Page 54 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec2020

54 DECADES IN REVIEW | PKN 60 YEARS SPECIAL
The digital age
The digital revolution sees the rise of smart packaging and smart factories; digital printing ramps up and personalisation explodes; sustainability is still in the spotlight and bioplastics gain traction. Packaging design hones in on material reduction, accessibility, and convenience. The plastic waste problem inspires pledges and policies. A pandemic lays siege to the world and the industry pivots.
2010
◆ PKN turns 50, celebrates with a bumper print issue, with strong support from peak industry bodies and local pack-
aging companies.
◆ Major retailers and manufac- turers begin a voluntary phase out of packaging containing BPA. Amcor is at the forefront of developing BPA-free closures, with its Alufix peel-off can end for milk powder packaging and other canned products.
◆ Against the tide sweeping manufacturing offshore, con-
fectionery company Wrigley commissions a new production
and packaging line in NSW for
its best selling Eclipse brand of mints.
◆ As part of its ongoing Purple Goes Green program, Cadbury announces it will use bio- degradable plastic to wrap its Flake brand in Australasia.
◆ Visy’s empire is expanding too. It announces a partnership with high-end solid fibre carton packaging company Oystar Jones to expand its capabilities in ANZ and
Pacific Islands for food and beverage packaging.
◆ Vegetable and potato grow- ers’ association, AUSVEG, partners with Visy Fibre Packaging to coordinate future packaging programs for Australia’s $7 billion vegetable industry.
2011
◆ Unprecedented flooding in south east Queensland has a devastating effect on the area’s
packaging companies. O-I’s Brisbane glass furnace is forced to close, Amcor is forced to shut some packaging plants, and many fruit growers are unable to transport their produce to packagers and distributors.
◆ Colorpak announces the completion of its $5 million purchase of the folding carton business of Carter Holt Harvey from New Zealand millionaire Graeme Hart’s Rank Group.
◆ PepsiCo claims to have developed the world’s first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources. The company’s ‘green’ bottle is 100 per cent recyclable and made from bio-based raw materi- als, including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. [Coca-Cola would go
and Amcor over the ‘cardboard cartel’ price fixing practices is wound up on the eve of going to trial, when a $95 million deal
is struck between the two companies
and more than 1000 businesses who had launched the complaint.
◆ O-I launches a new 750ml Lean+Green Riesling bottle, which is 21 per cent lighter than its predeces- sor. Manufactured at O-I’s Adelaide plant, the bottle’s weight has been reduced from 518g to 410g.
◆ The Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) revises its 2015 target for post-consumer packaging recycling upwards to 70 per cent, after reporting a 5 per cent increase in the recycling rate for 2010.
◆ In an historic vote in the House
of Representatives, the federal gov- ernment’s Carbon Tax, setting a
price of $23 a tonne for carbon
waste, was passed and set to become
law from July 2012. But the move is resisted by the packaging industry with Amcor sig- nalling it would campaign against it. [The scheme was repealed in July 2014 under the Abbott Government.]
◆ Dairy producer Parmalat and packaging giant Tetra Pak launch what is said to be the first packaging inno- vation for milk in Australia in more than a decade with the introduction of fresh milk in Tetra
Pak’s Brik Edge.
2012
◆ PKN joins the digital age, launching a weekly enewsletter and website.
◆ The federal government rejects ‘traffic light’ labelling for food products, leaving the Daily Intake Guide (DIG) as the preferred labelling option.
◆ O-I closes one of its three Melbourne glass furnaces due to weak consumer sentiment in the beverage market.
◆ Sydney packaging solutions specialist tna announces the opening of a new manufac- turing plant in Qindao, China and celebrates its 30th year of operation.
MDPInaescAcivrgkYehalpo2tsrsep0indom1tn0icenansgrtrsaoaidtnevpgadainicscpkdeeiesnsgishgineonfgwfitceaiecshnedncyology 50 AUSTRALIA’S ONLY MONTHLY PACKAGING MAGAZINE FASuptnuerencciuhaalalleIlsnsgIunesedfour psatckrayginDg isercetocr tory
years of
◆ Lightweighting lifts off: Australian water
bottler Another Bloody Water’s new bottle
design incorporates ridges and curves that
allow for a 39 per cent plastic reduction while
maintaining the strength of the bottle. on to launch its sugar-cane derived ◆ Portion control grows wings: Baiada- Plant Bottle in 2015].
0s
owned Steggles has created a new pouch ◆ After almost five years in dispute, a pack with perforated sections each contain- class action against packaging giants Visy ing individual chicken breast fillets. The
packs are designed by Cryovac for maxi-
mum convenience and easy storage.
◆ Melbourne bioplastics supplier Cardia
Bioplastics’ star is rising: it has formed a
new joint venture in Malaysia, sealed sev-
eral supply agreements in China and landed
its first substantial contract in the US pack-
aging market.
◆ Amcor’s acquisition trail continues with
the purchase of Italian film producer B-Pack
Due following its acquisition of Alcan and
Ball Plastics. Amcor also rebrands.
www.packagingnews.com.au | November–December 2020
1