Greif is pleased to announce the rebrand of its product circularity program, now known as Life Cycle Services by Greif. Backed by one of the most comprehensive sustainability programs in industrial packaging, Greif has a proven history of helping customers meet and exceed their sustainability goals. This initiative aligns with its recently announced 2030 Sustainability Targets, including a broader focus on advancing a circular economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and championing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Under the new Life Cycle Services brand, Greif has aligned these end-of-life services offered by its Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) and Paper Packaging and Services (PPS) businesses. For years, rigid packaging customers have trusted on the EarthMinded® network of partners across the US and EMEA for collection, cleaning, recycling, and reconditioning services.

The packaging industry is undergoing a “quiet revolution,” shifting away from “the risky economic path” of continuous plastic production, according to Sian Sutherland, the co-founder at A Plastic Planet. Sutherland tells Packaging Insights that rather than accepting stalled UN Global Plastics Treaty progress and “patchwork regulations,” industry and policymakers should recognize this moment as the “tipping point before transformational change.” “The question isn’t whether this transformation will happen, but how quickly we can accelerate it. Industry leaders already understand their license to operate depends on fundamentally reimagining their relationship with materials — government policy needs to catch up with this reality.”

ePac Flexible Packaging, founded in 2016 as the world’s first all-digital flexible packaging company, just turned 8 years old in May of this year. So it’s fair to ask: How is ePac doing with its disruptive business model? From 2016 through 2022 ePac consistently grew 50 -100% per year. In 2023 ePac’s growth slowed, but units produced still increased 30% over 2022 as new customer acquisition remained strong. Today, ePac is an international company with ~$200M in sales. In 2023, and still in 2024, the flexible packaging industry came under significant financial pressure caused by a myriad of factors including inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain issues, emergence from COVID 19, and the availability of capital. The industry, in general, saw top line sales decline and underlying costs increase. ePac responded with a reassessment of its strategy, and took several key steps to mitigate what was/is happening industry-wide.