The Latest

  • 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

    Oliver Packaging sold to a private equity firm; Tredegar divested its Terphane flexibles business; Ball bought a European impact-extruded aluminum packaging business; PackEdge acquired Fluted Partition.

    Updated 17 hours ago
  • International Paper's new logo.
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    Courtesy of International Paper/Cision
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    DS Smith deal close pushed to 2025 as IP touts early results from its own turnaround plan

    CEO Andy Silvernail provided numerous updates on a company rethink that has involved site closures, a large corporate restructuring and operational changes. He also previewed the potential for new box plant investments.

  • stacks of white diapers
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    muchemistry via Getty Images
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    International Paper cuts 674 jobs amid strategic review of global cellulose fibers

    The news of a South Carolina pulp mill closure brings IP’s announced layoffs this month to more than 1,500. A potential sale of the broader GCF business is now under consideration.

  • Exterior view of a manufacturing facility with the Smurfit WestRock logo
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    Courtesy of Smurfit WestRock
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    Smurfit Westrock cuts 800 positions, eyes footprint optimization and investments

    CEO Tony Smurfit touted “excellent” results for the combined company’s first earnings report but noted a desire to further optimize assets and reduce costs. He also addressed questions about the solid bleached sulfate business.

  • The commemorative placement of a final beam on the initial construction of O-I's glass packaging production facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in April 2024.
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    Courtesy of O-I Glass
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    O-I considers cutting 7% of capacity by mid-2025

    The company reported a net loss in Q3 after curtailing an estimated 18% of production amid destocking trends. It also reported the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Kentucky, its first in decades.

  • Two sizes of McDonald's McFlurry ice cream treat in cups with four flaps at the top.
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    Courtesy of McDonald's
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    Graphic Packaging to ditch third-party pricing indexes in 2025

    The move to develop a new pricing index follows an industrywide controversy throughout 2024. Plus, GPI disclosed on its earnings call a partnership with McDonald’s on a food service packaging innovation.

  • A paper-based cup and a wooden stir stick with Southwest Airlines branding sit on an airline tray table next to a window.
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    Courtesy of Southwest Airlines
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    Southwest Airlines brings bamboo on board for new cups

    The airline recently stirred up change when it began stocking the bamboo-based cold beverage cups and wooden stir sticks, following a yearlong R&D process stemming from plastic reduction goals. 

  • Stacks of cardboard boxes in a logistics center
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    Rost-9D via Getty Images
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    Is the fiber packaging M&A surge done? Probably not.

    M&A activity is expected to influence companies’ commercial approaches for the next five to 10 years, according to conference speakers from Wells Fargo, Bloomberg and Hudson Windsor.

  • Aerial shot of Suzano production site in Brazil
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    Courtesy of Suzano
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    Suzano begins operating 2 US mills, talks bolt-on M&A

    Suzano executives shared more details about the ramp-up in Arkansas and North Carolina, and the Brazilian company’s broader aspirations for growth in the U.S., during an earnings call on Friday.

  • A manufacturing line with paper-based table ware coming off the conveyor.
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    Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific
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    10 of the latest packaging facility expansions in North America

    Elopak, Georgia-Pacific, Graham Packaging and RediBagUSA are among the companies that recently made investments in new facilities or upgrades.

    Updated Oct. 25, 2024
  • An array of metal tins with peel-back metal lids.
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    Courtesy of Eviosys
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    Sonoco’s acquisition of Eviosys under review in UK

    U.K. regulators are expected to report back by Dec. 19 on a deal that Sonoco has projected will close in the fourth quarter. Separately, the European Commission recently approved the acquisition.

  • O-I glass bottles on the hot end of a line.
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    Courtesy of O-I Glass
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    O-I Glass shuttering Ohio innovation center, Illinois plant: reports

    The company has teased multiple closures since Gordon Hardie took over as CEO but previously had shared few specifics on locations.

  • Former President Donald Trump, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris, right, stand behind podiums at a debate.
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    Election 2024: The outlook for packaging and manufacturing policy

    Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump differ on environmental regulations, manufacturing, energy and ESG policies. What could a Trump or Harris presidency mean for the packaging industry?

  • Kroger Ocado
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    Courtesy of Kroger
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    Kroger rolls out Avery Dennison RFID tech

    The automation technology aims to provide more frequent and accurate inventory insight to prevent food waste and streamline in-store operations. 

  • Three compostable Sabert trays with chopped vegetables on a table
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    Courtesy of Sabert Corp.
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    Q&A

    5 questions for Sabert’s new chief sustainability officer

    Richa Desai discusses what it’s like to lead sustainability strategy at a private food packaging company in a changing landscape.

  • Close-up of brown corrugated packaging
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    Lisa Beeby via Getty Images
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    PCA reports strong volume and price growth in Q3, previews major new plants in the coming years

    Packaging Corporation of America set new quarterly records in containerboard production and other categories, backed by demand from existing customers. It also reported progress on at least 60 capital projects at existing box plants.

  • Close-up view of flat, stacked corrugated boxes.
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    SafakOguz via Getty Images
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    Fiber packaging pricing remains flat, Cascades’ 3rd increase doesn’t gain traction

    Industry price increases appear to be finished for the year. Meanwhile, analysts point to continued improvement in volumes while the industry pulls up from the post-pandemic “cardboard box recession.”

  • President Joe Biden delivers a speech at a podium while Vice President Kamala Harris stands in the background.
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    Biden-Harris administration opens tariff exclusion process for some manufacturers

    The deadline to submit exclusion requests to the USTR is March 31, 2025.

  • A closeup of the bottom of a corrugated box with International Paper's
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    Rachel Pollack/Packaging Dive
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    International Paper to close facilities in 4 states, lay off hundreds

    The recently disclosed layoffs will occur in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee in mid-December. These are in addition to 650 layoffs confirmed last week.

    Updated Oct. 21, 2024
  • Sleek cans of flavored mineral water from Brazilian beverage producer Socorro Bebidas
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    Courtesy of Crown Holdings
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    Beverage can trends in North America, Europe improved for Crown in Q3

    However, customer promotional activity remains “lackluster,” which “may well be the new norm,” said CEO Tim Donahue.

  • Two black reusable containers in a warehouse holding celery
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    Retrieved from PR Newswire.
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    Sprouts expands reusable packaging partnership with IFCO

    The specialty grocer has piloted reusable containers for fresh produce items packed in high-humidity environments as a way to replace single-use corrugated and wax-corrugated boxes.

  • An arm clutches a Sway polybag containing a garment. Writing printed on the bag reads "This bag is made with seaweed."
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    Permission granted by Sway
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    Sway scaling compostable seaweed-based polybags with fashion brands

    Prana, Faherty and other brands will begin using the bags to package items like shirts and shorts. California-based material innovation startup Sway says the next applications it’s eyeing include mailers and multilayer packaging.

    Updated Oct. 25, 2024
  • 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