Sonoco Launches New Paper-Bottom Can in North America

BeerSelect is the first brewery in Belgium to use Smurfit Kappa’s automated TopClip system. Smurfit Kappa has provided a pioneering Belgian craft brewer with an end-to-end packaging system, TopClip, the 100% paper-based replacement for shrink wrap that bundles beverage multi-packs. BeerSelect has enjoyed significant growth over the last three years and attracted considerable attention from investors and beer drinkers alike. The brewer was looking for packaging that would align with its sustainability aspirations, and an automated machine system to efficiently produce the solution in-house. Smurfit Kappa reviewed every aspect of BeerSelect’s operations and decided that the most effective solution was to build and install its Mid-Speed TopClip machine at BeerSelect’s green-field brewery. This machine has proven its worth for many small and medium-sized drinks companies as it can handle 30,000 cans per hour and is flexible enough to switch between different configurations to bundle four, six and eight packs of cans.

The Italian Loacker wafer in flexible packaging paper from Koehler Paper has been on the market for more than a year and a half. But the life cycle of this packaging does not end in waste paper after consumption. Thanks to its certified recyclability, the raw material can be used again and again: The wafer packaging is turned into high-quality recycled paper at Koehler Paper in Greiz. In this way, Koehler Paper is making an active contribution to conserving resources and setting an example of the circular economy in action within the Group. The starting point of the recycling trip is Kehl am Rhein, where Koehler Paper commissioned its most modern paper machine to date in 2019. Specially developed for the production of flexible packaging paper, packaging alternatives to plastic are created here. Compared to plastic, paper generally has a significantly lower carbon footprint. One of the reasons for this is that hardly any other material can be recycled so frequently. Even after several passes through the cycle, the quality of the secondary raw material is retained. From Kehl, the Koehler NexPlus® Seal Pure MOB packaging paper is sent to the SIT Group in San Marino, Italy. Here it is further processed into a Doypack and then delivered to Loacker as environmentally friendly secondary packaging. Once the wafers have been consumed, the packaging paper is sent via a waste paper sorting system to a local recycled paper mill, for example to Koehler Paper in Greiz. The beginnings of paper production in Greiz date back to 1591. Today, Loacker packaging is given a second life here, as all paper produced in Greiz is made from 100 percent secondary fiber raw materials. Thanks to state-of-the-art dyeing technology, the former red Loacker packaging, for example, is turned into a deep black recycled paper that has been awarded the “Blue Angel” eco-label and the EU Ecolabel. But that's not all: the black recycled paper produced in Greiz is further processed by a converter and finally reaches the renowned watch manufacturer Mühle-Glashütte in Saxony. There it finds a new purpose as fine packaging for luxury watches.

Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, announced that it has earned two AmeriStar awards from the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) for its McCoy™ dunnage free IBC liners for bulk liquid aseptic products, and Perflex® S grab-n-go shrink bags for meat and poultry. McCoy™ Dunnage Free IBC Liners for Bulk Liquid Aseptic Products Reduces Costs Up to 40% - The 330-gallon McCoy™ dunnage free bulk container liner reduces waste and cost, while enhancing sustainability. The combination of co-polymer blends and decreased materials per ply makes the package less susceptible to pinhole leaks and flex-cracking during transit. Perflex® S Grab-n-go Shrink Bags for Meat and Poultry - Amcor uses an inventive handle design in a shrink bag header to create a one-piece shrink bag that makes it easy to lift and carry slick, heavy, fresh or frozen meat and poultry up to 22 pounds. New Perflex® S shrink bags with integrated grab-n-go handles eliminate the need to use plastic netting with a clipped loop, which previously was the only option to provide a handle to carry heavy products such as turkeys.