Page 41 - Print21 Jan-Feb 2022

Packaging
of global consumers recognise paper’s exceptional recyclability
In the budding paper bottle space, Coca-Cola recently brought Paboco’s paper bottle prototype to the critical testing phase in Hungary, while Absolut Vodka is transitioning
from glass to paper bottles in the UK and Sweden.
The prototype consists of a paper shell with an rPET closure and liner. Ultimately, the goal is to create a paper bottle without a plastic liner, fully recyclable as paper. Biopolymer pioneer Avantium was brought on board to develop a thin PEF liner. PEF is widely considered a promising, bio-based PET-replacement with superior performance.
Interestingly, 46 per cent of global consumers would accept decreased product shelf life if it meant more sustainable packaging (Innova Market Insights, 2021). However, whether paper bottles boast superior net environmental benefits to recycled PET remains a point of contention.
Nonetheless, the appetite for fiber-based solutions is evident in the rapid uptake of alternatives to plastic shrink wrap and rings.
Last year, Coca-Cola adopted WestRock’s CanCollar paperboard ring technology for multipack cans in Spain and Graphic Packaging International’s KeelClip in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Poland.
Trend four:
Hygiene Heroics
The Covid-19 pandemic has also heightened consumer hygiene concerns, giving rise to touch-free packaging designs and antimicrobial technologies. According to Innova Market Insights’ consumer survey, 59 per cent of global consumers believe packaging’s protective function is more important since the virus outbreak.
DS Smith is pioneering Touchguard’s antimicrobial technology on cardboard e-commerce packaging, protecting consumers against potentially harmful bacteria. Touchguard boasts a proven 99.5
per cent defence rate against feline coronavirus (the same virus family as Covid-19) and other pathogens such as MRSA and E coli.
Notably, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has consistently maintained there is
no credible evidence on Covid-19 transmission via food packaging.
Trend five: Reusable
Revolution
Reusable packaging is increasingly recognised as crucial to waste reduction, with wide-ranging support from NGOs, regulatory bodies and consumers. According to Innova Market Insights, the majority of global consumers (52 per cent) believe reusable packaging is the most sustainable model, followed by recyclable (50 per cent) and recycled (39 per cent), biodegradable (31 per cent) and compostable (24 per cent).
The European Commission
is addressing rising packaging material consumption (a record high 173 kg per inhabitant in 2017) by incentivising reuse design, including restrictions on single- use applications where reusable alternatives are possible.
For print businesses the rapidly evolving trends in packaging offer both opportunities, and threats. Smart print business owners will keep well abreast of the changing winds in packaging. 21
to the products:
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