Huhtamaki appoints Wilhelm Wolff as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development

Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l. today announced it will again raise prices by a further €50 per tonne (£40 / tonne) on all recycled paperboard grades sold in the Company's European regions. The price change is effective with shipments on or after 17th July 2017. "Demand for raw materials has continued to rise throughout the year as a result of China's "National Sword" initiative, new capacity within the paper packaging sector, and the European economy currently being stronger than we have seen in recent years. The resultant continued increase in raw material costs are again unsustainable and we now have no choice but to pass these increases through into the market," said Phil Woolley, Director - Paper Europe.

Is packaging wasted? Well, certainly, some packaging is. But it depends upon your definition of waste. If a metal can is placed into the general waste stream, for example, then yes, it is wasted. If it enters into the recycling stream, then perhaps the consumer sees it as a waste product sent for recycling, but the item itself is far from wasted. In the case of metal, its properties are such that it can be recycled indefinitely without any degradation in quality, which creates what we call a circular economy. Provided the key elements of the circle are all performing their specific duties, it is a truly sustainable model. We have known this for some time, but what is perhaps less known is that food waste has a greater impact on the environment than packaging waste. Although the latter must of course be given our full attention, the former must also be looked at closely to ensure we are not ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ – so to speak.

Amcor and AVON announced the launch of the AmPrima™ Plus refill pouch for the AVON Little Black Dress classic shower gels in China. The recycle-ready packaging will result in an 83% reduction in carbon footprint, and 88% and 79% reduction in water consumption and renewable energy respectively when it's recycled.* In alignment with AVON’s ambition to use 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging material for its products by 2030, Amcor’s research and development teams partnered with AVON to design and develop their first refill pouch with recycle-ready material. The AmPrima refill pouch is designed to provide a more sustainable packaging solution that also delivers the barrier properties, stiffness, graphics performance and run speeds matching unrecyclable alternatives, while also providing convenience to consumers. “Amcor’s AmPrima product range offers packaging options to help major brands, like AVON, reach their sustainability goals,” said Roawin Luo, Global Director of Product Management at Amcor.