Georgia-Pacific’s Brewton Containerboard Mill to Invest $160 Million In Operations

During the summer, most of the leading shippers announced their annual peak season surcharges and retailers were already braced for expected increases. However, it was recently discussed in an earnings call that FedEx and UPS are additionally increasing their general delivery rates by an average 6.9 percent. New rates will go into effect December 27 for UPS, and on January 3, 2023, for FedEx. Further, USPS also announced a general rate increase which will go into effect on January 22, 2023. Heading into the new year, these news reports might give some operations teams pause; however, it is important to remember that the right packaging strategy is one of the best ways to mitigate the overall impact an increase in shipping charges may have on the bottom line. Most brands can find savings when auditing their existing packaging procedures, especially when working with a provider that is constantly innovating to create value for customers. Are you using the most effective packaging material? Could you free up space or use less material?

International beauty packaging manufacturer and provider Quadpack and Aptar Beauty + Home, worldwide leader in the design and manufacturing of beauty dispensing solutions, have jointly developed a refillable lipstick which pushes the boundaries of sustainability and sensory appeal in makeup packaging. In a spirit of collaborative innovation, the two companies have blended their respective expertise in wood and stick mechanisms to create a product that delivers a great consumer experience: the Iconic Woodacity® Lipstick. Jeremy Garrard, Quadpack’s Director of Market Development, said, “This has been a project firmly based on shared value. Aptar is a respected partner with whom we have a strong history of collaboration. Now, we are leveraging each other’s complementary technologies, market positioning and customer base, to create a refillable makeup solution that really makes a difference.” Sergi Berthet, Vice-President, General Manager Beauty EMEA at Aptar, said, “This solution combines Aptar’s expertise in mechanisms for prestige lipsticks, with Quadpack’s know-how in high-end wood solutions. Our partnership has led to an innovative and premium refillable lipstick, which illustrates our common goal of a sustainable future for packaging”.

Nestlé recently announced that its well-known brand, Smarties, will be using recyclable paper packaging for all of its products worldwide! This represents a transition of 90% of the Smarties range, as 10% was already packed in recyclable paper packaging. The rollout of the new material, which will be complete in the UK and Ireland by April, makes Smarties the first global confectionery brand to move to paper packaging, removing approximately 250 million plastic packs sold worldwide every year. The innovative new designs includes sharing bags, multipacks and giant hexatubes made from coated paper, paper labels or carton board, all produced from sustainably sourced and recyclable material. Alexander von Maillot, Global Head of Confectionery at Nestlé, said: “Moving Smarties packaging to recyclable paper is one of our key sustainable packaging initiatives in the confectionery category. It is a further step in realising Nestlé’s ambition to make all of our packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 and to reduce our use of virgin plastics by one-third in the same period.”