As shoppers and retailers head back to more routine day-to-day activities following the holiday chaos, one activity that is likely to continue well into February is gift returns. Returns are a routine cost of doing business for online retailers as part of a positive user experience. But the holidays offer more significant challenges regarding returns, particularly when you add more brick-and-mortar stores to the situation. The National Retail Federation estimates consumers will return about 16.5 percent of their gifts. A UPS study puts that at around 23 percent - a quarter of the gifts given over the holidays. In cases where an item still has value after being returned, it is imperative to maintain the integrity of the product during shipment. The easiest way to do that is through effective packaging.

Trioworld launched the first ever Post-Consumer Recyclates (PCR) based bale wrap in Agritechnica 2019, the world’s largest agricultural exhibition. With more than five million bales successfully wrapped in high-performance bale wrap made of recycled content since then, Trioworld now displays a full assortment of premium products for baled silage with recycled content at Agritechnica 2023. “We believe that this is the bale wrap of the future”, says Anders Larsson, Product manager Agricultural stretch films at Trioworld. “The performance is just as we want it. Silage quality and wrapping performance have proven to be on equal level as with our premium products without PCR. The fact that five million bales have been successfully wrapped with our bale wrap containing recycled material is just additional proof that it really does work”, he continues.

Brand owners will now have access to enhanced folding carton printing capabilities—including exotic inks and coatings—with an improved cost profile that will heighten their shelf presence. PaperWorks Industries has invested $3 million in a sheet-fed lithographic press at its Greensboro, N.C. facility which will enable many value-added enhancements in a single pass that traditionally take two- and three-passes to achieve. These include matte and metallic inks, specialty coatings and pigments—plus seven-color printing. The capability is driven by the press' unique configuration. "Brand owners and private label packagers are constantly looking for ways to grab the consumer's attention with eye-catching package design. Traditionally, carton printers would have to run the board through a press additional times to gain the heightened visual and/or tactile effects. However, earmarking additional funds for enhanced shelf impact may not always be feasible. Our new one-pass printing capability creates visual attributes in a fast and cost-effective manner," said Brandon Clairmont, senior vice president, packaging sales and marketing, PaperWorks. Click Read More below for additional information.