to spend a good amount of time on the new Flexicon system before we committed to putting it on more lines.”

Since the initial Bulk-Out system was installed, ECP has added two more, both with the TeleTube telescoping tube and Flow Flexer bag activator plates.

Twin-tube baggers meet speed, film requirements

ECP’s two new packaging lines consist of one for 7.25-oz cartons of Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese and one for 7.25-oz cartons of standard Macaroni & Cheese, installed in 2020 and 2021, respec tively. As Wolkow explains, given that ECP is a unique business built off the packaging equip ment side, all of its cartoners, including four from Aagard and models from BW Integrated Systems and PMI Kyoto, are used machines that were re built in-house.

On each of the two new cartoning lines, ECP has installed Syntegon SVE 1820 MR vf/f/s bag gers that package either powdered seasonings or cheese sauce in a small, gusseted pillow pouch. Wolkow shares that the primary requirement for the pouch-filling system was its ability to operate at speeds to 240 packs/min while running filmbased pouches. ECP uses metallized polyester for its sauce pouches and low-density polyethylene for its powdered cheese product.

An operator connects the bag spout to the system’s clamp ring and telescoping tube, which maintains constant downward pressure on the bag as it empties and elongates, promoting flow.

The SVE 1820 MR is a twin-tube continuous motion vf/f/s bagger that Syntegon engineered for very high output in a minimum amount of floor space. Its twin-tube concept allows for bag widths up to 7 in. and enables the output of two baggers while only using one weigher and the floor space of one machine. The bagger operates at speeds to 400 bags/min and features mainte nance-free servo technology and an intuitive HMI for easy operation and short operator training time, which is especially important for ECP, given the current labor situation.

To feed the finished pouches into the paper board cartons, ECP designed a custom infeed. For the cheese sauce pouches, an Intellifeed feed ing unit is used to sort, condition, and feed the pouches into the cartons.

No slowdown post-pandemic

EnterpriseCP

With pandemic lockdowns in the rearview mirror, you might expect to see consumers pur chasing fewer pantry staples, but ECP is still go ing strong. The company is currently operating at full capacity, running two shifts, four days a week. “But we need to flex to five days to meet the in creased demand for our products,” says Wolkow. “We are exploring opportunities to expand our ca pacity to fully maximize our current facility.

“Our focus continues to be on building strong partnerships with our customers by providing high-quality products, on-time delivery, and topnotch customer service, day in and day out.” PW

added two Syntegon vf/f/s baggers to fill macaroni and cheese seasonings and sauce into pouches, which are then fed into the product cartons.

By Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor

Pair Eyewear Grows Up, But Retains Joyful Energy

Pair Eyewear began in 2017 as a children’s brand with a unique vision: to offer affordable, high-quality eyewear that could be customized through the addition of snap-on Top Frames, available in a range of colors, styles, and patterns. With frames priced at just $60, including prescription lenses, and Top Frames available from $25 to $30, it offered greater inclusion and creativity than provided by more expensive, mainstream eyewear brands.

By 2021, Pair’s product selection had expanded to include prescription and non-prescription optical glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, Top Frames, and accessories for both children and adults. With this change in its customer base, Pair saw the need for a change in its branding, as well.

“Prior to the brand refresh, our packaging reflected our original, children’s-centric brand identity,” shares Pair Eyewear Vice President of Marketing Grant Goldman. “As our customer base evolved, there was a clear need for updating our brand image. What’s more, our original packaging did not fully accommodate new frames, accessories, and other products we were in the process of launching.”

Enter creative company Mrs&Mr, which was tasked with evolving away from the more child-forward, kid-centric design system to a more grown-up design, but without losing the sense of joyfulness and fun that had always been a part of the brand. Shares Daniel Wadia, chief strategy officer of Mrs&Mr, “The challenge was evolving the brand from being joyful, bright, and effervescent for kids into something that could be joyful, bright, and effervescent for adults, as well.”

According to Wadia, one rich source of inspiration for the rebrand was Pair’s Facebook community. “That’s where we really started to uncover how much their community not only likes to express themselves and their personalities through eyewear and through this changeable top, which is core to the product, but also how they like to share their looks and validate each other’s looks and comment and like each other’s look,” he says. “So there’s a sort of social element to that you don’t typically get in eyewear, which tends to be a little bit more solitary.

“Engaging with Pair’s customers, through their own community on Facebook, was really helpful, because it was almost like watching a live focus group happening in real time. And that resulted in a wealth of information and insight that helped to inform the rebrand.”

Through its research, Mrs&Mr also found that the solitary and serious aspect of traditional eyewear brands also extends to their

branding, which is often expressed in monochromatic or two-color systems, resulting in a sea of sameness. “In our case, since the brand is all about self-expression, and variety—the variety of different frames, the variety of different moods and personalities that you can project—one of the core elements [of the rebrand] was to have a design system that would have multiple colors.”

Another core element of the rebrand was the use of illustration—a nod to Pair’s heritage as a children’s brand—but sophisticated illustration that could transcend demographics and age groups, something that would resonate with men, women, and children.

Another strategy of the design was to make it approachable and accessible.

“Pair Eyewear is not trying to position itself as an exclusive brand,” says Wadia. “On the contrary, it’s designed to be incredibly inclusive, all the way to that price point. So the typography we selected and the entire graphic system was really intentionally designed to be inviting, welcoming and, to an extent, inclusive in a category that can oftentimes feel a little bit exclusive and standoffish, a little bit overly elevated.”

Underlying the design is a mid-century modern influence, inspired by multiple mood boards and design exploration. “Mid-century modern made the design feel modern, but also have this sort of warm and inviting quality to it,” Wadia explains.

The style guide for the rebrand—which includes all customer touchpoints—includes a selection of bold typefaces, swatches, colors, doodles, patterns, and designs that can be combined to create a custom Pair look. Patterned backgrounds featuring bold designs resembling fabric swatches can be used alone as a frame for an image, or combined to create a stacking effect.

While there is just one box design for Pair glasses, Wadia says the package was a crucial part of the redesign because it’s the first tactile part of the experience for the consumer—everything else to that point is essentially a digital experience. “It was a really critical and fun piece of the whole rebrand,” he says. “So, while we had to work through the logo, the colors, the fonts, and all the various components that go with the rebrand, the box was sort of the cherry on top.”

Pair Eyewear’s selection of products is available exclusively on its website and includes 1,000-plus Top Frame options, including limitededition monthly drops—November’s comprised Holiday, New Year’s, Carnival, and Harvest designs—and licensed designs from brands such as DC and Marvel comics, Coca-Cola, the NBA, Harry Potter, and Sesame Street, among others. PW

Photoelectric Sensor

SICK’s Roller Sensor Bar provides the logistics and production markets a solution to accommodate the everincreasing variety of packaging shapes and sizes.

SICK pwgo.to/7755

Medium Duty Conveyor

Dorner’s 2700 medium duty conveyor is designed to carry heavier products for a variety of industrial automation and packaging applications, including palletizers, multi-lane processing, case and tray handling, and end-of-line packaging.

Dorner Mfg. pwgo.to/7754

Depalletizer

Ska Fabricating’s International Microbus depalletizer has an international configuration capable of handling six of the world’s most common pallet sizes.

Ska Fabricating pwgo.to/7756

Automatic Tray Sealer

Ossid, a product brand of ProMach, launches the ReeMatic 250 automatic tray sealer designed to meet the needs of medium- to high-level processors.

Ossid pwgo.to/7717

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Connect with Suppliers Fast

PMMI ProSource is a free online directory with 900 categories of validated suppliers of packaging machinery, materials, and service solutions. With a powerful search engine and the ability to filter solutions by machine feature and package type, ProSource brings vetted suppliers to you. Visit www.prosource.org today.

By Ben Miyares, Packaging Sherpa

Collaborations Focus on Plastic’s Sustainability Progress

“What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar,” quipped Thomas Riley Marshall, the now mostly forgotten 28th Vice President of the United States, 100 or so years ago. His tongue-in-cheek complaint was about what many considered to be an overpriced item that, in fact, would have been impossible to profitably produce at such a low price, even in that era. I don’t know any adults who’re looking for a good nickel smoke of tobacco today.

Earlier this year, I considered making this column a call for the establishment of a new sustainability collaborative devoted exclusively to the public, proactive collection, dissemination, and support of technologies and techniques advancing the goals of resource conservation and renewal. I’ve changed my mind about that.

Processing and packaging managers continue to endure environmental criticism that largely springs from a lack of understanding of what motivates them: The desire to satisfy profitably the needs of their processing and packaging customers. “Profitably” is the most important word in that statement. Profits are the vital underpinning of any business enterprise that strives to be sustainable. Our critics seem to resent business for–as they might put it–chasing after profits, as though making enough to reinvest in the enterprise wasn’t the lifeblood of any business venture.

I still think we don’t need a nickel puff of tobacco. But I’ve changed my mind about the need for a new sustainability collaborative. Sustainability is embedded in the DNA of many packaging and processing organizations and its definitions are manifold.

As even the short list of sustainability collaboratives indicates, we’ve got plenty of environmental consortia. What we do need is active engagement on the part of packagers and their suppliers in one or more sustainably focused enterprises like those listed below.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF). More than 1,000 organizations have already signed onto the EMF’s Plastic Pact Network, a global initiative to address plastic waste and pollution. Focus: “To implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastic” tailored to each geography. Among the group’s goals:

• Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation

• Move from single use to reuse

• Ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable

• Increase the reuse, collection, and recycling or composting of plastic packaging

• Increase recycled content in plastic packaging

EMF’s Global Commitment 2022 progress report acknowledges that the target of 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging (by 2025) “will almost certainly be missed by most

organizations, with flexible packaging and lack of infrastructure being the main barrier.”

MBOLD coalition. This initiative of the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Economic Development Partnership (as appeared on the cover of the November issue of PW, at pwgo.to/7749) could serve as an organizational template to address difficult packaging sustainability challenges. It’s focus is on flexible packaging films. MBOLD’s goal is to “create and nurture a circular economy for flexible packaging films.” Myplas USA, Inc., a film recycler from Capetown, South Africa at the hub in the MBOLD recycling effort, is building a plant in Rogers, Minn. and expects it to be operational in the summer of 2023. Charter Next Generation will purchase recycled resin from Myplas for conversion into food, industrial, and healthcare films. MBOLD members Cargill, General Mills, Schwan’s Company, Land O’Lakes, and the University of Minnesota will evaluate potential product applications using recycled resin with Charter Next Generation and explore opportunities to direct film waste to the Myplas plant when it’s operational.

The Sustainable Network. This organization says it intends to accelerate the healing of our planet and society through harnessing the innovation of entrepreneurs.

The Upcycled Food Association (UFP). A non-profit collaborative of more than 250 food businesses with a sustainability message for food processors: “Upcycling food waste into new ingredients pres ents an opportunity to create additional revenue streams.” Focus: Transforming food waste into human-consumable food. The UFP defines upcycled foods as “ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifi able supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.”

NextWave Plastics. This small but growing consortium of multinational technology and consumer brands is “gathering in the spirit of collaboration and transparency to rapidly decrease the volume of plastic litter entering the ocean.” Focus: Collecting and using marine plastic waste to produce new products.

The Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP). A coalition with about 400 corporate participants that was organized and launched at the 2018 World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit. Focus: Translating commitments into concrete action to reduce plastic pollution and waste.

If there is something missing in these collaborations, it is a broader exploration of the positive environmental impacts of plastic packaging as well as the impacts, both positive and negative, of nonplastic packaging, and the systems to produce, use and reuse, and inevitably, dispose of them. The “circular economy,” which many of the sustainability coalitions envision, surely has room for reusable, refillable containers of paper, metal, and glass, as well as plastics. 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.

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Each of the following market-leading companies participating in Packaging World ’s 2022 Leaders in Packaging Program are named sponsors of PW ’s Future Leaders in Packaging scholarship. This year’s recipient is Alexandria Technical & Community College, Mechatronics program. We appreciate the support of all participants on behalf of packaging education.

Each of the following market-leading companies participating in Packaging World ’s 2022 Leaders in Packaging Program are named sponsors of PW ’s Future Leaders in Packaging scholarship. This year’s recipient is Alexandria Technical & Community College, Mechatronics program. We appreciate the support of all participants on behalf of packaging education.