AUSPACK 2019: Circular economy and Industry 4.0 dominate proceedings at sell-out show

27 Mar 2019 --- The southern hemisphere’s biggest packaging show, AUSPACK 2019, is underway in Melbourne, Australia. The event is sold out and boasts its largest floor space ever. Highlights of the show, which is live between 26-29 March, so far include far-reaching discussion about sustainability and the latest technologies in Industry 4.0.

The first of more than 7,000 expected visitors and 300 delegates came through the doors of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on day one. They partook in the two events kicking off Packaging and Processing Week: the AUSPACK exhibition, now in its 34th year, and the inaugural AUSPACK 2019 Business and Industry Conference.

Mark Dingley, Chairman of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) which owns AUSPACK, officially opened proceedings this morning by cutting the ribbon outside. He then handed the mantle to The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change who officially opened the conference.

Dr. Michael Okoroafor, Vice-President for Global Sustainability and Packaging Innovation at food manufacturer McCormick, laid out what he saw as key insights driving the future of packaging for the FMCG industry in his keynote address at AUSPACK 2019.

Okoroafor explained that the main focus for McCormick was the development of a circular economy, who told guests at the packed keynote session that it is creating a new age for packaging.

“The era of make-use-dispose is over. We’re in the era of make-use-reuse,” he said.

Packaging also needs to shift its focus if it is to be successful in e-commerce, he said, arguing that the current approach taken by packagers is wrong for online sales.

“There is no packaging designed for e-commerce – we take the packaging for brick-and-mortar, insulate it as if it’s a nuclear weapon in a corrugated box, and call it e-commerce,” Okoroafor continued.

“The time of ‘first moment of truth’ is over. You have to design for ‘zero moment of truth’ – if it doesn’t show well in the digital world it’s over. If it shows well, they can buy it right there or go to the store for it,” he adds.

With the conference’s theme of “Smart. Connected. Sustainable,” the first morning’s sessions revolved around sustainability. There are plenty of opportunities for packagers trying to meet the Australian Government’s 2025 National Packaging Waste Target, according to an expert panel at AUSPACK 2019.

Craig Reucassel of The Chaser and War on Waste guided a discussion with Steve Lapidge, CEO of the Fight Food Waste Cooperative; Brooke Donnelly, CEO of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organization (APCO); Paul Klymenko, CEO Planet Ark; and Caitlyn Richards, Responsible Sourcing Manager for Sustainable Products and Packaging at Coles, on how and why packagers should embrace sustainability.

According to Donnelly, consumer pressure on businesses, coupled with external pressure from the global supply chain, has created a “perfect storm” of conditions that have generated momentum for sustainable packaging.

“The conversation is live and active and has great momentum. The issue is corralling everyone with the best of intentions to have a structured and considered approach – you need to plan for how you’ll transition, to avoid perverse outcomes,” she said.

“Our conversation is no longer about should we do it – it’s about how we do it.”

Richards noted that companies such as Coles need to look closely at its packaging to determine what’s necessary and what isn’t and that solutions such as Planet Ark’s PREP tool and the Australian Recycling Label can help make this easier.

“We need to make sure all our packaging serves a purpose,” she said.

According to Klymenko, recycled material can be used for different purposes than it was originally intended. Glass bottles, for example, can be used to make silicon chips and other materials such as plastics can be mixed with asphalt for roads.

“It’s not always like for like,” he said.

Lapidge drew attention to best-before and use-by dates on packaging, saying they needed to be more conservatively applied.

“We need some regulation in this area – often it is just a marketing tool to get more stock rotation. It results in a lot of perfectly good food being thrown out,” he said.

Lastly, Reucassel noted that more investment is needed in waste management in Australia, particularly in the wake of China’s foreign waste ban.

“I kind of expected the China crisis in recycling to lead to more investment in recycling in Australia, and I’m surprised how little there’s been,” he noted.

Out on the AUSPACK show floor, Industry 4.0 user group Open IIoT (stand B237) drew lots of interest. The group combines some of Australia’s most prominent automation brands – SMC Corporation, Beckhoff Automation, ZI-Argus, NORD Drivesystems and Balluff – and demonstrated different technologies working together, giving visitors a solid idea of the benefits and values arising from adopting Industrial IoT (IIoT) technologies.

Another key event of the first day of the show was long-standing APPMA member Matthews Intelligent Identification (stand D140) revealing new branding. Matthews’ new logo distinctly refreshes its well-known, 19-year-old chameleon, “adapting the adapter” to highlight that technology is an integral part of its business, demonstrate how they seamlessly integrate with suppliers and brand partners and interact with customers.

“Tomorrow [27 March] we are looking forward to day two of four of AUSPACK and the final day of the AUSPACK 2019 Business and Industry Conference, which will zero in on economics, factories of the future, blockchain and workplace diversity,” comments Anne-Marie Mina, Marketing Director of show organizer Exhibitions & Trade Fairs (ETF). “Don’t forget to check out the free 30-minute workshops in the Insights by insignia area, which will be running again for the next three days.”

“Then tomorrow night, the Gala Awards Ceremony for the APPMA Awards of Excellence will be held to announce the winners and APPMA Annual Scholarship recipient. It will be very exciting for the finalists and fantastic for the industry as a whole,” Mina concludes.