Page 47 - Packaging News magazine March_April 2023

an in-depth presentation on achiev- ing successful transformation. He has worked in the corporate giants and start-ups, and essentially said that change has to come from the top down, and transformation has to engage all employees, with information going down from the boardroom, through management, the team leaders, to the shop floor, with actions then going back up the chain.
The consequences of not moving forward could be quite punitive from the government. It’s game on.
Chris Foley who spoke next, the 2025 National Packaging Targets will struggle to be met in some areas, particularly plastic packaging recycling.
Hayes pointed out that APCO has just created five Material Stewardship Committees, to cover rigid plastics, flexible plastics, glass, fibre and metal. He said, “The challenge is complex, but not insurmountable. We can get there.” Achieving the volume of recycled material in plastic packaging without compromising product quality and con- sumer safety is occupying the minds of packaging scientists.
Hayes also addressed the issue of data ownership in smart packaging, saying, “Australia is nowhere in this space, while Europe is leading. It is a conundrum the packaging industry here needs to address.”
Chris Foley told delegates, “We are at a pivotal point,” and said this year would see a huge focus on sustainability and packaging. Foley said the recycling rates for plastic in packaging were lag- ging well behind the 70 per cent target set for 2025, and pointed out that plas- tic usage was increasing per head of population. He said resetting commu- nity confidence in recycling in light of the REDcycle collapse was going to be a major challenge for the industry.
One of the key themes of the confer- ence was collaboration, and one that Foley echoed.
Plastic, according to Foley, is a vic- tim of its own success – durable, protective, transparent, and cheap. Its market growth has supercharged in recent years, up from 15kg per per- son in 2012 to 21kg in 2021. He said, “There is no doubt we need systems- wide structural solutions, and we really need to regain consumer confidence in recycling, which has collapsed following REDcycle.” He pointed to the success of German kerbside collection.
Foley finished by saying, “The con- sequences of not moving forward could be quite punitive from the government. It’s game on.”
prepared to pay $400 for a pair of dig- ital Nike runners, packaging is in a position to provide brand owners with a connection to their customers that they have never had before.
She said that an Avery Dennison global survey of thousands of people had revealed that the customer of the future wants to engage with packag- ing that has a holistic environmental impact, that provides maximum con- sumer experience, and that provides value. According to Cornaggia, aug- mented connected packaging that connects shopping with social media will be where brands achieve growth, and so packaging providers that can meet the requirements of brands will be the ones that have the advantage.
Contactless connection, lightweight- ing, and the merger of primary and secondary packaging are certainties, according to Avery Dennison. Cornaggia said the ascendency of the metaverse means physical packaging needs to respond with digital triggers. She said, “The future is now, the future is wow.”
David Correzzola, operational excellence manager at Amcor, gave
Main: The two-day event, held at Crowne in Melbourne, was themed ‘creation to consumer’.
From bottom left:
David Correzzola, Amcor: Change has to come from the top down.
Cath Cornaggia, Avery Dennison: Embrace the digital with the physical.
Zaidee Jackson, Ball & Doggett: The mission is ‘how and now’ .
Chris Foley, APCO: we are at a pivotal point.
CHRIS FOLEY, APCO
INSIGHTS FROM APCO
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation(APCO) gave two pre- sentations, the first from its technical consultant Ian Hayes, who outlined the challenges for packaging in meet- ing the myriad demands it now faces, from its primary purposes of prod- uct protection and consumer safety, through to the recycle imperatives the public demands. He focused on packag- ing fundamentals, the APCO National Packaging Targets, and next genera- tional packaging.
Hayes said, “There is a signifi- cant gap between what the consumer wants – transparency, recyclability, sustainability – and what packaging is currently providing.” According to Hayes, only one per cent of plastic pack- aging in Australia is currently produced from recycled materials.
He said that while there is strong anti- plastic sentiment from the public, some 61 per cent believe that increased plas- tic packaging is necessary, and says that global growth will continue at 3-4 per cent a year. He said, “The challenge is clearly to make it environmentally friendly.”
According to Hayes, and APCO CEO
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