The Latest

  • A person wearing an augmented reality headset uses calipers in an industrial facility.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Deep Dive

    Reality check: AR, VR transforms training for packaging manufacturers

    Augmented and virtual reality experiences at Greif, Papacks, Smurfit Westrock and Sonoco are working to boost employees’ skills and safety, pushing packaging manufacturing training into its “next era.”

  • A clear plastic thermoform container for strawberries with Gem-Pack Berries' logo.
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    Permission granted by Gem-Pack Berries
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    Gem-Pack Berries ditches clamshell labels with Multisteps’ digital printing technology

    Multisteps Industries expects its direct-to-packaging printing to improve recyclability for Gem-Pack’s PET clamshells for berries, starting this year.

  • Close up view of corrugated cardboard
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    Photo illustration by Shaun Lucas/Packaging Dive; photograph by Vudhikul Ocharoen via Getty Images
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    Tracker

    Packaging manufacturers set big sustainability goals. How are they doing?

    Amcor reported on its emissions reduction targets, recently validated by SBTi. The company says nearly all of its rigid packaging is now “recyclable,” but recycling solutions are still missing for much of its flexibles portfolio.

    Updated Oct. 18, 2024
  • International Paper's new logo.
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    Courtesy of International Paper/Cision
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    International Paper to lay off 650 employees

    The lion’s share of the layoffs will occur at the company’s headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. Another portion relates to a planned corrugated sheet plant closure in Texas.

  • Puzzle pieces with packaging
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    Photo illustration: Shaun Lucas/Industry Dive; Getty Images

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    Tracking packaging mergers and acquisitions in 2024

    Mondi is acquiring European assets from Schumacher Packaging; ACR acquired Mat-Pac; SupplyOne acquired Gulf Packaging; Enjay Converters acquired Corner Edge Products.

    Updated Oct. 11, 2024
  • O-I Glass global headquarters.
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    Courtesy of O-I Glass
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    O-I Glass discloses $21M severance charge amid furnace closures

    The company detailed an optimization plan in July. In the past two months, O-I has disclosed multiple furnace closures impacting hundreds of employees and a Q3 charge related to expected Q4 severance payouts.

  • People holding coffee cups with natural-colored, fiber-based lids.
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    Courtesy of PulPac
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    Q&A

    PulPac leverages partnerships to advance its dry molded fiber technology

    The company is experiencing growth as it touts its technology's carbon footprint benefits over the wet molding process. Identifying coatings free of PFAS is a sticking point, says Chief Commercial Officer Sanna Fager.

  • Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President-Designate, speaks on stage.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    CEOs from Ball, Ikea, Nestlé, H&M, others call for climate action ahead of COP29

    A letter, signed by senior executives from over 100 corporations, urges governments and businesses to collaborate to address challenges related to climate risk mitigation.

  • A person using two hands to unscrew Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch liquid blush
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    Permission granted by Rare Beauty
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    Deep Dive

    ‘Everybody benefits’: Why the beauty industry needs to get serious about accessible packaging

    Rare Beauty and Target have taken steps to develop guidance around universally accessible design, but the industry isn’t prioritizing it yet.

    CPG
  • Clear-colored roll-on deodorant on a table
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    sulhanul khoir via Getty Images
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    Silgan completes acquisition of Weener Plastics

    Weener Plastics is Silgan’s latest major purchase in recent years to grow its dispensing and specialty closures division.

    Updated Oct. 15, 2024
  • A graphic depicting, from left to right, the current How2Recycle icons and the proposed redesigned How2Recycle icons
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    Permission granted by GreenBlue
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    How2Recycle revamp

    How2Recycle doesn’t want to abandon the chasing arrows

    Consumer comprehension data played a central role in how How2Recycle redesigned its instructional label, leaders of the process explained. But potential restrictions in California pose a challenge.

    Updated Oct. 14, 2024
  • International Paper's new logo.
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    Courtesy of International Paper/Cision
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    Acquisition of DS Smith

    International Paper, DS Smith shareholders vote to approve combination

    The shareholders’ approvals push the deal closer to closing, which the parties still expect to occur this quarter. The combined companies anticipate pro forma sales of over $28 billion.

  • Four different colored cans of wine on an in-flight tray table.
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    Courtesy of United Airlines
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    Packaging innovations: United Airlines’ canned wine, Chivas Regal’s light spirits

    Plus, RXDco puts cannabis in a cocoon, Novolex flags product tampering and KYSU switches from plastic to paper. 

  • Fiber packaging on equipment at a shipment fulfillment center.
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    Permission granted by Amazon
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    Brands make packaging design changes for e-commerce compatibility

    Pandemic-related and sustainability trends, along with Amazon's requirements, are among the factors prompting Clorox, Mars Wrigley and Nestlé to tweak product packaging designs they use for e-commerce.

  • Front and side view of Silk Kids oatmilk blend
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    Permission granted by Danone
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    How2Recycle revamp

    Danone chooses cartons for initial How2Recycle Plus rollout

    The company also detailed other packaging formats where it’s considering adding the labels, which include a Recycle Check QR code. It’s unclear how much consumers engaged with those QR codes during other brands’ pilots.

    Updated Oct. 11, 2024
  • Clorox disinfecting wipes are seen displayed for sale at a Walmart Supercenter on September 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Clorox says 2023 cyberattack hurt progress on 2030 plastic, waste reduction goals

    The company is reassessing some sustainability goals, according to its latest annual report. Data shows the company stagnated on lowering virgin material and upping PCR in packaging.

  • A production line fills compostable coffee pods with coffee grounds
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    Courtesy of NatureWorks
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    Deep Dive

    Inside the debate over PLA, the packaging industry’s favorite bioplastic

    Polylactic acid has been around for decades, but it only became popular as an option for compostable packaging more recently. While some environmental groups question its credentials, the packaging sector expects demand to grow.

  • A sign outside a building that shows a logo for Plastipak.
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    Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa/AP

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    Longtime Plastipak Packaging CEO steps down, welcomes ‘next generation of leadership’

    William Young, who co-founded the family-owned company in 1967, passed the torch this week to his son-in-law, Edward Morgan, who has worked at Plastipak for more than 20 years.

  • Taco Bell and TerraCycle are expanding a sauce packet recycling program to accept all brands of condiment packets.
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    Courtesy of Taco Bell
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    Yum! Brands’ 2025 virgin plastic reduction target remains in question

    The corporation described packaging sustainability efforts across its fast-food brands in an ESG report, including updating Pizza Hut box graphics to promote recycling and expanding mail-in recycling for Taco Bell sauce packets.

  • Clear plastic bottles
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    golubovy via Getty Images
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    Washington state fines 35 companies violating recycled plastic law

    Clorox, Ocean Spray and Albertsons are among the companies facing the highest penalties. Under the law, plastic beverage containers had to use at least 15% recycled content in 2023 and plastic trash bags had to contain 10%.

  • A large screen at an event shows a bubble graph of words that consumers believe makes a brand sustainable.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Consumers are confused by packaging sustainability claims

    Between greenwashing, confusing terminology and a lack of information, a lot gets lost in translation, according to speakers from the National Retail Federation, NielsenIQ and others at recent industry events.

  • A woman in a supermarket smiles and holds a smartphone above a carton
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    Courtesy of GreenBlue
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    How2Recycle revamp

    How2Recycle Plus ready to take dynamic labels mainstream

    The new offering features a QR code so consumers can access localized recycling information. It will come at a higher price to brands than the more traditional How2Recycle Pro label. Danone will be the first to adopt it.

  • A box of Hot Pockets microwaveable sandwiches.
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    Permission granted by Nestlé USA
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    Packaging innovations: Hot Pockets go sleeveless, Henkel’s coating lightens dry food packaging

    Plus, hair care brand Overtone joins a Target sustainability initiative as it launches tubes with a new look and PCR.

  • Close-up shot of a food container with film that says recyclable.
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    K Neville via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Hush-hush: Is greenwashing pushback prompting pivot to ‘greenhushing’?

    Companies must focus on data to back their sustainability claims instead of resorting to silence, or exaggerations, said sources from groups such as the U.S. Plastics Pact, Glass Packaging Institute and McCormick & Co.

  • Four speakers seated on a stage at the SPC Advance conference in Chicago on Oct. 1, 2024.
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive
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    Paying their fair share: CAA and states detail approach to EPR enforcement

    The new CEO of Circular Action Alliance and state producer responsibility leads shared how they’ll collaborate on compliance and enforcement. A Colorado deadline this week brought a surge of producer registrations.