December 2024

The EU has taken the lead in addressing the growing plastic waste problem with the Single-Use Plastics Regulation, pushing customers in the food packaging industry to find ways to replace traditional fossil-based plastics with biodegradable alternatives. The SUP regulation targets plastics products that are typically used once and then discarded such as yoghurt cups, salad bowls and snack pouches.

The study – which gathered insights from 1,693 shoppers in the UK, France, Germany and Italy – set out to understand the priorities and purchasing decisions of pet owners.

Respondents rated health benefits and trust in the brand as the most important purchasing factors. 20% of pet owners said they had bought healthier products for their cats in the last 12 months, and more than 1 in 5 pet owners purchase nutritional supplements.

Retailers, both large and small, are facing rising challenges with price look-up (PLU) fraud at self-checkout, particularly in areas like produce, deli counters, and salad bars. A recent study reveals that retail shrink rates for businesses using self-checkout lanes are more than double the industry average, reaching nearly 4%¹. The fresh foods category is especially vulnerable to this kind of fraud, impacting profitability.

“The core elements of the sustainability strategy are not some in parallel hobby or nice-to-have, they’re central elements to the business,” said James Quincey, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Co., during the recent Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference. “The biggest factor in climate is ultimately energy. To the extent that we can buy green energy, great if it’s competitive. To the extent that we can use less energy because we have thinner packaging or more efficient plants or more efficient trucks, the better off we’ll be.

The e-commerce giant said it is ‘constantly inventing and thinking big to make our packaging small’, and wants to use as little packaging as possible to’ avoid waste, and prioritizing recyclable materials’.

This is part of Amazon’s path to avoid and reduce packaging, a multi-year effort to remove plastic delivery packaging from North America fulfillment centres.

It will avoid nearly 15 billion plastic air pillows annually.

The bottle might still be plastic, but the carrier is no long made of plastic if it comes from a Philadelphia bottler.

Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages unveiled new recyclable paperboard carriers for multipack drinks during an event at the distributor's Juniata Park facility Wednesday, May 29, 2024. By turning to the more sustainable paperboard, Liberty says it will save an estimated 200,000 pounds of plastic rings each year.

Catalyx, a leader in machine vision and automation for highly regulated industries, and INEL, an advanced machine builder for the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors, have formed a strategic partnership to deliver innovative, end-to-end packaging solutions.
 
The collaboration aims to improve inspection, verification, serialization, and labeling processes to drive greater efficiency and regulatory compliance.
 

Government Introduces 'Simpler Recycling' Initiative to Standardize Waste Collections Across England

In a landmark move to address England's long-standing recycling challenges, the government has unveiled the "Simpler Recycling" initiative. This transformative policy aims to standardize recycling practices across the nation, making it easier for households, businesses, and non-domestic premises to contribute to a greener future.