TC Transcontinental Packaging Launches New Sustainable Packaging Website Section

To gain insight into brand-owner and converter perspectives on over-the-counter pharmaceutical and wellness product packaging, we recently conducted a study with key stakeholders in the field. Through these conversations, we discovered some confusion exists surrounding the sustainability of packaging materials. In this article, we will share some of our findings and help clarify some of the benefits and challenges of over-the-counter packaging sustainability. We will also cover results from an LCA study we recently conducted on fiber-based pharmaceutical packaging. For over-the-counter (OTC) product brand-owners, packaging is critical: high standards for quality and safety mean strict attention to protecting the product inside. On crowded shelves, it’s important to differentiate with packaging that attracts interest, reflects such high standards, and communicates vital information about the product. Furthermore, today’s over-the-counter brands and their retailers seek to improve the sustainability of their packaging and adapt to increasing e-commerce.

The Alloyd Division of Sonoco introduced its new, patent pending, roll-feed, cut and seal machine for medical packaging applications that use Tyvek. This innovative, integrated machine brings automation to the production environment, helping to create a faster, more efficient production system for sealing Tyvek-based packaging. It makes for a versatile addition to the existing line of Aergo 2 and Aergo 2 Plus heat sealing machines. “Any time you can increase speeds, seal quality and seal accuracy, while also reducing material scrap and tooling costs, it’s a win, win, win,” said Jim Lassiter, Sonoco segment vice president, Global Plastics. “Precision and performance are so critical in medical packaging where there is very little, if any, room for error. The fact that the addition of this machine to the production process is able to dramatically reduce, or in some cases, completely eliminate operator error, delivers peace of mind for customers because they can have greater confidence in the performance of their final package.”

Metsä Board has on 1 December 2020 signed an agreement to sell a 30 percent stake in its Husum pulp mill in Sweden. The buyer is the Swedish forest owners’ cooperative (ekonomisk förening) Norra Skog, with whom Metsä Forest Sverige, responsible for Metsä Board’s wood procurement in Sweden, has simultaneously entered into a long-term wood supply agreement. The amendment to the environmental permit for the Husum mill has been approved, and Metsä Board has made the final investment decision on the first phase of the pulp mill renewal. The first phase of the investment includes a new recovery boiler and turbine and its total value is approximately EUR 320 million. Expected start-up for the new recovery boiler and turbine will be in H1 2022. The valuation of the Husum pulp mill (enterprise value) to be applied in the transaction at the time of closing is approximately EUR 875 million, including the completion of the ongoing recovery boiler and turbine investment. The valuation corresponds to a value of approximately EUR 1.2 billion after the completion of the second phase of the pulp mill renewal, i.e. the new fibre line. The transaction will decrease Metsä Board’s net debt by approximately EUR 260 million at the time of closing, and additionally reduce Metsä Board’s financial contribution in the second phase of the pulp mill renewal by approximately EUR 100 million. The closing of the transaction is expected to be in January 2021.