Growing Tissue Capacity

Leading print consumables provider to the global packaging industry, Flint Group Packaging Inks has revealed its new range of chlorine-free heat sealable coatings under the NexisCode brand name. Launched in support of its overall sustainability vision of ‘supporting packaging markets with responsibly built products and sustainable solutions designed for circular economies’, the new portfolio is designed for a wide range of film, paper and aluminium packaging applications and is based on a number of binder technologies ensuring suitability no matter what substrate is used. The chlorine-free heat sealable coating range meets all technical and regulatory requirements and provides a solution for the latest mono-material packaging structures designed for today’s recycling infrastructure. Stephen Butler, Product Manager for Flint Group Flexible Packaging in Europe, said: “Many brands and corporations are seeking to eliminate polyvinyl chloride from their packaging due to concerns about its impact on the recyclability of packs, as well as the environment. When PVC is mechanically recycled in today’s typical recycling stream, the high processing temperature can cause degradation of the resin into smaller chlorinated components, which can impact the quality of the resulting recyclate.

U.S. Packaging net sales of $666.0 million for the first quarter of 2018 represented an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the same period of 2017. The increase in net sales was driven primarily by sales price and mix partially offset by lower unit volumes of approximately 1 percent. Lower unit volumes were driven by the Company’s planned shutdown of its Shelbyville, Tennessee facility. U.S. Packaging operating profit increased to $87.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, or 13.1 percent of net sales, compared to $83.5 million, or 12.9 percent of net sales, in 2017. The increase in U.S. Packaging operating profit was driven by improved operations and cost savings from the Company’s Agility plan. Click Read More below for additional information.

UPM Raflatac is expanding its wash-off portfolio with new paper label materials that enhance the recycling of PET and HDPE. The label materials have received European certifications of recyclability from Institut cyclos-HTP for PET and HDPE packaging, and they are part of UPM Raflatac’s SmartCircle™ portfolio. “We are determined to develop solutions for circularity. While plastics have remarkable features to keep valuable content safe until consumption, we also seek ways to increase the share of certified renewable materials in the packaging that go beyond fossils. Now, in addition to our multiple plastic wash-off solutions, we are excited to expand the offer into sustainably sourced paper labels. These innovations enable high-quality recycled PET and HDPE flakes to be used again as the label material separates cleanly in the recycling process,” says Sylwia Jurys, Vice President, Paper Laminates SBU EMEIA, UPM Raflatac.