Metsä Board and Kouvolan Lakritsi collaborate on innovative paperboard mug packaging

Berry Global recently opened the doors to its “Circular Innovation and Training Center” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The new 12,000 square foot center will accelerate the development of highly innovative products driven by superior materials science and engineering, foster a collaborative space for training, and incubate cutting-edge stretch film projects that help keep materials in use and out of the environment. Utilizing state-of-the-art film characterization and performance testing technology, the new site will measure the variable properties and behaviors of stretch films, including: *Film characterization and quality measurement to quickly analyze fundamental film properties, like thickness, width, length, weight, density, modulus, elongation, tensile strength, puncture resistance, tear resistance, and cling force. *Performance testing to accurately assess how film properties will perform in the field, including pre-stretch ratio, force-to-load ratio, neck-down ratio, roping ratio, film memory, film relaxation, load deformation, load shifting, and load failure.

A comprehensive review of the general conditions has shown that it is not possible to continue production economically on the board machine in Hirschwang an der Rax, Lower Austria. The age and design of the machine (year of construction 1952) as well as increased market requirements prevent continued existence. 150 employees are affected, discussions about a social plan have already been started. The supply of customers from other plants of the Mayr-Melnhof Group is guaranteed. The result of the cartonboard division is expected to be impacted by around EUR 25 million, the greater part of which is due to depreciation. The Hirschwang site is to concentrate on the existing folding box production (Neupack) with 215 employees in the future. Investments to strengthen the location in this area are being examined.

In a partnership with WestRock and Grupo Gondi, Grupo Modelo is investing roughly 4 million dollars in the sustainable, fiber-based CanCollar® Eco solution in Quintana Roo, a Mexican state on the Yucatan Peninsula. The partnership aims to help advance the beer company’s sustainability goals by eliminating its use of plastic rings in Mexico. Grupo Modelo is the first company in the Americas to adopt the recyclable CanCollar® Eco technology, which will replace hard-to-recycle plastic packaging and is expected to result in over 100 fewer tons1 of plastic waste each year. “At Grupo Modelo, we are continuing to evaluate various alternatives for plastic rings in the packaging of beer cans,” says Soqui Calderon, regional director of Sustainability for Grupo Modelo. “This is how we discovered CanCollar Eco, a new solution developed by WestRock and produced in Mexico by Grupo Gondi. Made from recyclable paperboard, this innovative packaging uses the least amount of material required to hold and to keep our beer cans secure through the supply chain.”