Page 38 - Food&Drink August 2022 magazine

SUSTAINABILITY
Digital, flexible, and sustainable
When global digital flexible packaging company ePac Flexibles opened its Australian site in Melbourne last year, managing director Jason Brown took the helm determined to establish the company’s sustainability credentials.
THE Australian ePac Flexibles site sits just out of the Melbourne CBD as part of the Newlands Road food manufacturing hub in Coburg.
The $10 million facility’s location is strategic, with ePac saying it is looking to build a local customer base focussed on small businesses and start-ups across the snack, confection, coffee, organic foods, pet food, and nutritional supplement segments.
footprint, in the recyclability of what we produce, and even of the presses themselves, which are delivered to us carbon neutral,” Brown tells Food & Drink Business.
Brown is passionate about encouraging a more holistic view and leading a more nuanced conversation on sustainability, saying many SMEs are still confused on the topic, as are consumers by some of the terminology.
recognition that plastic is a great resource, but we need to put the infrastructure in place to keep reusing it,” he says.
EPac specialises in
small and medium run-length orders for flexible pouches and wraps using HP Indigo 25K digital presses.
The $2 million machines are compact and easy to use. The printers run 30-50 metres a minute and the pouch line can produce 150 bags a minute. In that time the pouch machines can insert zippers, create a stand-up gusset pouch, hang holes, or tear notches.
“We can print multiple SKUs and very short runs on demand and eliminate a lot of that waste and obsolescent packaging that came with older forms of flexible packaging. There’s major cost, waste, and carbon footprint savings there already.
“Pouches are central to our business and straight away that means we have a lower carbon footprint because of less raw materials compared to other
packaging mediums. They can carry more food or beverages than any other packaging medium, reducing the amount of warehousing required, transport costs, and CO2 emissions as well as being recyclable.
“We really believe in post-consumer recycled content packaging and already offer a 30 per cent post-consumer recycled content pouch to the market. We are also gearing up for the changes to the REDcycle standard that are happening mid-2023,” he says.
EPac’s technology platform enables the company to provide fast time to market, economical short and medium run length jobs, customisation, and the ability to order to demand, which avoids costly inventory and obsolescence.
“We have a saying here, about imagining the world when the circular economy is working so well the landfill of today becomes the mine of tomorrow. But for that to happen, you have to have everyone engaged in the whole lifecycle of packaging, from the government down,” Brown says.
The technology exists for plastics recycling, but greater government intervention and subsidies are needed to make it attractive for private investment, he adds.
Ultimately, Brown sees the digital presses and high-tech pouch lines allowing ePac to bring something different to Australian manufacturing.
“Not only do we have these assets that open up opportunities for smaller operators – or even large businesses wanting to do small runs – we have been able to establish our environmental credentials, from the carbon miles we’re saving by opening a site in Australia, to local reductions in waste and CO2 emissions,” he says.
Brown’s goals of embedding ePac’s Australian operation with a sustainability mindset while delivering quality packaging solutions is
on track. ✷
“ The demonisation of plastic is unhelpful in that it draws so much focus to packaging’s end-of-life that discussion about the entire lifespan is drowned out.”
At the official opening in May, ePac managing director Australia Jason Brown said the company would “help small brands achieve big brand presence”, tell their stories, and do so with a sustainability mindset that was committed to the circular economy.
“Sustainability is at the heart of this plant, in the lack of waste, in the low carbon
“The demonisation of
plastic is unhelpful in that it draws so much focus to packaging’s end-of-life that discussion about the entire lifespan is drowned out. And the terminology we use at a consumer level, like biodegradable or compostable plastic, just adds to the confusion. As a society, what needs to happen is the
ePac Flexibles managing director Australia Jason Brown at the Melbourne launch.
38 | Food&Drink business | August 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au