Industry news
2 November | M&A
Wildpack Beverage has lined up the acquisition of Michigan-based Land & Sea Packaging. The Vancouver-headquartered group, which already operates a raft of beverage manufacturing and packaging facilities across the US, will pay US$37.3m for Land & Sea. All employees will transition to Wildpack, which described the deal as delivering on its “strategic goal of acquiring or building six facilities by the end of 2021”.
CEO Mitch Barnard said: “[Land & Sea’s] ability to build customer relationships and trust through meticulous forecasting and procurement services has transformed their business from just a broker to a meaningful partner. This creates significant stickiness in their existing business and provides Wildpack [with] the internal expertise to scale a forecasting and procurement division providing value-add incremental services to our more than 400 customers.”
Land & Sea brokers around 90m aluminium cans per year and has annual sales of approaching $22m.
5 november | sales results
Ball Corp looking good in 2021 despite aluminium squeeze
Ball Corp has posted rising sales from all three of its beverage packaging divisions in both the third quarter and year-to-date, but has warned that aluminium demand “continues to outstrip supply” in North America.
The group saw sales in its North American heartland rise 14.5% in the three months to the end of September, increasing 14.9% to US$4.34bn in the first nine months of 2021. Operations were similarly strong in the ‘EMEA’ and ‘South America’ reporting regions in the quarter, up 15.8% and 6.9%, respectively, and by 21.2% and 20.1%, respectively, in the year-to-date.
Ball’s overall packaging sales climbed 13.6% in Q3 to $2.92bn, and by 17.7% to $8.38bn in the nine months.
In acknowledging the high demand for aluminium, Ball noted that higher costs have had to be passed on this year. "Positive momentum continues across the entire company despite unprecedented impacts to our customers' and suppliers' supply chains,” added president Daniel Fisher.
5 novEmber | Fundraising - Seaweed
Sway Innovation Co prepares for seaweed trial with cash injection
US start-up Sway Innovation Co has garnered US$2.5m from its debut funding round, with a view to trialling seaweed-based packaging alternatives.
The company, which commenced operations last year, has been promised cash from organisations including the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Conservation International Ventures and lead investor Valor Siren Ventures. Sway will use the proceeds to develop compostable polybags and retail bags, with plans in place to start a trial in 2022.
“We are building a material as functional and accessible as traditional plastic but derived from a benevolent resource instead,” said CEO & co-founder Julia Marsh. “With the regenerative power of seaweed, we plan to replace petroplastic - for good.”
2 NOVEMBER | Recyclable Polyethylene
Polytex Fibers launches recyclable PE films, bags line
Polytex Fibers has unveiled ‘PurE’ - a range of polyethylene films and bags that the Texas-based company claims are fully recyclable.
According to the pet food packaging specialist, the material also incorporates up to 50% post-consumer recycled content, with both the bags and films accepted at its existing closed-loop recycling programmes. At the same time, the mono-material products use up to 90% less elongation than traditional PE films, which allows for faster fill speeds on packaging lines.
“The PurE family of products achieves our goal of fully recyclable packages with both industry-leading performance and appearance,” said Mike Ukropina, CEO of Polytex parent Five Star Holding Corp. “We believe mono-material packaging is an important part of our sustainability solution and extends our leadership alongside our closed-loop programmes and bio-film packaging.”
As well as Polytex, Five Star also owns Fresh Pak, Jumbo Bag, StarPak and Superbag.
3 NOVEMBER | M&A
TC Transcontinental Packaging boosts flexible packaging footprint with HS Crocker buy
TC Transcontinental Packaging has made another acquisition, this time in the US.
The listed Canadian group, which produces flexible plastic packaging, has paid an undisclosed fee for die cut lids and labels manufacturer HS Crocker. Illinois-based Crocker, which also has a facility in Pennsylvania, represents TC’s ninth purchase in flexible packaging in seven years.
“The integration of HS Crocker’s Huntley [Illinois] facility to our platform will broaden our packaging solution portfolio, especially in the dairy, coffee lids, shelf-stable and chilled desserts markets, and provides significant cross-selling opportunities with our respective customers,” said TC president Thomas Morin. “The Exton plant … will allow us to expand our pharmaceutical and medical expertise in the advanced coatings product offering through the addition of value-added and specialised labels, while increasing our market share in the healthcare industry.
“We are also planning on leveraging the excess capacity within both HS Crocker’s facilities in order to support our organic growth.”
The transaction brings TC’s production footprint up to 28 facilities globally, with a presence in North America as well as the UK, New Zealand and China.
2 NOVEMBER | Reusable Packaging
Tupperware Brands Corp trials reusable containers with Tim Hortons
Tupperware Brands Corp has kicked off the pilot of a reusable packaging container concept in Canada with restaurant chain Tim Hortons.
The 75-year-old group has utilised its partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop zero-waste platform, trialling the containers at selected locations in Burlington, Ontario. Consumers can return the plastic packaging through the Loop platform, which teams manufacturers up with brands and retailers to “shift from a disposable to durable supply chain”.
Tupperware’s president of commercial business expansion, Hector Lezama, said: "We are excited to bring Loop's brand partners, like Tim Hortons, the opportunity to access and leverage our rich heritage in reusability to help bring more consumers into the fold on what it means to reduce their single-use footprint. We look forward to seeing how this pilot programme performs."
Tupperware expects to work with other brands in the Loop system next year.
In brief
Aldi removes plastic packaging from wooden toys in UK
The UK division of multiple retailer Aldi has eliminated the use of plastic for the packaging of its 26-strong wooden toy range. The unit has switched plastic tape for paper tape and started using paper wrap instead of bubble wrap.
Alpla readies injection moulding facility for Missouri
Alpla has selected Kansas City as the location for a new injection moulding plant, the plastic company’s first. The facility, which will be Alpla’s fourth in the state of Missouri, will make closures and is scheduled to commence operations in late-2022.
ProAmpac ups Europe presence with Irish purchases
US-based ProAmpac has acquired Irish Flexible Packaging and Fispak. The two companies, both based in Ireland, operate in food packaging and join ProAmpac’s near-50-facility footprint worldwide.
Co-op, Unilever pilot refillable packaging models
Unilever has teamed up with UK retailer Co-op for trials of ‘Refill On the Go’ and ‘Return On the Go’. Recognising that “there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ for the concepts, Unilever will offer brands such as Persil and Radox through Co-op stores in returnable stainless steel bottles.
3 NOVEMBER | Labelling
Spotsee releases ‘do not refreeze’ temperature label
SpotSee has unveiled labelling that changes colour to notify users that the attached product has previously been frozen.
The label, launched by the US-based group in early November, features light blue text that indicates the product is yet to be frozen. Once the product’s temperature drops below -15°C, the text on the label automatically - and permanently - shows ‘Do Not Refreeze’ in dark blue.
“It’s critical that food is properly transported and stored throughout the farm-to-fork supply chain to maintain integrity,” said SpotSee’s temperature business director, Reuben Isbitsky. “With the ‘Do Not Refreeze’ label, food handlers are now able to identify if food products have been previously frozen and should not be refrozen in order to maintain the quality and safety of the product.”
Texas-based SpotSee focuses on logistical solutions to help detect changes in products’ conditions.
9 NOVEMBER | FUNDING - RECYCLING
Wisconsin recycling facility given aluminium can capture grant
A US recycling facility has received funding to increase its collection of aluminium bans, through a programme that includes Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings.
The payment, of an unspecified amount, will allow the Wisconsin-based site to install equipment to capture crushed or flattened cans. Around 27m cans are expected to be netted by the new system, generating revenue in the region of US$400,000 per year.
The facility is jointly owned by the City of Milwaukee and Waukesha County.
“Thank you to Ardagh and Crown for investing in recycling facilities to help more aluminium beverage cans complete their circular journey to becoming a new can,” said the City of Milwaukee’s department of public works sanitation services manager, Rick Meyers. “This additional eddy current will help us ensure increased capture of aluminium beverage cans, which will deliver significant revenue to help sustain city services, as well as enabling our residents to make a larger environmental impact from recycling.”
The funding comes from a programme organised by US trade association the Can Manufacturers Institute.
In brief
Aldi removes plastic packaging from wooden toys in UK
The UK division of multiple retailer Aldi has eliminated the use of plastic for the packaging of its 26-strong wooden toy range. The unit has switched plastic tape for paper tape and started using paper wrap instead of bubble wrap.
Alpla readies injection moulding facility for Missouri
Alpla has selected Kansas City as the location for a new injection moulding plant, the plastic company’s first. The facility, which will be Alpla’s fourth in the state of Missouri, will make closures and is scheduled to commence operations in late-2022.
ProAmpac ups Europe presence with Irish purchases
US-based ProAmpac has acquired Irish Flexible Packaging and Fispak. The two companies, both based in Ireland, operate in food packaging and join ProAmpac’s near-50-facility footprint worldwide.
Co-op, Unilever pilot refillable packaging models
Unilever has teamed up with UK retailer Co-op for trials of ‘Refill On the Go’ and ‘Return On the Go’. Recognising that “there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ for the concepts, Unilever will offer brands such as Persil and Radox through Co-op stores in returnable stainless steel bottles.
