As 2023 wraps up, PKN takes a look at the biggest news stories in a year where circularity became the new buzzword, investment in recycling infrastructure took a major leap forward, cross-industry collaboration was recognised as a crucial lever for systems change, and government made the landmark decision to regulate the packaging industry.
We’ll dive in with the overarching framework that impacts all things packaging. From an Australian industry perspective, we had two major wake-up calls: APCO released its review of progress towards the 2025 targets, essentially saying there is no way for them to be met, and calling for a total reset, and then a few months later the Environment Ministers announced a landmark decision that Government will step in on packaging waste legislation.
As we enter 2024, the precise nature of the proposed regulations and recycled content has not yet been mapped. The devil will surely be in the detail, but whatever that means for players large and small, it’s clear that 2024 is going to be a pivotal year for packaging.
PAPER
This year, on the materials front, the paper-based packaging space has been a hive of activity throughout the year. Nestle’s KitKat began a trial of paper wrappers for its chocolate bars, and Mars Wrigley rolled out paper wrappers on its Mars Bar, Snickers and Milk Way lines, and injected $28.8m into its plant to develop more sustainable solutions.
In further fibre-based plant investment, Zipform Packaging opened a new $8 million facility in Dandenong, Victoria, for linear formed composite packaging, doubling the company’s capacity. It’s the only plant of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Opal opened doors on its $140m fibre packaging plant in Wodonga, and Oji Fibre Solutions expanded its reach in Far North Queensland with the acquisition of Cassowary Cartons.
Paper-based packaging found its way into the fresh produce aisle: Detpak partnered with Mitolo Family Farms to develop an Aussie-first paper bag packaging for potatoes, and Costa rolled out a paper bag for premium grapes.
In beverages we saw UK-based Frugalpac launched its own paper bottles in the ANZ region, aimed at packaging a spirits, wines and olive oils. And in a global story that topped the clicks chart, Absolut Vodka was the subject of controversy for its claims about its paper bottles.
Paperboard recycling also got a boost. The first carton recycling facility opened in Sydney, run by SaveBOARD, and developed in collaboration with Tetra Pak and SIG. Visy completed a $48 million facility upgrade to its recycling and manufacturing facility in Queensland, in order to close the loop on mixed paper recycling, and another $42.5 million on an advanced paper recycling facility in Victoria. This is all part of Visy’s grand plan to invest $2 billion in the packaging sector over the next decade.
FLEXIBLES
Flexible plastic packaging remains one of the largest and fastest growing sectors (witness Mars Petcare investing $112million in a single-serve pouch facility) despite the material being notoriously hard to recycle, and probably because of that, it has been in the spotlight frequently this year.
REDcycle's collapse caused a huge stir through much of the first half of this year. With the approval of the ACCC, supermarkets (Woolworths, Coles and Aldi) stepped in to create a taskforce, that would take custody of the stockpiled plastic waste. The task force announced a plan to restart accepting soft plastics in-store by the end of the year. This has not come to pass, and a fair amount of uncertainty prevails on the way forward for a collection scheme. The Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFCG) is proposing kerbside collection via the NPRS (National Plastic Recycling Scheme) which it has developed and trialled across several states this year.
As the industry seeks to find circular solutions for soft plastics with a sense of urgency, a major step forward has been made as Amcor and Mondelez, who have jointly invested in Licella’s CAT HTR advanced recycling facility, to be located on the old Dow site in Altona and slated to be up and running by 2025. Meanwhile, Close The Loop Group has re-opened its soft plastic recycling line, TonerPlas 2.0, providing a transitional phase solution for both consumers and industry, to restart soft plastics collection and recycling.
Meanwhile, brand owners are moving ahead to increase recycled content in flexible packaging, sourcing the PCR material offshore until it becomes available locally. Nestle launched its 90 per cent recycled content wrapper for KitKat as an Australian first.
RIGID PLASTICS
In rigid plastics, much of the focus has fallen on the recycling infrastructure coming on stream through the cross-industry collaborative JVs formed by Pact Group, Cleanaway, Asahi and Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners, with Victoria’s biggest PET recycling plant due to come on stream this December. Pact Group has also made headlines over the bold takeover bid made by Raphael Geminder, a deal which has yet to find resolution at the time of writing.
Still in rigids, one of Australia’s oldest family-owned businesses, Wellman Packaging, marked its 50-year milestone just as customer Mars Food launched a new MasterFoods sauce bottle, developed by Wellman, that will see reduce the use of virgin plastic by 18 per cent and see a saving of 12.7 tonnes of plastic from landfill in 2024.
METAL & GLASS
There has been much growth in the metal packaging sector too. Orora has invested $110 million in expanding its manufacturing capability, as part of a can expansion strategy. It also developed a high-speed digital print solution for cans. And Jamestrong, manufacturer of metal cans for leading Australian and international brands, has partnered with the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre on a new project that is set to revolutionise aluminium manufacturing and recycling in Australia.
On the glass front, major news is Orora’s acquisition of Saverglass, which will see the company become one of the largest glass packaging manufacturers globally. An interesting first for glass and metal packaging combined, Pernod Ricard opened a high speed can and small format bottle line, the fastest in the southern hemisphere.
PRINTING
2023 has also been the year where printers are seeing, and acting on, the opportunity that packaging presents. IVE’s acquisition of JacPak sees Australia’s largest print company take its first step towards building a $150 million a year carton folding operation.
GREENWASHING
With the spotlight on sustainability, and pressure on the industry to offer renewable products, greenwashing has been a big issue this year. The ACCC sent out a stern warning to industry, after its investigations found a proliferation of unverified claims on brand’s packaging.
At the same time, many brand owners have been looking to phase out single-use items, in line with various state government regulations that have come into play throughout the year, and will continue until 2025.
Suppliers are key to helping brands make informed material choices, and leading the charge, Ball & Doggett launched its online sustainability platform, ecoporium by Ball & Doggett, which aims to help brands navigate the complexities of moving towards sustainability.
EDUCATION
The role of education in driving sustainability has never been greater. Peak educational body Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP), which turned 60 this year, celebrated over half a century of education and support for packaging innovators throughout the country.
In the first quarter, AIP hosted the 2025 and beyond conference, which saw industry get together to discuss the path forward, with “collaboration” emerging as a major theme.
AIP has since forged a partnership with APCO, which will see the two organisations collaborate on rolling out education programs industry-wide to align sustainable packaging practices across the industry.
INNOVATION
Innovation remains the lifeblood of this industry, with the pinnacle of ANZ region showcased at the AIP-run PIDA awards. In one example, the Packamama eco-flat bottle which won gold for the Bannrock Estate, is now in full production in Australia following the opening of its own plant to grow the bottles penetration in the region.
Winners of the PIDA awards go on to enter the WorldStar Packaging awards, which this year took place at Interpack and saw ANZ region clean up with 19 general awards, and 2 special awards, and placing second in the world for the second year.
APPEX
This year saw two major global trade shows attract our attention, Interpack and Pack Expo, with much new technology released, and the trends of sustainability, digitilisation and automation emerging as strong themes that will also play out at the inaugural Australasian Processing & Packaging Trade Expo, APPEX, taking place on 12-15 March at the MCEC. The PKN team will be there, bringing you the news as it breaks.
And that's the wrap for 2023. The PKN team acknowledges that there were many other newsworthy stories this year that may be missing in this round-up, so we invite you to visit packagingnews.com.au where you will find it all!
