Beyond The Headlines: Novelis’ beverage can recycling, Proof & Company’s Australian spirits bags

19 Jul 2024 --- This week in industry news, aluminum producer and recycler Novelis invested US$90 million to double its beverage can recycling capacity. Meanwhile, Proof & Company started distributing seven craft spirits from Husk Distillers’ portfolio in Eco Tote format and Infineon Technologies partnered with Amkor Technology to develop decarbonization strategies.

In brief: Investments
Novelis invested approximately US$90 million to double the recycling capacity for used beverage cans (UBCs) at its Latchford plant in the UK. This expansion will increase the facility’s recycling capacity for UBC by 85 kilotons annually, a growth of over 100%. The expansion involves constructing a new dross house, three new bag houses and installing advanced shredding, sorting, de-coating and melting technologies. These upgrades will boost the plant’s recycling volume and efficiency, resulting in an annual CO2 emissions reduction of more than 350,000 tons for Novelis Europe.

Berry Global Group’s European business made a multi-million-euro investment in the commissioning of a new conversion line at its Steinfeld factory in Germany to meet the increasing demand for its high-performance, patented NorDiVent form-fill-seal PE sacks for powdered products. The investment includes the refurbishment of a production hall and the installation of “state-of-the-art” conversion machinery. This will increase production capacity at Steinfeld, allowing Berry to help meet the growing demand for reliable, sustainable packaging solutions while offering faster response times and maintaining the high quality of its NorDiVent film.

Husk Distillers’ spirits in Eco Tote bags.In brief: Launches and releases
Proof & Company, Eco Spirits’ licensed operator for Australia, started distributing seven craft spirits from Husk Distillers’ portfolio in Eco Tote format across the country. Eco Tote processing for this new partnership is taking place at Proof’s new co-packing partner, The Melbourne Distilling Co, with Eco Tote’s of the new spirits now available for distribution to on-trade venues nationwide. At a later stage, Proof & Company also plans to introduce Husk brands in Eco Tote format to venues in New Zealand.

Ardagh Glass Packaging-North America (AGP-North America), an operating business of Ardagh Group, introduced a new series of craft beverage bottles to its growing portfolio of bottles. The 12 oz (355 mL) glass craft beverage bottles are available for purchase directly from AGP-North America in three different colors — emerald green, flint (clear) and amber (brown) glass. The bottles are designed and manufactured in the US, by AGP-North America in high-quality glass that is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without any loss in purity or quality.

Luxury packaging supplier Hunter Luxury unveiled its Bouclé collection of stylish travel vanity bags, demonstrating how it can use its design expertise to elevate gift sets and travel bags. The collection includes a range of features and enhancements inspired by the current trends shaping the worlds of fashion, packaging and luxury. The modern colors contrast with the traditional look and texture of the bouclé fabric, a contrast that is accentuated by the zippers and handles made with recycled black PU leather and gold hardware. The interior of each bag is lined with a wipeable dusky purple nylon, color-matched to one of the colored threads making up the boucle fabric pattern on the exterior.

In brief: Collaborations and certificationsHunter Luxury’s Bouclé collection of gift sets and travel bags.
Infineon Technologies, a provider of power systems and IoT, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amkor Technology, a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, with a joint commitment to stimulate decarbonization and sustainability strategies across the supply chain. As part of the cooperation for climate protection, Infineon and Amkor will engage with common suppliers to help them develop and implement effective decarbonization strategies.

Klöckner Pentaplast (Kp), a company for rigid and flexible packaging and specialty film solutions, became “the first” food packaging business to receive RecyClass Traceability Certification with a module focused on closed loop for its recycled PET (rPET) at its production site in Pravia, Spain. Kp also launched the “market’s first” food packaging trays comprising 100% rPET derived exclusively from trays. Until now, food packaging trays were manufactured using increasing proportions of recovered PET material, but Kp’s 100% rPET trays are reportedly the first to be composed entirely of recycled tray material and are fully transparent.

In brief: FachPack 2024
Gerhard Schubert announced it will attend the packaging trade show FachPack 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany, September 24–26, under the theme “Transition in Packaging.” Visitors to the fair will have an opportunity to find out about the packaging manufacturer’s full range of sustainable, cost-effective solutions that Schubert developed for consumer goods manufacturers at Stand 1-244 in Hall 1. As an example of the new “Power Compact” machine concept, a bar packer with a single-lane erector and feeding via the Comfort Feeder will operate at the stand.

By Natalie Schwertheim

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