Amcor, a global leader in responsible packaging solutions, has expanded its global network of packaging innovation hubs with the opening of the Amcor Innovation Center Europe (AICE) in Ghent, Belgium. This new center joins existing hubs in the US, South America, and Asia Pacific, and is dedicated to advancing material technologies that enhance the sustainability and performance of packaging, while also focusing on eye-catching designs that improve consumer convenience.
"The Amcor Innovation Center Europe represents a significant investment in more sustainable, circular, and innovative packaging solutions," said Michael Zacka, President of Amcor Flexibles Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "This center brings together top talent in packaging design and material science, supported by cutting-edge technology, to deliver complete brand solutions from concept to commercial launch."
At the AICE, Amcor uses its Catalyst™ approach to support brands from concept to shelf. This flexible, collaborative, and creative co-development methodology ensures packaging solutions that meet a brand’s market needs, consumer preferences, sustainability and recyclability requirements, and are compatible with existing production lines.
The AICE facilitates a wide range of activities to support this end-to-end collaborative process:
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Material Science Center: Develops innovative packaging materials that reduce carbon footprints, such as recycle-ready mono-material solutions that perform like traditional mixed-material options, or bio-based and recycled polymer alternatives. The center also advances high-barrier paper packaging and vapor-deposited nanocoatings, with new materials tested in state-of-the-art analytical labs.
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Customer Engagement Center: Hosts collaborative sessions, including an observation room for consumer focus groups. Packaging appeal and usability are tested in an on-site retail simulation area, as well as in kitchen, living room, and bathroom settings where consumers and marketers can interact with the packaging. The on-site prototyping lab quickly produces different packaging solutions for testing.
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E-Commerce Lab: Tests and certifies packaging according to ISTA 6 standards, ensuring it is suitable for shipment through Amazon and other ecommerce channels.
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Packaging and Recycling Test Center (coming soon): Will feature small-scale packing lines that replicate brands’ production lines for in-house machine trials. It will also include recycling equipment to assess packaging recyclability in real-world conditions.
"We aim to create packaging that consumers love and that benefits the environment," said Noemi Bertolino, Vice President of Research & Development. "Packaging should be visually appealing, easy to open, portion, and close, and compatible with current and future recycling infrastructure. At the AICE, we can test packaging against these criteria. For example, in our Customer Engagement Center, we can assess whether a child-resistant blister pack for pharmaceuticals is easy for an adult with arthritis to open."
Amcor is committed to ambitious sustainability goals, including making all its packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025 and significantly increasing its use of recycled materials. Reflecting this commitment, the Amcor Innovation Center Europe is housed in a building designed and built according to BREEAM sustainability certification standards.
