Aptar Digital Health Partners with SHL Medical

Berry Global Group, Inc. announced its Biesheim, France, facility has achieved International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC). Berry has been awarded the certificate from SGS Germany GmbH, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing, and certification company. The certification enables the site to sell ISCC Plus certified nonwovens. “As the leading nonwovens provider globally, we continue to advance our product offerings to customers,” said Achim Schalk, EVP and General Manager, EMEIA, for the Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Division of Berry. “One of Berry’s core values is sustainability, as we know it is for many customers. With this certification, we can now offer another level of certified, sustainable nonwoven materials.” The ISCC Plus certification is validating the “mass balance system” utilization in the supply chain, tracking the quantity and sustainability characteristics of circular and/or biobased content in the value chain and attribute it based on verifiable bookkeeping with predefined and transparent rules. This certification enables customers of Berry to certify their usage of mass balance raw materials as the entire supply chain has been evaluated.

Today’s food and beverage (F&B) companies are poised to minimise plastic as a favoured2 packaging material, as recent research has unveiled that three out of the top five commitments made by business leaders to address sustainability challenges include the reduction of plastic usage.3 Tetra Pak’s research examined F&B manufacturers’ attitude to sustainability, now and in five years' time.4 Half of the surveyed businesses pinpointed consumer demand as the main catalyst behind implementing new sustainable solutions within the manufacturing and processing arena. This echoes the sentiment found in a separate Tetra Pak consumer study on packaging.5 It found the intention to buy among almost three out of four respondents (74%) would increase if a brand talked about environmental topics,6 while 42% believe that an “environmentally sound package” justifies a higher price,7 providing the industry with a reassuring case for adopting a business model that reduces environmental impact.

Net sales for the third quarter were a record $1.32 billion, an increase of $115.9 million, or 9.6 percent, from last year’s quarter. The improvement in sales was a result of higher selling prices, largely driven by rising raw material prices; sales added from acquisitions, net of divestitures; and the positive impact of foreign exchange. Gross profits were a record $250.9 million in the third quarter, an increase of $15.5 million or 6.6 percent, compared with $235.4 million in the same period in 2016. Gross profit as a percentage of sales declined to 18.9 percent, compared with 19.5 percent in the same period in 2016. The gross profit percentage reduction was primarily due to higher raw material and other operating costs offset by manufacturing and procurement productivity. Third-quarter selling, general and administrative expenses increased $8.7 million from the prior year to $130.3 million. This increase was driven by wage inflation and acquisition-related expenses. Click Read More below for additional information.