Page 3 - Packaging New magazine Jan-Feb 2023

Follow the paper trail
IS 2023 GOING to be the year paper-based packaging really takes off? All indica- tions are this may be so.
Speak to materials suppliers and
you’ll hear how demand for fibre-based sustainable substrates is on the rise from brand owners. Driven by this demand, Ball & Doggett, the country’s largest supplier of printable materials for pack- aging, is making its first foray into the flexibles arena following its agreement with paper supplier Sappi to distribute a range of sustainable papers with sought- after barrier properties (see page 8).
Speak to market researchers and you’ll hear time and again of the pro- liferation of paper-based packaging formats. Not to the exclusion of other sustainable materials, mind you, bear- ing in mind the fit-for-purpose principle, but fibre-based has a certain future.
Speak to brand owners, and they’ll tell you of steps they’re taking along the paper trail. And there’s good reason for it when it comes to flexible packaging.
We ended last year with flexible plastics recycling industry in crisis, and while solutions are being sought as high level negotiations continue, we as an industry know there is no quick fix.
The investment required is consid- erable, and so is the time required to develop the recycling infrastructure.
Flexible plastic material is notoriously
Speak to brand owners, and they’ll tell you of steps they’re taking along the paper trail.
hard to recycle – we’re currently only recycling four per cent of annual con- sumption in Australia, a far cry from the 2025 National Packaging Target of 70 per cent for all plastic packaging.
It does inspire hope that significant players like Amcor are investing in advanced recycling technology for soft plastics in Australia that will enable the creation of food grade recycled content packaging (see page 8).
Of course, Amcor is also advancing its paper-based portfolio, and was integral to the development of the new flexible paper-based wrapper that Mars Wrigley is rolling out from April, first across Mars, Snickers and Milky Way chocolate bars, with plans for its full portfolio to transi- tion (see page 20). When major suppliers and manufacturers team up, with the depth of expertise and R&D budgets typically involved, things tend to happen.
The Mars Wrigley wrapper was developed and trialled at the chocolate maker’s site in Ballarat. The plan is for the technology, learnings and insights developed and deployed in Australia to be implemented in other Mars Wrigley markets across the globe.
Similarly, Nestlé’s new trial for its paper-based wrapper for KitKat (see page 18), initiated in Australia as a test market, will inform the packaging deci- sion for the brand in global markets. As one of the biggest end-users of flexible packaging, Nestlé would be considering this paper-based option quite seriously. It has already rolled out paper packag- ing for its Smarties packs in Australia.
Nestlé is also pursuing recyclable flexible options. As many in the indus- try are well aware, in a cross-industry collaborative project (which included Amcor), it developed a prototype flex- ible wrapper for KitKat made from recycled material. More recently, Nestlé rolled out the first commercial-scale recycled content soft plastic wrapper in Australia, with KitKat bars packaged in 30 per cent recycled content wrap- pers. But the current shortage of PCR material makes a paper-based option attractive. And as barrier properties of flexible papers improve, as they promise to do, so following the paper trail will become a feasible alternative. ■
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