Make Up and Luxe Pack LA events will open their doors to exhibitors and visitors next 23 and 24 of February, with all

Mondi plc (‘Mondi’ or the ‘Group’) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Personal Care Components business (‘PCC’) to Nitto Denko Corporation (‘Nitto’) for an enterprise value of €615 million, which is also the approximate cash consideration payable to Mondi at completion (the ‘Transaction’).

Mondi’s strategic focus to grow in packaging and the limited overlap of PCC with the rest of its business, has led Mondi to conclude that the next phase of PCC’s development will be better undertaken outside of the Group.

PCC, part of the Group’s Engineered Materials business unit, manufactures a range of components for personal and home care products needed in everyday life such as diapers, feminine care, adult incontinence and wipes. For the financial year to 31 December 2020, PCC generated underlying EBITDA of €42 million.

Nitto is a leading global manufacturer of high functional materials for electronics, mobilities and human life applications following its ‘Global Niche Top Strategy’, headquartered in Japan and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nitto’s acquisition of PCC is aligned with its stated mid-term management plan ‘Nitto Beyond 2023’, targeting growth in the field of human life.

Following the planned completion of the Transaction, the remaining portion of Engineered Materials, namely Functional Papers and Films, will be merged into the Flexible Packaging business unit. This will strengthen integration along the kraft paper value chain and foster innovation to continue developing functional papers with the necessary barriers to meet increasing customer demand for sustainable packaging.

We are pleased to have agreed the sale of PCC to Nitto, knowing they will be great owners of the business. By simplifying our portfolio, the transaction will enable us to focus on our core packaging and paper businesses and enhance our ability to pursue our strategic priority to grow in sustainable packaging. We remain excited by our opportunity to further serve our customers with innovative solutions that are sustainable by design.

Mondi Group Chief Executive Officer, Andrew King

The Transaction is subject to competition clearance and other customary closing conditions, with completion expected in the second half of 2022. The proceeds received from the Transaction will be used for general corporate purposes in line with the Group’s capital allocation policy.

Additional information

The Transaction constitutes a class 2 transaction for the purposes of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules. For the year ended 31 December 2020, PCC generated underlying profit before tax (before special items) of €16 million and a loss before tax (after special items) of €19 million. The gross assets of PCC as at 30 June 2021 were €435 million.

About Mondi 

Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. In 2020, Mondi had revenues of €6.66 billion and underlying EBITDA of €1.35 billion.

Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007.

Sponsor in South Africa: Merrill Lynch South Africa Proprietary Limited t/a BofA Securities.

Packaging leader named as ESG Regional Top Rated company

Smurfit Kappa has been recognised as a top ESG performer by leading research and analytics company Sustainalytics. Following analysis of more than 4,000 European-based companies, Smurfit Kappa was named a Regional Top Rated company and is ranked in the top 5 of the Paper Packaging category globally.

Sustainalytics, a Morningstar company, is a leading global independent ESG research, ratings and data firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies.
The ESG Regional Top Rated badge received by Smurfit Kappa covers the EMEA region and categorises Smurfit Kappa’s ESG risk rating as ‘low-risk’. The rating was determined by several factors including the company’s circular business model, financial strength and geography.

The ranking from Sustainalytics is the latest validation of Smurfit Kappa’s leadership in sustainability. In December, the company had its emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which verified that Smurfit Kappa’s targets are consistent with targets required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In addition, Smurfit Kappa was also the first FTSE 100 company to receive 5 stars from “Support the Goals” in recognition of its support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and has leading performance across the MSCI and ISS ESG third party rating companies.

Commenting on the rating, Garrett Quinn, Chief Sustainability Officer at Smurfit Kappa, said: “The top performer award from Sustainalytics builds on our well-established sustainability credentials and is another extremely positive development for Smurfit Kappa and all of our stakeholders.

“We have the most sustainable packaging solutions - made in an increasingly sustainable way - which is key to our customers’ sustainability agenda. We have incorporated key ESG objectives into the core of our strategy and throughout our operations. Sustainability is at the heart of all we do and how we think across our business, and it is great to see that our work in this space has been recognised by such a credible third party.”

Smurfit Kappa is a leader in the circular economy providing sustainable, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable paper-based packaging solutions to over 65,000 customers worldwide. 

AVG Chairman and Co-CEO Emidio Zorzella says the acquisition will allow Antares Vision Group to enter the multi-billion-dollar returnable asset management market.

Travagliato (Brescia), February 15, 2022 – Antares Vision Group (AVG), a leading global provider of hardware and software track and trace solutions and one of the major players in inspection systems and smart data management, today announced that it had acquired ACSIS Inc. through its fully controlled company rfxcel for an enterprise value of $12 million.

Founded in 1996, ACSIS has been providing solutions and services to Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies with some of the most complex and highly regulated supply chains in the world for more than 20 years. It delivers innovative software solutions and services to companies with complex warehouse, distribution, and packaging challenges, assists with their data collection requirements for track and trace and inventory optimization through their supply chains, and delivers seamless integration of information to their ERP systems. ACSIS has had zero churn among its Top 10 customers, which include DuPont, Cintas, BIMBO, Hershey and Coca-Cola. AVG will retain ACSIS’ highly experienced and proven executive team. 

The ACSIS acquisition will further strengthen our unique end-to-end solution for the digital supply chain,” rfxcel CEO Glenn Abood said. “It will provide new customers and allow us to enter into new industry verticals, as well as into the relevant returnable asset management market, extending our presence in the United States.”

ACSIS CEO Jeremy Coote said the acquisition brought together industry-leading organizations and technologies. “For more than 20 years, our incredibly talented team has been at the forefront of creating some of the most sophisticated supply chain visibility solutions for manufacturing companies around the world,” he said. “The combination of Antares Vision Group’s world-class talent with ACSIS technology, domain expertise, and commitment to innovating supply chain ecosystems will help ensure our success in an increasingly competitive industry.”

With its deep domain expertise in data collection and serialization, ACSIS in 2019 launched the ACSIS Cloud Platform, a next-generation cloud-based supply chain visibility platform that spans data collection to business process to real-time analytics and uniquely enables personalized, private supply chain edge ecosystems. The ACSIS Cloud Platform solves the toughest supply chain visibility challenges, including:

• Product traceability: item-level tracking using serialization, barcodes, RFID, and other sensors; edge data collection; visibility across multi-partner ecosystems to ensure regulatory compliance, improve public safety, and enable sustainable supply chains

• Returnable asset management: tracks returnable transport items (RTIs) across the extended supply chain in real time to deliver accurate inventory status; ensures compliance and efficiency; controls shrinkage and ensures proper maintenance and inspection of RTIs; predicts demand to support improved planning and customer service

• Partner collaboration: integrates with partners across operating ecosystems; delivers real-time supply chain and production visibility; creates more transparent and agile supply chains; maintains common enterprise standards; ensures consistent serialization data and uniform product labeling  

ABOUT ANTARES VISION GROUP 

Antares Vision Group is an outstanding technology partner in digitalization and innovation for enterprises and institutions, guaranteeing the safety of products and people, business competitiveness and environmental protection. Antares Vision Group is a technological enabler of supply chain transparency and of sustainable transition, to protect business competitiveness and the uniqueness of each country. It provides a unique and comprehensive ecosystem of technologies to guarantee product quality (inspection systems and equipment) and end-to-end product traceability (from raw materials to production, from distribution to the consumer), with integrated data, production and supply chain management, also achieved through the application of artificial intelligence and the use of blockchains. 

Antares Vision Group is active in the Life Science sector (pharmaceutical, biomedical devices and hospitals), in the beverage, food and cosmetics industries, and has potential in other sectors. The world leader in Track&Trace systems for pharmaceutical products, it provides the major global manufacturers (over 50% of the top 20 multinationals) and numerous government authorities with solutions to monitor their supply chains and validate product authenticity. 

Listed since April 2019 on the Italian Stock Exchange in the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) segment, and from 14 May 2021 in the STAR segment of the MTA (Electronic equity market), Antares Vision Group recorded a turnover of Euro 162 million in 2020, operates in 60 countries, employs around 1000 people and has a consolidated network of over 40 international Partners.  

Further information please visit www.antaresvision.com and www.antaresvisiongroup.com. 

ABOUT RFXCEL

Part of Antares Vision Group, rfxcel has a long history of providing leading-edge software solutions to help companies build and manage their digital supply chain, lower costs, protect their products and brand reputations, and engage consumers. Blue-chip organizations in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), food and beverage, worldwide government, and consumer goods industries trust rfxcel’s Traceability System to power end-to-end supply chain solutions in track and trace, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, serialization, and visibility. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in the United States.

New thermoformed cups with IML decoration are just as attractive as their injection-molded counterparts – but have the edge when it comes to sustainability.

The benefits of T-IML at a glance

 Monomaterial solution ensures maximum recyclability

 Lightweight packaging with a small carbon footprint

 Highly attractive at the POS thanks to excellent print quality

 Barrier properties can be added to reduce food waste

Kremsmünster, Austria (February 2022). There are many ways to design or optimize packaging so that it is more sustainable – for instance, by making it readily recyclable, using less plastic, or making it from alternative materials. That is why the packaging experts at Greiner Packaging work continuously to review its product portfolio in order to improve sustainability by making changes or introducing innovative solutions. The latest highlight is the thermoformed IML cup.

 T-IML helps to save material

In the past, the in-mold labeling (IML) decoration method was only ever used in combination with injection molding production technology. But now, Greiner Packaging has built on its longstanding core competency in thermoforming to offer thermoformed IML cups. The benefit of the technique is reduced material usage – less plastic is required for thermoformed cups, which saves resources while also making the cups lighter. As a result, they are responsible for fewer CO2 emissions during transportation. Both the cup and the IML label are made of PP, making for a monomaterial solution that is very easy to recycle. Wherever feasible, Greiner Packaging also tries to use recycled material, although the use of mechanically recycled material for food applications remains severely limited due to strict approval criteria, with only r-PET currently meeting the relevant requirements.

Efficient production for sustainable packaging

But how does T-IML work exactly? During in-mold labeling, a label is inserted into the thermoforming mold in which the product is shaped, thereby forming a solid bond with the finished product. With this decoration method, shaping and decoration are performed efficiently in a single process. Having invested in a test mold, Greiner Packaging is now able to manufacture T-IML cups. The cups are available with a diameter of 95 millimeters and a capacity of 500 milliliters. Switching from injection molding to thermoforming lowers the cup’s weight in this format from 15 to 11.4 grams – a 25% reduction.

Barrier properties for extended shelf life

“At Greiner Packaging, we are committed to a circular economy and want to take a broad-based approach to making that happen. With our new T-IML cups using less material and being readily recyclable, they encapsulate exactly what we hoped to achieve,” emphasizes Philipp Maurer, key account manager at Greiner Packaging. Another advantage of the new packaging is that the sheet used in the thermoforming process can be imbued with barrier properties. This extends the shelf life of the packaged food, in turn helping to prevent food waste.

High-quality appearance In addition,

IML is an especially high-quality form of packaging decoration. Matte, rough, glossy, or soft-touch decorative effects can be applied, and the printed content is photo quality and therefore visually outstanding. “IML packaging solutions are extremely effective at attracting consumers’ attention at the point of sale. On top of their sustainability attributes, that is naturally a real plus,” Maurer adds.

About Greiner Packaging

Greiner Packaging is a leading European manufacturer of plastic packaging in the food and nonfood sectors. The company has enjoyed a reputation for outstanding solutions expertise in the fields of development, design, production, and decoration for more than 60 years. Greiner Packaging responds to the challenges of the market with two business units: Packaging and Assistec. While the Packaging unit focuses on innovative packaging solutions, the Assistec unit is dedicated to producing custom-made technical parts. Greiner Packaging employs a workforce of nearly 4,900 at more than 30 locations in 19 countries around the world. In 2020, the company generated annual sales revenues of EUR 692 million (including joint ventures), which represents approximately 35 percent of Greiner’s total sales.

Marchesini Group is opening the doors of its Beauty Division to show the world the latest technologies developed in the field of cosmetic product processing and packaging. From 26 to 30 April, the new 5,000 square metres facilities, recently built inside the Pianoro Headquarters, will host a large selection of machines and production lines developed to meet the needs of the cosmetic industry: from large multinationals to small laboratories, customers and suppliers will be offered an up-close look at technologies designed to cater for the entire production cycle of a cosmetic product, from process to end of line.

However, our ability to innovate must take into account the needs of the market: this is why Marchesini Group has chosen to organise the Open House of its beauty division in conjunction with the eagerly awaited
Cosmopack 2022, the most important international exhibition dedicated to the cosmetics production chain, which will be held in Bologna from 28 April to 1 May.

Marchesini Group Beauty, the brand that brings together the Group’s cosmetics technologies, will also be present at the fair, where it will showcase solutions for filling and packaging tubes, jars and bottles, machines for producing lipstick and a small laboratory, specially set up at the stand (Hall 19PK - Stand A9PK): this will create a direct link between the two events, while also offering customers a pick-up service.
 

“We are delighted to finally be able to open the doors of our new facilities, where the Group’s entire beauty division is coordinated” commented Marchesini Group board member Valentina Marchesini. “We will welcome our customers to show them our latest technologies, sharing ideas and plans for the future in an environment inspired by beauty. At the fair, we will also discuss new sustainability and personal care market trends with all the players in the supply chain. Today’s world needs beauty”.

Open House: a vast range of machines and services for the cosmetics industry in 13 exhibition areas

During the days of Open House, which will include events and evenings of entertainment for guests, the Marchesini Group Beauty team will be on hand to show visitors the latest products from its leading brands. In particular, the following will be on display:
- complete lines for filling and packaging jars, tubes and bottles;

- an area dedicated to technologies by Axomatic, a brand that designs and manufactures turbo-emulsifiers, tube filling machines and cosmetic filling machines;

- a make-up area devoted to Cosmatic, a brand that produces machines for packaging lipstick and filling cosmetic powders;

- the innovations developed by Dumek, a historic company specializing in process solutions, which recently moved into the new facilities of the Headquarters in Pianoro (Bologna);

- primary packaging solutions, designed for Dermo-Cosmetic applications, by Corima, a division of the Group that is an Italian leader in sterile product filling. These machines will also be used to demonstrate Live Assistance,

Teleservice and MIMO services, which are an excellent example of the efficiency and timeliness of Marchesini Group Customer Care during the pandemic period;

- areas reserved for secondary packaging technologies including those produced by the Marchesini Group and V2 engineering, as well as the new labelling machines designed for the cosmetics sector, produced by the Neri division. Products by Rinova, which specializes in refurbishing customer-owned Marchesini Group machines, will also be on show;

- the latest products by SEA Vision, the Group’s partner specialized in vision systems, and by Vibrotech, a company that manufactures infeed and orientation systems used in automated industrial processes.

AVG Chairman and Co-CEO Emidio Zorzella says the acquisition will allow Antares Vision Group to enter the multi-billion-dollar returnable asset management market.

Travagliato (Brescia), February 15, 2022 – Antares Vision Group (AVG), a leading global provider of hardware and software track and trace solutions and one of the major players in inspection systems and smart data management, today announced that it had acquired ACSIS Inc. through its fully controlled company rfxcel for an enterprise value of $12 million.

Founded in 1996, ACSIS has been providing solutions and services to Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies with some of the most complex and highly regulated supply chains in the world for more than 20 years. It delivers innovative software solutions and services to companies with complex warehouse, distribution, and packaging challenges, assists with their data collection requirements for track and trace and inventory optimization through their supply chains, and delivers seamless integration of information to their ERP systems. ACSIS has had zero churn among its Top 10 customers, which include DuPont, Cintas, BIMBO, Hershey and Coca-Cola. AVG will retain ACSIS’ highly experienced and proven executive team. 

“The ACSIS acquisition will further strengthen our unique end-to-end solution for the digital supply chain,” rfxcel CEO Glenn Abood said. “It will provide new customers and allow us to enter into new industry verticals, as well as into the relevant returnable asset management market, extending our presence in the United States.”

ACSIS CEO Jeremy Coote said the acquisition brought together industry-leading organizations and technologies. “For more than 20 years, our incredibly talented team has been at the forefront of creating some of the most sophisticated supply chain visibility solutions for manufacturing companies around the world,” he said. “The combination of Antares Vision Group’s world-class talent with ACSIS technology, domain expertise, and commitment to innovating supply chain ecosystems will help ensure our success in an increasingly competitive industry.”

With its deep domain expertise in data collection and serialization, ACSIS in 2019 launched the ACSIS Cloud Platform, a next-generation cloud-based supply chain visibility platform that spans data collection to business process to real-time analytics and uniquely enables personalized, private supply chain edge ecosystems. The ACSIS Cloud Platform solves the toughest supply chain visibility challenges, including:

• Product traceability: item-level tracking using serialization, barcodes, RFID, and other sensors; edge data collection; visibility across multi-partner ecosystems to ensure regulatory compliance, improve public safety, and enable sustainable supply chains

• Returnable asset management: tracks returnable transport items (RTIs) across the extended supply chain in real time to deliver accurate inventory status; ensures compliance and efficiency; controls shrinkage and ensures proper maintenance and inspection of RTIs; predicts demand to support improved planning and customer service

• Partner collaboration: integrates with partners across operating ecosystems; delivers real-time supply chain and production visibility; creates more transparent and agile supply chains; maintains common enterprise standards; ensures consistent serialization data and uniform product labeling  

ABOUT ANTARES VISION GROUP 

Antares Vision Group is an outstanding technology partner in digitalization and innovation for enterprises and institutions, guaranteeing the safety of products and people, business competitiveness and environmental protection. Antares Vision Group is a technological enabler of supply chain transparency and of sustainable transition, to protect business competitiveness and the uniqueness of each country. It provides a unique and comprehensive ecosystem of technologies to guarantee product quality (inspection systems and equipment) and end-to-end product traceability (from raw materials to production, from distribution to the consumer), with integrated data, production and supply chain management, also achieved through the application of artificial intelligence and the use of blockchains. 

Antares Vision Group is active in the Life Science sector (pharmaceutical, biomedical devices and hospitals), in the beverage, food and cosmetics industries, and has potential in other sectors. The world leader in Track&Trace systems for pharmaceutical products, it provides the major global manufacturers (over 50% of the top 20 multinationals) and numerous government authorities with solutions to monitor their supply chains and validate product authenticity. 

Listed since April 2019 on the Italian Stock Exchange in the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) segment, and from 14 May 2021 in the STAR segment of the MTA (Electronic equity market), Antares Vision Group recorded a turnover of Euro 162 million in 2020, operates in 60 countries, employs around 1000 people and has a consolidated network of over 40 international Partners.  

Further information please visit www.antaresvision.com and www.antaresvisiongroup.com. 

ABOUT RFXCEL

Part of Antares Vision Group, rfxcel has a long history of providing leading-edge software solutions to help companies build and manage their digital supply chain, lower costs, protect their products and brand reputations, and engage consumers. Blue-chip organizations in the life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), food and beverage, worldwide government, and consumer goods industries trust rfxcel’s Traceability System to power end-to-end supply chain solutions in track and trace, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, serialization, and visibility. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in the United States.

• Mondi’s customised Monocorr Box makes white goods packaging 100% recyclable in Turkey
• Corrugated inserts eliminate the use of difficult-to-recycle expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam inserts and take up 94% less space
• Compact Monocorr Boxes allow 20% more goods to be stacked on each pallet
• The fit-for-purpose packaging design supports Warmhaus’s sustainability goals and keeps their customers happy

Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, has created a fully recyclable packaging solution for Warmhaus, a Turkish producer of radiators and boilers for home heating. The new Monocorr Box is made of 100% recyclable corrugated board, including the inserts that cushion the packaged products. The previous Warmhaus packaging used expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam inserts, which have low recycling rates throughout Europe and generally end up in landfill or incineration facilities after disposal.

Warmhaus was looking for an environmentally responsible packaging solution that would help to meet their own sustainability goals as well as the requirements of domestic and export customers. Monocorr Box is easily recyclable in Turkey and supports Warmhaus’s exports to the European Union, where some retailers are beginning to switch to EPS-free packaging, even for larger durables. Producers may also have to consider Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees for EPS material in the future.

We were looking for a solution that overcomes the challenges we face with rigid foam products. We are committed to energy saving and protecting the environment, and we want our product packaging to reflect the same standards. In addition to its sustainability advantages, corrugated cardboard packaging can also improve the protection of products, transporting and storing them safely and cost-efficiently. We’ve been using Monocorr Boxes since last August and have received positive feedback from our customers,” said Fatih Aydın, Purchasing Unit Leader at Warmhaus. 

In addition to being fully recyclable, the Monocorr Box has benefits in terms of logistics and shipping. The boxes are delivered flat and the corrugated inserts take up 94% less space during transport and storage than the previous EPS foam inserts. Assembled Monocorr Boxes are more compact than the previous packaging and the size of the outer box has been reduced by 6%, which allows Warmhaus to stack 20% more items on each shipping pallet.

With our EcoSolutions approach, we were able to meet our customer’s expectations for sustainable packaging while also improving the efficiency of their stacking and shipment processes. This is an ideal solution for Turkey and all other markets. Eliminating the EPS foam element is key to making packaging for white goods and other household appliances part of a circular economy. Solutions like our Monocorr Box can contribute significantly to helping the white goods industry replace EPS foam and transition to fully recyclable packaging.

About Mondi

Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. In 2020, Mondi had revenues of €6.66 billion and underlying EBITDA of €1.35 billion.

Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007.

PVC was one of the first polymers used in food packaging. It replaced many traditional materials such as glass as well as various forms of card and paper due to its qualities of being lightweight, shatter-resistant, organoleptic, cost-efficient, effective barrier, printable on, easily moldable and transparent.

PVC can be used with a wide range of additives making its applications diverse. In the packaging industry, it is used to package food through the forms of rigid thermoformed sheets and containers as well as soft cling films. It is also used in adhesive tapes, pharmaceutical tablet blisters, bottle sleevings, disposable syringes packaging which allows radiation sterilization. 

Up until 2020, PVC was approved for use in food packaging in most countries even though its use was significantly reduced after a decade of emerging single-use plastic bans. The truth is, even though it is mechanically recyclable, very few facilities exist where they process PVC.

In recent times, regulatory bodies have become increasingly aware of the negative impacts of PVC manufacturing and use. Global PVC industries have had adverse impacts such as:

• Ozone depletion due to the release of carbon tetrachloride
• Contamination of air and drinking water
• Contributions to climate change and environmental degradation by burning of fossil fuels to produce chlorine or coal-intensive acetylene-route PVC

It has also caused human exposure to harmful substances such as:

• Carcinogenic vinyl chloride monomer
• Bioaccumulative toxics like mercury, dioxins, and furans
• Community and worker exposure to asbestos for chlorine production
• Plastic pellet and mercury contamination of waterways from dumping chemical waste
•  

Rwanda was the first country to eliminate the use of PVC as part of being completely plastic-free in terms of packaging by 2009.

In January 2020, South Korea banned PVC under regulations banning the use of “hard-to-recycle” plastic materials for F&B packaging.

Taiwan’s EPA and India’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry followed in 2021.

Soon, it can be expected to see no traces of PVC in at least food packaging in the interests of both the environment and human health.

I tried to pack everything we moved to college into boxes small enough that my daughter and I could manage them alone

Airbags save lives, but need to be labeled correctly and deploy at the right moment to do so. A marking label and an airbag tape from Schreiner Group ensure that. Now both products have been recognized with the prestigious TLMI Award.

Every year, the American Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) nominates the best products of the printing industry. In selecting award-winning entries, the judging panel places particular emphasis on innovation and technical achievement. The prestigious recognition has previously gone to Schreiner Group from Oberschleissheim, Germany, on several occasions. In the 2021 TLMI Awards competition, Schreiner Group was able to celebrate two wins: a first-place award for its marking label of an airbag control unit and a second-place award for its airbag tape. Both are products from the Schreiner ProTech business unit that develops innovative marking solutions and film-based functional parts specifically for the Mobility market.

All the individual components have to be installed correctly to ensure the protective effect of an airbag. The marking label from Schreiner ProTech that won a first-place TLMI Award supports that. The special aspect of this product is a combination of the material and adhesive system ensuring reliable adhesion of the label throughout the entire lifecycle of the airbag control unit. Security slits prevent non-destructive removal of the label, for instance by product pirates to mark counterfeit components—which enhances product safety for manufacturers and consumers significantly.

A second-place award went to the airbag tape, another entry from Schreiner ProTech. This product has several functions as well, featuring customized printing and serving as an installation aid and tape rolled into one. The tape is produced specifically for head and shoulder airbags, which are tube-like, folded airbags attached to the vehicle’s body shell. The airbag tape keeps them in their folded condition—from pre-assembly to installation in the vehicle to potential airbag deployment.

For CEO Roland Schreiner, the awards are tremendous motivation: “I am delighted that we were so successful in the TLMI Awards once again—this time with as many as two awards. That shows that our innovations are seen and motivates us immensely.” The high-tech company has had its own US site in Blauvelt, New York, since 2008–and has been a supplier to the American market for more than 20 years.

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SGR_TLMI-Award-2021:

In the 2021 TLMI Awards, Schreiner Group was recognized twice for multifunctional airbag labels.

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About Schreiner Group

Schreiner Group GmbH & Co. KG is an internationally active German family-owned company and regarded as a preferred partner in the Healthcare and Mobility markets. Its core business is focused on top-quality functional labels enhanced by complementary system solutions and services. Schreiner Group’s innovative high-tech labels and functional parts create new dimensions for smart solutions and help make life healthier and safer, and enhance human mobility.

More than 1,200 employees generate total annual sales of about 190 million euros. The high-tech company has four locations: In addition to the headquarters in Oberschleissheim and another production site in the Munich metropolitan region (Dorfen), they include the two international manufacturing facilities in the United States (Blauvelt, New York) and in China (Fengpu, Shanghai).

Collaboration and exchange are shaped by the core values of Innovation, Quality, Performance and Enthusiasm. Schreiner Group defines itself as a company committed to acting sustainably and therefore deliberately assumes responsibility for people, the environment and society.

As of January 1st, 2022 Mr Alexey Ratushniy has taken over the function of the Managing Director of MULTIVAC Russia.

Alexey Ratushniy completed his studies in Mechanical Engineering, and he worked in management positions in the machine building industry before he joined MULTIVAC. He has extensive experience in managing a production, sales and service organization and extensive knowledge of the Russian market. Alexey Ratushniy succeeds the previous Managing Director of MULTIVAC Russia, Timo Merinen, who retired at the end of 2021. “We would like to thank Mr Merinen for his many years of work and successful commitment to MULTIVAC and wish him all the best for his future”, says Christian Traumann, Group President of MULTIVAC.

MULTIVAC Russia is a subsidiary of the MULTIVAC Group and has been represented on the Russian market since 2007. In 2021, the company opened a unique Technical Innovation Centre with its own showroom as well as an Application & Training Centre in Moscow. This is an important step in the development of MULTIVAC's business in the Russian market. The purpose of the Technical Innovation Centre is not only to make Russian customers directly aware of MULTIVAC’s innovative solutions, but also to provide them with the opportunity to test products and consumables in conditions as close as possible to their own production environment. There is equipment for slicing, packaging, labelling and inspection over an area of more than 250 square metres.  

Commenting on Alexey Ratushniy‘s appointment, Gregor Thomalla, Vice President Operations CIS & SEE at MULTIVAC stated: “We are delighted to welcome Alexey Ratushniy to his new responsibilities as Head of our Russian subsidiary. His appointment as Managing Director is a further step in strengthening the local MULTIVAC Russia Team.”

About MULTIVAC MULTIVAC is one of the leading providers worldwide of packaging solutions for food products of all types, life science, and healthcare products, as well as industrial items. The MULTIVAC portfolio covers virtually all requirements of processors and producers in terms of pack design, output, and resource efficiency. It comprises a wide range of packaging technologies, as well as automation solutions, labellers, and quality control systems. The product range is rounded off with solutions upstream of the packaging process in the areas of portioning and processing, as well as bakery technology. Thanks to our extensive expertise in packaging lines, all modules can be integrated into complete solutions. This means that MULTIVAC solutions guarantee a high level of operational and process reliability, as well as efficiency. The MULTIVAC Group has approximately 6,900 employees worldwide, with some 2,300 based at its headquarters in Wolfertschwenden. With over 80 subsidiaries, the Group is represented on all continents. More than 1,000 sales advisors and service technicians throughout the world use their know-how and experience to the benefit of customers, and they ensure all installed MULTIVAC machines are utilised to their maximum. Further information can be found at: www.multivac.com.

Aptar Pharma, a global leader in drug delivery systems, services and active material science solutions, recently announced the construction of a new facility in India at a ceremony to also celebrate Aptar Mumbai’s ten year anniversary. 

 Kanwal Tikoo, President, India and SEA, Aptar added, “Aptar Pharma has established market leadership position as a pharma packaging solutions company and we continue to grow our influence in this part of the world as the go-to drug delivery expert. We continue to help our customers succeed and patients to live a better life.”

 These sentiments were echoed by Xiangwei Gong, President, Aptar Asia, Gael Touya,President, Aptar Pharma and Alex Theodorakis, President, Aptar Pharma Prescription, who also spoke at the inaugural ceremony and commented on Aptar Pharma’s decade of success in India, which they described as both a key pillar in the pharma ecosystem and a new chapter of growth in the region.

 The new Aptar Mumbai facility, which is being built on a 3.5 acre site at the Palava Industrial and Logistics Park at Taloja, Mumbai, will generate further employment opportunities, with construction expected to be completed by Q1, 2023.

 About Aptar Pharma

 Aptar Pharma is part of AptarGroup, Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacturing of a broad range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing and active material science solutions. Aptar’s innovative solutions and services serve a variety of end markets including pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home, food and beverage. Using insights, proprietary design, engineering and science to create dispensing, dosing and protective technologies for many of the world’s leading brands, Aptar in turn makes a meaningful difference in the lives, looks, health and homes of millions of patients and consumers around the world. Aptar is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois and has 13,000 dedicated employees in 20 countries.For more information, visit www.aptar.com.

The European tube market continues to be robust in the second year of the pandemic. The european tube manufacturers association (etma) reports stable deliveries of tubes in 2021, exceeding the previous year's level by just under 1 percent and reaching a total volume of just over 11.6 billion units.

However, the main end-user markets developed differently. While deliveries to the pharmaceutical and household product markets declined by around 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in 2021, shipments to the cosmetics market and the food sector each increased by around 4 percent. Deliveries to the dental care market remained stable.

Pharmaceutical market weaker, demand for cosmetics picks up again

The decline in pharmaceutical tubes was mainly due to reduced visits to doctors during the pandemic meaning that the number of prescription medicines such as ointments, which are packaged in tubes, was down. On the other hand, the upturn in the cosmetics market, which dominates volumes, was encouraging, with a significant year-on-year recovery despite ongoing mobility restrictions and reduced leisure activities during the pandemic. The food sector benefited in particular from the fact that many households increasingly prepared their meals at home due to the pandemic. The dental care market, which is generally not very sensitive to economic cycles, remained very resilient in the second year of the pandemic and once again matched its impressive prior-year level.

Laminate tubes continue to occupy the top position in the deliveries of etma members with a share of 37 percent, closely followed by aluminum tubes with 35 percent. The share of plastic tubes is 28 percent.

Drastic cost increases in the energy sector

The European tube industry continues to struggle with sometimes exorbitant cost increases for raw materials, starting materials and transport services. "Prices for energy, truck and container freights in particular have literally exploded in recent months and are causing the industry great concern. Only through far-sighted inventory and production planning by tube manufacturers has it been possible to maintain security of supply in the value chain and avoid out-of-stock situations for customers and retailers," etma President Mark Aegler knows.

In view of a currently satisfactory order intake situation, European tube manufacturers are looking ahead to the coming months with optimism, despite all the uncertainties in pandemic times. "The tube as a packaging material remains extremely popular with consumers due to its ease of handling, its lightness and unbreakability, and its convincing resource efficiency which make it a real classic," sums up Aegler.

• Mondi has created a recyclable refill pouch enabling Henkel consumers to reduce plastic by 70% and helping Henkel to move closer to its sustainability targets
• Henkel's Pril hand dishwashing liquid is available in a 100% recycled PET pump dispenser bottle which can be re-used many times using refills packaged in Mondi's recyclable mono PE refill pouch
• The innovative pouch is light-weight, convenient to use, certified as leak-proof and highly durable even for home deliveries

8 February 2022 – Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, and Henkel are helping consumers to wash dishes more sustainably by creating a completely new reuse packaging concept. The two companies worked together on a packaging solution for Henkel’s hand dishwashing products that allows refilling plastic bottles from flexible pouches. This supports Henkel’s sustainability targets of making 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable and reducing 50% of fossil-based virgin plastic by 2025.

Since January, consumers can purchase a new keep-at-home refillable pump dispenser with refills in the lightweight, mono-material pouch produced by Mondi. The flexible stand-up pouch reduces plastic by 70% every time it replaces rigid plastic bottles and is easy to recycle where existing infrastructure exists.

Convenient and lighter to carry home, the pouch completely empties thanks to its shaped design, leaving no residue. It is soft touch with a sturdy base so it can easily stand in-store, offering retailers attractive and eye-catching on-shelf appeal while also communicating all the brand information including sustainability benefits. Mondi’s leak-proof pouch is certified according to ISTA 6, providing a highly durable packaging for both in-store and online shopping.

Muriel Joncheray, Global Key Account Manager Consumer Flexibles, Mondi says: “Sustainability is a vital element in the homecare industry and a trend that is shaping the whole market - and rightly so. At Mondi, we have defined sustainability goals that focus on circular driven solutions in our MAP2030 action plan. This includes a target to make 100% of our products reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 – just like the recyclable pouch for Henkel. Our EcoSolutions approach meant that we worked very closely with the Henkel team to create the new packaging. While the aim was to provide a solution that helped Henkel reach its sustainability targets, we also needed to ensure the materials and structure would protect the product in transit and on-shelf, preventing leakage and minimising waste.”

Carsten Bertram, Head of Global Packaging Innovation Dishwashing at Henkel added: “At Henkel, we recognize our responsibility related to packaging. We’re committed to driving sustainable packaging and have a set of ambitious targets. Our strategy is based around circular economy and focuses on integrating recycled plastics, reducing the amount of plastic packaging, having reusable packaging and using fully recyclable packaging concepts to close the loop. Mondi was the obvious partner to help us with their expertise in creating the best possible solutions - for the product, the planet and the customer.”

The new packaging concept is being launched for Henkel’s brand Pril in Germany. It has been certified by “Blauer Engel”, the independent ecolabel of the German Federal Government that sets stringent standards for environmentally responsible products and services.

About Mondi

Mondi is a global leader in packaging and paper, contributing to a better world by making innovative packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design. Our business is integrated across the value chain – from managing forests and producing pulp, paper and plastic films, to developing and manufacturing effective industrial and consumer packaging solutions. Sustainability is at the centre of our strategy and intrinsic in the way we do business. We lead the industry with our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, where we ask the right questions to find the most sustainable solution. In 2020, Mondi had revenues of €6.66 billion and underlying EBITDA of €1.35 billion.

Mondi has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (MNDI), and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited (MNP). Mondi is a FTSE 100 constituent, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2008 and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series since 2007.

www.mondigroup.com

About Mondi’s eCommerce packaging solutions

Mondi Group offers a full portfolio of eCommerce packaging solutions and products that are fit for purpose, innovative and sustainable by design. We are setting new standards in the industry with our expertise in sustainable materials and product design. Driven by an agile and customer-centric mindset, our network of more than 100 in-house packaging designers develop award-winning eCommerce solutions together with our partners. Our focus is on decreasing total packaging costs, reducing waste, and meeting end-consumer needs through a combination of our sustainability expertise and full portfolio of multi-material solutions, including kraft and functional barrier paper, paper bags and corrugated solutions.

About Mondi Consumer Flexibles

Mondi Consumer Flexibles is part of Mondi’s Business Unit Flexible Packaging and a global manufacturer of tailor-made flexible plastic and hybrid packaging solutions that are sustainable by design. The product range includes pre-made bags, stand-up pouches and high-performance barrier materials with film- and paper-based solutions. Making it possible to provide paper where possible, and plastic when useful. We serve some of the world’s biggest brands and FMCG’s in categories such as fresh food, pet food, home, and personal care. Committed to quality, we provide customer-oriented packaging solutions and cutting-edge innovations developed by our state-of-the-art R&D centre in Gronau. Our network serves customers from 27 operations located in 12 countries.

Indonesia is the world's second-largest contributor to plastic waste in the ocean.

APR’s strict recycling standards met by company’s mono-material barrier tube, in versions both with and without thin film metallization.

Oberdiessbach, Switzerland – Hoffmann Neopac, a global provider of high-quality packaging for pharma, beauty and oral care, has been granted approval for its Polyfoil® MMB mono-material barrier tube by the US-based Association of Plastic Recyclers. Offering a groundbreaking combination of product protection, user friendliness and appealing aesthetics, the tubes passed muster both with and without its thin film metallization option.

Neopac’s Polyfoil® MMB tubes can reduce packaging carbon footprints by up to 38% compared with traditional laminated tubes. The tube body is made possible through a first-of-its-kind adhesive laminated process – a contrast to the existing blown film and extruded film solutions recently adopted by big oral care brands. Key advantages include advanced barrier and aesthetic options in the tube body. The tube’s shoulder and cap are made with low MFI HDPE and just 2% of foreign material. End of 2020, Polyfoil® MMB tubes became the first such tube/cap combination successfully tested by RecyClass, an initiative by Plastics Recyclers Europe.

To gain approval from the US Association of Plastic Recyclers, a review committee appointed per the APR Recognition Operating Procedures reviewed Neopac’s thorough data submission. The group concluded that this research was correctly developed by a qualified laboratory, and certified that the Polyfoil® MMB tubes meet or exceed both challenging test conditions and the organization’s uncompromising criteria for packages recycled in the HDPE bottle stream, of which tubes are a subset. 

Owed to Neopac’s advancements in materials science, Polyfoil® MMB accomplishes recyclability goals while maintaining the attractive printing and decorative options for which Neopac’s conventional Polyfoil® tubes are known. The solution is available with a non-compromising metallized look and, when combined with Neopac’s HDPE screw and hinge closures, comes fully ready for recycling in PE rigid streams.

Neopac’s Polyfoil® MMB exemplifies the plastic industry’s efforts to develop high-end PE barrier tubes compatible with dedicated recycling streams. The proliferation of new technologies and products for packaging in various sectors – including pharma, whose patient-first concerns can present materials sustainability challenges – that align with enhanced recycling principles shows strong commitment from value chain actors, contributing to an increase in overall recycling targets and furthering the goal of reaching plastics circularity.

The first series of Polyfoil® MMB tubes is now available, with oral care brands commited to shift this year and both, pharmaceutical and cosmetic customers already performing stability or compatibility tests.

About Hoffmann Neopac

Hoffmann Neopac is a privately-owned company, headquartered in Thun, Switzerland. The group produces high-quality metal and plastic packaging in six locations: HOFFMANN tins in Thun and Holland; Polyfoil® and plastic tubes with NEOPAC in Switzerland, Hungary and the US; and 3D Neopac in India. Its longstanding customers include internationally active pharmaceutical, cosmetics and consumer goods manufacturers in the European, North American and Asian markets.

Including its new production facility in the United States, Neopac employs around 1,250 employees and has a capacity of 1.3 billion tubes. The company is dedicated to sustainability in both its manufacturing processes with renewable electricity and corporate culture, including a dedicated eco-conscious packaging portfolio. For more information, visit www.neopac.com.  

In commercial and packaging printing, colour accuracy, speed, and cost-effective production are decisive. To enable customers an even more efficient production with 100% colour accuracy, hubergroup Print Solutions is now launching digital print folders based on the technology of GMG ColorCard. Thanks to the complete integration into the company’s colour management system HDCC, hubergroup offers a fully automated digital print folder communication. At the same time, the printing ink specialist remains true to its proven benchmarks such as the reliable quality verification process and the print folder layout, which is characterised by its detailed information.

Efficient colour management

The already established system HDCC (“hubergroup Digital Colour Communication”) serves as the basis for hubergroup’s digital colour communication. The patented system does not only store colour and recipe data, but also takes existing data into account and prevents duplications. This avoids multiple elaborations of the same colour. Additionally, HDCC features a quality control process relying on digitally stored master colour data as well as highly stable standard paper. Patrick Hübel, Head of Colour Service Europe at hubergroup, explains: “HDCC is a standardisation programme with which we ensure that our customers receive exactly the colour they want – all over the world. This is possible because all locations have access to the same, verified information."

Reliable, fast, detailed 

As an extension to HDCC, hubergroup now integrates digital print folders which allow faster, location-independent, and therefore cost-effective processing. “Our tests showed that our digital print folders are very convincing in terms of colour accuracy, reproducibility, and lightfastness – and we can process them more efficiently than their analogue predecessor. This allows a faster production and more flexibility for our customers,” reports Heinz Aumüller, responsible for Prepress and Process Standardisation at hubergroup. “The digital print folder is fully integrated into our in-house developed colour management system HDCC. Therefore, it is verified based on the final physical match and follows the same verification rules as the analogue print folder to guarantee the high-quality criteria our customers expect from us.”

About hubergroup

hubergroup is a family business based in southern Germany with a 255 year history. The Print Solutions division produces and sells printing inks and printing aids for packaging printing and commercial printing. The security inks segment for international banknote and identity document producers is covered by the subsidiary Gleitsmann Security-Inks. The Chemicals Division markets raw materials such as pigments, resins and additives produced in India. 
The company has always been focused on customer success. That is why hubergroup works on innovative solutions, technologies and services every day in order to optimise the value creation in the printing and chemistry industry and to allow their customers to achieve first-class results. In 2020, hubergroup generated an annual turnover of about €644 million and currently employs approximately 3,500 employees worldwide in over 30 countries.

Three industry-dedicated offices across Africa and further exceptional growth throughout 2021. SACMI will be attending the ProPak fair in Johannesburg - a major African business event - with all its latest solutions, from cap, preform and container-making plants to complete bottling and labelling lines.

SACMI returns to ProPak Africa, the international packaging&processing fair being held in South Africa (Johannesburg Expo Centre) from 8 to 11 March 2022. The fair is organized every three years and its 2022 edition follows a period of extraordinary continent-wide growth in installed production capacity across all SACMI rigid packaging technologies businesses. For example, in Plastic Closures alone, 2020 saw the continent achieve an increase of over 60% and in 2021 it became SACMI’s main market for the machines and systems for this sector.

A long-term strategy for Africa
The history of SACMI's presence in Africa began in the early 2010s when, realizing the continent’s enormous growth potential, the company decided to invest in Africa by opening three dedicated offices in strategic locations and focusing on the rigid packaging business.
This successful strategy has since resulted in the installation of over 400 machines that include compression presses, machines and complete lines for crown and aluminum caps, preform presses, container manufacturing plants and assembly solutions.
 
Trends&Technologies in plastics
Like the rest of the world, Africa is - especially in the plastics sector - increasingly aware of environmental sustainability issues and the need to optimize consumption of virgin resins. Plastic closure-preform systems are essential to packaging safety and enhance the consumer experience: SACMI has innovated them by focusing on lightweighting, with pioneering solutions making cap-preform systems ever-lighter and better-performing, especially in the CSD field and for the new tethered standard.
Another SACMI goal is to broaden the range for the increasing number of bottlers who decide to self-produce caps and preforms: in 2021 we extended our range of preform injection molding machines by launching the new IPS 300.
Moreover, SACMI equips all its solutions with advanced Industry 4.0 controls, an approach of keen interest to the entire global market as such plants boost profitability and take employees on a learning curve that promotes them from the role of ‘worker’ to that of ‘process controller’.
 
Crown Caps mean SACMI
The global crown cap manufacturing market is a stable one in which SACMI technology has played a leading role for decades. By expanding the range beyond traditional ultra-high productivity crown cap lines to include complete solutions such as twist-off and pull-ring lines and new multi-material caps, SACMI has diversified its technology for the aluminum caps sector, with extraordinary results that have won immediate market acclaim.
As in the plastics sector, SACMI complements its metal closures range with fast-evolving Computer Vision systems; at every stage of production, the latter are making ‘vision’ systems true ‘process monitors’, ensuring they can predict problems on the line, reduce downtimes and boost plant availability and performance.
 
CBF, assembling solutions
Over the years, CBF (compression blow forming) technology has progressed in leaps and bounds. It is increasingly popular, especially in the pharma sector. That technology now aims to transfer the most widely appreciated advantages of compression - process consistency, low temperatures, precision - to container manufacturing.
Recently developed to broaden the range of applications and workable resins - including PET, the recyclable resin par excellence - CBF technology also offers scope for renewed, wider use in the dairy sector by merging the best, most appreciated characteristics of alternative technologies.
Furthermore, SACMI Rigid Packaging has extended its range with new assembly solutions produced by Velomat. Their digitally controlled machines greatly simplify the assembly of complex caps (e.g. new dispensers for homecare products), thus reducing costs.
 
Full beverage-labelling plants
The ability to provide the market with all-round solutions, from resin processing to the final filled and labeled container, makes SACMI unique. In fact, for at least 15 years the company has combined its traditional packaging business with a capacity to develop complete stretch-blowing, bottling and labeling systems, solutions that offer outstanding versatility and enormous scope for customization.
For example: the latest range of dual-cavity Blo2Fill XL blow molding machines provide ultra-high productivity while more complete solutions (also in ‘COMBO’ mode) fill, close and label containers. Once again, these solutions come with SACMI Computer Vision systems for accurate control of both container and label, ensuring unrivalled quality and efficiency at all times, especially when there are frequent label and format changeovers.

Its formulas honor ingredients of natural origin that are renewable and have reduced environmental impact.