Page 6 - Packaging News magazine July-August 2022

6 NEWS |
www.packagingnews.com.au | July – August 2022
TOP CLICKS
1ASAHI INVESTS $55M
IN QLD BEVERAGE
PLANT UPGRADE
A $55m investment in an upgraded manufacturing site
outside Ipswich secures Asahi Beverages a major manufacturing presence in South-East
2Queensland. (See p6)
AUSSIE-FIRST FOOD
PACK FROM 100%
OCEAN BOUND PLASTIC In an Australian first, MOO Premium Foods is using
plastic washed up on beaches and found in oceans in its tubs and lids, manufactured by
3TechnoPlas. (See p7)
KITKAT FIRST TO MARKET IN 30% RECYCLED
SOFT PLASTIC
In a global-first, Nestlé is rolling out the first
commercial scale 30% recycled content soft plastic wrapper in Australia for KitKat 45g bars; wrappers are supplied by
4Huhtamaki. (See p32)
JAMESTRONG INVESTS $6M IN AEROSOL
CAN PLANT
Jamestrong Packaging is set to expand its Taree, NSW
facility with a new aluminium casting line to produce slugs used in the manufacture of
5aerosol cans. (See p8)
PACPRINT: ULTRA LABELS BUYS HP INDIGO 6K
At PacPrint 2022, Ultra Labels & Flexpack purchased a HP Indigo 6K
digital label press, which is going into its Barossa Valley facility and will be used for
6printing wine labels. (See p40) PIDA 2022: WHO
GARNERED THE GOLD?
The Australasian PIDAs were announced, with Caps & Closures winning the
most awards overall. (See p18)
Asahi invests $55m in Qld plant upgrade
TOP STORIES FROM THE PACKAGING NEWS WEBSITE PACKAGINGNEWS.COM.AU
A $55 million investment in an upgraded manufacturing site outside Ipswich has secured Asahi Beverages a major manu- facturing presence in South-East Queensland and brings new beverage filling and packaging technology to the plant.
Popular beverage brands including Schweppes, Solo and Pepsi Max are manufactured and packaged at the site, and follow- ing this upgrade, other beverage brands to be produced there include Cool Ridge water, Lipton Iced Tea and Pop Tops juice.
This latest expansion brings Asahi’s investment at the Wulkuraka plant to more than $100 million in the last five years. It has also created more than 12 new jobs, with the plant now employing around 130 peo- ple full time.
The upgraded plant was offi- cially opened on 24 June by Atsushi Katsuki, global presi- dent and CEO of Asahi Group Holdings, Roland van Bommel, chairman of Asahi Holdings Australia, and Robert Iervasi, Asahi Beverages Group CEO.
LEFT: Investment in sustainable manufacturing: Robert Iervasi, CEO, Asahi Beverages Group
According to Iervasi, the equipment highlight at the upgraded facility is the hot-fill, blow-fill line, which will make Lipton Iced Tea and Pop Tops.
“The line’s innovative design means these drinks will be made without preservatives and using bottles inflated [blown] on-site from small pieces of preformed plastic [preforms]. These are more sustainable than pre- inflated bottles because many more can be delivered to site per truckload – significantly reducing truck trips and carbon emissions,” Iervasi said.
“This will help Asahi Beverages reach its sustain- ability goal of reducing Scope 3 carbon emissions across its sup- ply chain by 30 per cent by 2030. Asahi Beverages will also reduce carbon emissions in its opera- tions by 50 per cent by 2025.”
The Wulkuraka plant will now produce 300m litres of non-alco- holic beverages each year. ■
Chris Foley appointed new APCO CEO
THE Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has appointed Kmart exec and current APCO Board member, Chris Foley, as its new CEO.
For over eight years, Foley has led strategic and transforma- tional change in sustainability at Kmart Group. His breadth of experience has included many complex system changes across sustainability, marketing, product stewardship, communi- cations and corporate affairs in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the US.
Foley has represented a brand owner and has served as a non- executive director of the APCO Board since 2019. He is also the
current chair of the APCO Board’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Foley will be taking over from current CEO Brooke Donnelly, who is stepping down in July after five years in the position.
Chris Foley to lead APCO
skills and real- world experience with all parts of the packaging eco- system, as well as bring together the key stakeholders capable of driving the change.”
Foley said he was thrilled to be appointed to
“This appointment comes at a critical juncture as Australia continues working towards the achievement of the 2025 National Packaging Targets,” said Sam Anderson, chair of APCO.
“The Board is confident that Chris will draw on valuable
lead APCO at this pivotal time for the packaging landscape in Australia.
“The development of a true circular economy for sustain- able packaging is at the forefront of everything APCO works to achieve,” Foley said. ■