Kimberly-Clark Professional introduced a customer-centric innovation called Onvation® SmartFit™ technology consisting of a small, internet-enabled sensor that fits inside paper towel and bath tissue dispensers to provide real-time data that helps commercial facility managers schedule janitorial staff more efficiently and reduce waste. "Restrooms are one of the most scrutinized areas of any facility," said Susan Gambardella, President, Kimberly-Clark Professional. "With Onvation SmartFit, we offer customers a valuable service bundle to enhance efficiency, prevent complaints, reduce waste and improve the guest experience." Onvation was already known in the industry as a smart restroom management system featuring SCOTT® towel and bath tissue and PURELL® hand soap. Now, the compact SmartFit™ technology expands that capability to include a wider range of dispenser types including Kimberly-Clark Professional's ICON®, SCOTT PRO® dispenser collections and select universal dispensers.

Industry-leading Turkish flavour company Aromsa, whose products include sauces, toppings, extracts and seasonings, was faced with a challenge. The company was fully committed to its sustainability strategy, but it had also started to work with a new customer who wanted to use stainless-steel containers for shipping. This would require an investment into approximately 250 stainless-steel containers, which is a costly packaging solution. In addition to high price, there are also the logistical costs of storage and maintenance, washing and sterilising the containers. Mondi was invited to develop an alternative solution and proposed the TankerBox which Aromsa trialled on their production line. After a few months of close collaboration and innovation at the Aromsa facilities, the TankerBox was ready for Aromsa’s commercial use. Produced from corrugated cardboard and developed as a substitute for the traditional Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) and metal barrel, the TankerBox is an innovative product and a more sustainable solution. Its patented design consists of 5 parts: an outer box, inner octabin, angle frame, bottom star and top cover pieces.

In the future packaging will be at least one of these things: made of renewable materials, recyclable, possibly reusable, and optimised to protect the product while avoiding overpacking. These three trends will change packaging for good. 1. Tailored minimalism - In the future packaging design, less is more. There is a growing demand for solutions that address the problem of overpackaging. This is demonstrated by the actions and opinions of consumers, environmental groups, and legislators. 2. Return of the reusable packaging - It would be an understatement to call recyclability a packaging trend as it is the main driver in packaging design at the moment. In addition to recyclable and recycled packaging materials, there will be more and more reusable packages in the future. 3. Going beyond fossils - With companies’ ambitious climate targets and EU regulation, it’s no wonder that replacing fossil-based materials in packaging remains a growing trend. Packaging designers are increasingly looking for alternative packaging materials that minimise environmental harm while maintaining functionality and performance.