The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation has elected Fiona Lawrie, head of ESG and corporate affairs, Officeworks – Wesfarmers, as the new brand owner board director for 2023.

Chris Foley, APCO CEO, opened a Pandora’s box of reactions, as he spoke on plastic packaging and recycling to APPMA NSW members, at a dinner event on Tuesday evening in Sydney.

Well-known industry figure Wayne Driver, managing director of SMC ANZ, will be taking early retirement for health and personal reasons, with effect from 1 April 2023.

It was an evening to remember for the 350 packaging professionals gathered at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne for the long-awaited in-person gala dinner presentation of the Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Awards. PKN was there.

Described as "inspiring, driven and passionate, and a fine example of an exemplary packaging professional", the winner of the esteemed Industry Packaging Professional of the Year 2023 is Michael Dossor.

Described as a "future leader of sustainable impact", Lars Ljung, sustainability manager, Planet Protector Packaging, has won the Young Packaging Professional of the Year Award.

The AIP Australasian Packaging Conference '2025 and Beyond' saw industry leaders share their insights and exchange ideas on how to pave the way for a circular economy for packaging.

While the mainstream media is fanning the flames of righteous indignation about the state of plastic recycling in Australia, the packaging industry is facing a reality check, and a call for a speedy reset, as it emerges that the 2025 targets are out of reach.

Shares in Close the Loop shot up by 21 per cent following its US$66m (A$99.7m) acquisition of Texas-based refurbished electronics businesses ISP Tek Services and Captive Trade Corp.

Opal's $140 million high tech corrugated cardboard packaging facility is on track to be completed and operational by October 2023, with capacity to produce 400 tonnes of finished corrugated boxes daily.

To support the supply chain needs of CHEP in Australia, Goodman has commenced construction of a new service centre for the global packaging solutions leader in southwest Brisbane.

In a major breakthrough for the Australian pallet wrap market, Great Wrap has launched the world's first compostable pallet wrap manufactured using food waste. Multinational brand owners and retail groups both here and in the USA have snapped up trial batches.

Close the Loop Group is set to make a major US acquisition, spending US$66m on Texas-based refurbished electronics business ISP Tek Services.

In the wake of the ‘Roadmap to Restart’ plan announced by the supermarket-led Soft Plastics Taskforce, which will see in-store soft plastics collection resume by the end of this year, PKN summarises the state of play and weighs up what this means for the packaging industry.

With soft plastics collection in limbo, the ‘return to store’ labelling on thousands of branded packs could be construed as misleading. PKN asked APCO, and the supermarkets, how this will be addressed.

A recent internet sweep by consumer watchdog ACCC has found that more than half of all businesses reviewed are making concerning claims on their packaging and websites about their environmental or sustainability practices.