Page 6 - Packaging News May-June 2021

6 NEWS |
www.packagingnews.com.au | May-June 2021
TOP CLICKS
1WHO HAS MADE THE FINALIST GRADE FOR AIP PIDAS 2021?
The finalists for 2021’s Australasian PIDA Awards are announced across 11 categories, in a record year 2of entries. (See p28)
KITKAT PROTOTYPES RECYCLED SOFT PLASTIC WRAPPER
Australia sees its first-ever soft plastic food wrapper made with recycled content for Nestlé’s KitKat brand of
3chocolates. (See p16) LABELMAKERS SECURES
WORLD-LEADING TECH FOR LINER RECYCLING Labelmakers secures the rights to worldwide patented RecuLiner technology for ANZ, which recycles glassine liner from pressure-sensitive labels.
4(See p18)
7UP REMOVES COLOUR TO IMPROVE RECYCLABILITY Frucor Suntory removes the colour from its 7Up plastic bottles to make it easier for consumers to recognise that they are
5recyclable. LABELMAKERS EXPANDS
WITH RAPID LABELS ACQUISITION
Marking the biggest acquisition in its history, and securing its market leadership position, Labelmakers buys Rapid
6Labels. (See p8)
UNILEVER LAUNCHES LAUNDRY REFILL INITIA- TIVE WITH COLES
Unilever Australia launches its first laundry liquid refill station at Coles’ new sustainability concept store in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne. (See p6)
Unilever trials refill station in Coles
TOP STORIES FROM THE PACKAGING NEWS WEBSITE PACKAGINGNEWS.COM.AU
UNILEVER Australia has launched its first laundry refill station at Coles’ new sustainability con- cept store in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne, where shoppers can now refill old bottles of Omo and Surf laundry liquid and Sukin personal care products.
Plastic packaging will be reduced using new ‘package- less’ refill stations that dispense laundry soaps, household deter- gents, bodywash, handwash, shampoo and conditioner. The refill station will allow shop- pers to refill their old containers in store without the need to pur- chase new ones.
According to Unilever, the sta- tion’s aim is to save 20 plastic bot- tles each week through the initia- tive, which equates to saving approximately 500 plastic bags.
“While we’ve been designing potential solutions and experi- menting for some time, it’s a new and different concept for con- sumers,” explains Richard Slater, Unilever’s chief R&D officer.
“We’re trialling various approaches to tackle the issue, as there is unlikely to be a one- size-fits-all solution. We’re determined to make a real dif- ference on the plastics chal- lenge, and so we’ll continue to
Plastic packaging will be reduced using new ‘packageless’ refill stations that dispense laundry liquid.
experiment and to test, learn and refine.”
On the Coles front, the super- market giant is aiming to reduce food waste, and change how it packages items, through the tri- alling of misting and cold plates, to enable the removal of plastic packaging without compromis- ing on food freshness, as well as with the reduction of plastic packaging on smaller produce items, such as herbs.
Coles workers will also wear shirts made of 65 per cent recy- cled plastic bottles, while Coles’ trolley baskets will be made of 90 per cent recycled milk bottles and 10 per cent recycled plastic collected through its nationwide in-store REDcycle program.
Coles Group also recently committed to be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity by the end of the 2025 financial year, and to have net zero green- house gas emissions by 2050. ■
MCC buys IML company
GLOBAL label printing giant, Multi-Color Corporation (MCC), is buying 58-year-old leading Australian provider of in-mould label solutions, Herrods, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will see Herrods continue to operate under its own brand, and with its exist- ing leadership team. The com- pany operates out of three sites in Melbourne, with around 100 staff. It is currently in the mid- dle of a major investment pro- gramme, to expand its foot- print in order to satisfy increased demand.
“MCC is the preferred partner for large and small brands
seeking to build brand equity, and a leader in producing inno- vative and sustainable premium labels,” said Herrods’ managing director Justin Bennett. “Joining forces with MCC will open up new opportunities for local and international growth, while allowing us to retain day-to-day control of our operations.”
Herrods was founded in 1963 as John Herrod & Associates, operating for many years a stan- dard commercial offset printer. When the sons Paul and Mike ran it they transitioned the busi- ness into packaging and in- mould printing operation. They sold the company to a manage-
ment team five years ago.
It becomes the seventh MCC operation in Australia, and the second in Victoria, joining two in NSW, and one each in SA, WA
and Queensland.
“IML solutions are in high
demand globally and Herrods is one of the best, most innovative providers in the industry,” said MCC CEO Nigel Vinecombe.
“Herrods’ additional capacity will help both companies better serve new and existing custom- ers in Australia and New Zealand, and will allow us to leverage MCC’s global sales team to pursue growth opportu- nities in Asia,” he said. ■