Leading plastic recycler and sustainable packaging manufacturer Pact Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Aldi Australia to supply recycled plastic packaging for some of the retail giant’s own brand products.

The Australasian packaging industry's peak training and education body for packaging professionals, the Australian Institute of Packaging, has elected John Bigley, MD of Zipform Packaging, as president.

The 2023 APCO Annual Awards programme is open, and for the first time any business in Australia can enter the Our Packaging Future and Sustainability Champion categories.

Opal Cartons Australia will be closing its Heidelberg, Melbourne facility come September 2024, consolidating its operations across its two existing sites in South Australia and New South Wales.

Taking it a step closer to producing food-grade rPP, NextlooPP has worked with Tomra to successfully trial fluorescent markers on MCC Verstraete’s in mould labels.

The new $8 million Melbourne facility for Zipform, manufacturer of linear formed composite packaging, is on track to be in production by the end of August this year.

ePac Flexible Packaging has committed to helping customers of all sizes achieve their sustainability commitments, with the launch of its new ‘ePac Born Green’ educational campaign.

All has been quiet on the Thankyou front for several years, and many of our readers who have followed the social enterprise’s story, as we have done at PKN, were holding out for news. Well, here it is…

Voluntary targets and guidelines for Australia’s packaging industry have not worked. Government has taken the landmark decision to step in and intervene. Packaging will soon be subject to strict new government rules aimed at cutting waste and boosting recycling.

PKN EXCLUSIVE: British sustainable packaging firm Frugalpac is launching its 94 per cent paper Frugal Bottle into ANZ as Free Trade Agreements come into force. Mother of Pearl Vodka is an early adopter, contract bottlers Sanector and Encore Beverages now offer a Frugal Bottle filling service, and Print Media Group is set to buy the Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine to help meet the 27 million paper-bottle demand in Australia .

Following significant organic growth in Australia, US secondary packaging manufacturer PaKTech is establishing a contract manufacturing facility in Victoria and proprietary partnership with Visy.

To mark World Environment Day, and raise awareness for the global campaign’s #beatplasticpollution theme, Better Packaging Co. installed a plastic-waste 'poop' sculpture on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach.

With this year’s World Environment Day focused on solutions to plastic pollution, more than 150 countries are expected to participate, with millions likely to engage through both in-person and online activities.

Two advanced Single Serve Pouch lines headline Mars Petcare Australia’s $112.6 million investment in its Wodonga plant, which will also see pet food production brought onshore and 60 new jobs .

The much-anticipated launch of sustainable packaging platform, ecoporium by Ball & Doggett, took place at an in-person event at the Melbourne Museum, with livestream broadcast globally.

PKN’s latest issue for 2023 is now hitting desks. Highlights in this edition include: PIDA 2023 winners; AIP Australasian Packaging Conference key takeouts; APCO Targets Review; in-depth features on sustainable materials; pharma and cosmetic packaging; coffee packaging; and pack and label printing; plus our regular 16-page Machinery Matters supplement.