Packaging materials

Pladis is the latest company to join the UK Plastics Pact

Pladis pledges to plastics packaging scheme

By Gwen Ridler

McVitie’s and Jacob’s owner Pladis has pledged to make all of its plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 as part of a range of sustainability measures to reduce its environmental impact.

Food and drink manufacturers are being encouraged to eliminate their use of ‘mixed plastics’

UK recycling faces ‘mixed plastics’ challenge

By Paul Gander

Food and drink manufacturers are being encouraged to optimise their polyethylene terephthalate (PET) streams and eliminate their use of ‘mixed plastics’ to enable better recycling recovery rates.

CCEP is to use recycled plastic from Loop Industries

CCEP partners with recycled plastic supplier

By Gwen Ridler

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) is to purchase 100% recycled plastics from supplier Loop Industries, in an effort to make its supply chain more sustainable.

WRAP has launched a roadmap to help achieve its UK Plastic Pact targets

WRAP launches Plastics Pact roadmap

By Gwen Ridler

Targets and deadlines for efficient plastic packaging use have been launched by The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) for members of the UK Plastics Pact.

Matthew Carr shares his prediction for Gulfood 2018

Gulfood 2018

What to expect at Gulfood Manufacturing 2018

By Matthew Carr

Ahead of this year’s Gulfood Manufacturing conference in Dubai, Matthew Carr, client solutions director at food and drink capital investment specialist Integrated Food Projects, shares his predictions for the show, exclusively to Food Manufacture.

Plans for a plastic tax in this year's budget were slammed by members of the food and drink industry

Food and drink industry responds to 2018 Budget

By Gwen Ridler

Food and drink industry representatives have challenged the plastic packaging tax consultation revealed in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2018 Budget, which was announced on Monday (29 October).

Clipper has launched its first plastic-free teabags

Clipper launches plastic-free teabag

By Gwen Ridler

Wessanen UK-owned Clipper Teas has launched a plastic free, non-genetically modified (GM) and unbleached teabag for use in all of its products.

MuscleFood is to rebrand its entire range

MuscleFood to rebrand range

By Aidan Fortune

Online food retailer MuscleFood is to rebrand its entire range to reflect the company’s move towards health and wellness as it hopes to attract new customers.

Heineken's new multipacking system can only succeed by communicating with consumers

Explanation key to Snap Pack success

By Paul Gander

Consumer communications at the point-of-sale will be essential to the success of Snap Pack, the new glue-based multipacking system for cans of Carlsberg beer, the brewer has claimed.

Sealpac claims a service contact can reduce downtime by up to 80%

PACKAGING MACHINERY

How a focus on downtime can reduce costs

By Paul Gander

It may no longer be fashionable to look at downtime in isolation, but many packaging equipment suppliers believe this metric still offers some easy wins for manufacturers keen to reduce unnecessary costs.

ABB Robotics’ YuMi dual-arm collaborative robot is being joined next month by a single-arm version

SHOW REVIEW

PPMA Show 2018: between the bigger exhibits

By Paul Gander

Not all of the news from last week’s PPMA Show at Birmingham NEC was about major announcements and unmissably-large pieces of equipment.

Could reverse vending be the final piece in the circular economy puzzle?

Opinion

How reverse vending could benefit a brand

By Paul Gander

It seems unlikely that perceptions of packaging, in particular plastics, will ever return to what they were just a year ago – nor should they. But companies are reporting less ‘demonisation’ and point-blank rejection of plastics among consumers. Instead,...

Cranswick has improved its green credentials since signing up to the UK Plastics Pact

Cranswick highlights recycling successes

By Aidan Fortune

As part of its Recycling Week celebrations, UK meat processor Cranswick is to use the plastic collected to create new recyclable packaging for its produce.

Reverse vending of plastic packaging could be used by smaller brands, claims equipment supplier

Brands gain from reverse vending

By Paul Gander

There is nothing to stop smaller brands following the example of Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments and creating reverse vending partnerships of their own for plastic bottles and/or cans, says the company that supplied the equipment.

Tulip has signed a new deal with pallet provider IPP Logipal

Tulip signs deal with pallet provider

By Aidan Fortune

Pork processor Tulip has signed a new contract with sustainable pallet provider IPP Logipal, to help deliver its produce to retail customers.

Forest Gin Distillery has been inundated with orders from Japan

Forest Gin hits it big in Japanese market

By Aidan Fortune

A Macclesfield-based distillery is expecting exports to grow tenfold following massive demand from Japanese customers for its new line of whisky.

Nestlé demonstrated the advances in digital print with its Kit Kat Senses box

News in brief

Speedy move for complex Nestlé carton

By Paul Gander

A complex 3D pack design for Nestlé, which took roughly a third of the time typically taken from concept to consumer, has underlined digital print’s ability to deliver speedy solutions and streamline customers’ decision-making.

Half of UK consumers called for a tax on plastics for food packaging

Widespread support for plastic packaging tax

By Gwen Ridler

More than half of consumers in the UK are in favour of a tax on all plastic packaging on food products, according to new research from a specialist consultancy.

Coca-Cola’s asymmetric Fanta bottle took at least two years to develop

Opinion

Going out on a limb for packaging development

By Paul Gander

Every manufacturer wants their fast-moving consumer goods to make speedy progress onto the shelf, as well as off it. But how can firms accelerate the packaging development process for that to happen?

Kelly's of Cornwall has ditched black packaging on its clotted cream ice cream (old packaging left)

Kelly’s replaces black packaging in ice cream tubs

By Gwen Ridler

Ice cream manufacturer Kelly’s of Cornwall has pledged to replace all of the black plastic packaging used in its Clotted Cream variety with silver plastic, which is easier to recycle.

The mobile billboard outside of Walkers Leicester

Mobile campaign billboards circle Walkers HQ

By Gwen Ridler

Two mobile billboards were circling Walkers Crisps’ Leicester factory and Reading headquarters on Monday (6 August), as part of a campaign urging the manufacturer to ditch plastic packaging.

Graze has adopted brighter, colourful packaging for its products

NEWS IN BRIEF

Graze rebrands snack range

By Gwen Ridler

Snack manufacturer Graze has rolled out its rebranded packaging to its retail lines in a bid to reshape UK consumer perceptions of snacking.

The industry is lacking guidance on safe levels of mineral oils in food-grade boards

Uncertainty on mineral oils in recycled packaging

By Paul Gander

As a new range of food-grade boards targets the challenge of mineral oil content in recycled fibre, and its potential migration into food, many in the wider supply chain have been left perplexed by the lack of clear guidance from regulatory bodies on...

Tulip is the latest food business to sign up to WRAP's Plastics Pact

Tulip signs up to UK Plastics Pact

By Aidan Fortune

Meat processor Tulip has become the latest food business to sign up to the UK Plastics Pact, as part of its commitments to tackling plastic usage and food waste as part of its new CSR policy.

Larger brand owners are set to benefit financially from operating Deposit Return Schemes

Deposit Return Schemes offer profit potential

By Paul Gander

While many manufacturers have been cautious about the implications of a UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for beverage containers, which is now government policy subject to a consultation later this year, larger brand owners can benefit financially...

The industry's focus on plastic packaging has been welcomed by the British Plastics Federation

BPF: Plastics focus welcomed

By Paul Gander

The current intense scrutiny of plastics packaging could combine with revamped structures for funding collection and recycling to yield long-term positive results for the sector, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) believes.

Design guidelines are being developed for recyclable flexible packaging

Push to identify sustainable design

By Paul Gander

The drive to establish best practice in flexible packaging design, sorting and recycling is gaining pace at European level, with the growing number of stakeholders within circular economy initiative CEFLEX now moving towards a first draft of its design...

JPS worked with Kraft Foods in the US on its new pack design for Philadelphia cheese

Jabil Packaging targets European food

By Rick Pendrous

Jabil Packaging Solutions (JPS), a US-headquartered smart rigid packaging specialist that works “below the radar” with some of the biggest global names in branded food and drink, is on a mission to raise its profile and grow its business in Europe as...

Cod fillets, curry powder and dried mango were all recalled due to labelling errors

Labelling errors spark food recalls

By Gwen Ridler

Labelling errors sparked a number of food recalls over the past week, including products that contained undeclared allergens.

Unilever plans to remove all plastic from its PG Tips tea bags

PG Tips’ first 100% biodegradable tea bag

By Gwen Ridler

Unilever is to remove all traces of plastic from its PG Tips tea bags, as its moves to make all of its tea bags fully biodegradable by the end of this year.

More plastic than fish is predicted to be in the world’s oceans by 2050

Plastic packaging becomes a pariah

By Rick Pendrous

The UK’s food and drink supply chain has been shamed into pledging to reduce its use of plastics in packaging and use more recyclable or biodegradable polymers, following growing public anger and adverse publicity about the damage plastics cause to the...

Arla plans to make Aylesbury home to the production of lactose-free products for the UK market

Dairy giant plans to invest hundreds of millions in 2018

By Rod Addy

Ingredients firm Arla aims to invest £460M globally in 2018, including £72M in the UK, amid plans to create a UK manufacturing hub for its Lactofree brand, upgrade production and champion eco-friendly packaging initiatives.

Current nutrition labelling gives ‘confusing messages’, claims Phil Dalton

Food labelling should reflect health policy: consultant

By Noli Dinkovski

Food labelling legislation needs to change if public health messages about salt, sugar and calories are going to be truly understood by consumers at the retail aisle, a consultant in the field has claimed.

FDF members have cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 51%, according to the organisations Ambition 2025 report

FDF members beat sustainability targets

By Gwen Ridler

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) members have significantly improved on their sustainability targets – including those for cutting carbon dioxide and water use – set out in its Ambition 2025 plan, according to the organisation, as it launched a new online...