Category: Packaging Innovation

Recovered paper demand is expected to grow in North America as MRF equipment advances, OCC fetches higher prices and mills continue to make improvements that prioritize recovered fiber, according to Fastmarkets analysts during a webinar on Tuesday.

OCC prices in North America have stabilized in the last year, in part because of new recycled fiber-based mill capacity that has recently come online. A recent analysis from Jefferies showed July OCC prices were up 114% year over year, averaging around $105 a ton. At the same time, overall recovered paper supplies are tight — a trend analysts are expecting to continue even as recyclers become more adept at recovering higher volumes of cleaner material and mills make adjustments to accommodate more recycled materials in their products.

Here are some takeaways from Fastmarkets’ analysis:

MRF improvements yield more OCC, less mixed paper

As MRF operators continue to upgrade their facilities, optical sorters and artificial intelligence-enabled equipment yield cleaner fiber streams that fetch a higher price from mills, speakers said. 

MRFs across North America are investing in these updates, including WM, which plans to invest about $1 billion on about 40 new and upgraded recycling facilities through 2026. Since WM is one of the largest suppliers of recovered fiber in North America, its future plans are an important indicator of where recovered paper trends could go, said Fastmarkets Price Reporter Megan Workman.

WM’s future MRF in Portland, Oregon, is expected to handle 140,000 tons of material a year. “More than 70% of those tons are set to be OCC and mixed paper,” Workman said. 

These improvements at WM and other MRFs have helped North American recyclers produce more OCC bales, but as a result, they are producing fewer mixed paper tons, Fastmarket analysts said.

This trend comes at a time when more North American paper producers are adapting their technology to use higher volumes of mixed paper. That tightens mixed paper supply even further, said Hannah Zhao, Fastmarkets’ senior economist for recovered paper.

“However, we believe that the OCC and mixed paper balance or equilibrium will not be static, but dynamic,” she said, noting that both paper producers and recovered paper suppliers adjust their operations according to market dynamics.

Demand from producers expected to continue

New capacity and converted paper machine startups in the last year are consuming higher volumes of both mixed paper and OCC, Workman said. In 2023, she said, five paper machines in North America added 2.4 million tons per year of 100% additional recycled containerboard capacity.

Several major companies announced plant closures in the past few years, including WestRock, now part of Smurfit Westrock, and Graphic Packaging International, but Workman pointed out a broader trend of North American producers prioritizing recycled content as they optimize and consolidate operations across facilities.

“As [producers] close older machines, these newer machines are able to process and take in that mixed paper that years ago, the older machines were not able to,” she said. 

For example, Graphic Packaging is expected to start up its 550,000 tons-per-year coated recycled boxboard machine in Waco, Texas, sometime in 2026. Suppliers are already established for that mill, which shows confidence that such large mills will continue to fuel future demand, she said.

Overall, U.S. mills consumed about 16.4 million tons of recovered fiber from January to June of this year, about 1 million more tons compared with the first half of last year, said Workman, citing data from the American Forest & Paper Association. That’s an overall increase of 6.8% year over year.

Increased domestic demand will impact exports

Looking forward, Zhao predicts North American domestic recovered paper demand, especially OCC and mixed paper, will continue to grow alongside expanded mill capacity for such materials. 

“Most of the new containerboard capacity will continue to run on recovered paper in the near term and in the medium term,” she said. 

Growing domestic demand will mean there will be limited recovered paper available to be exported, she said. OCC supply is already tight in the U.S. due to a lower volume of imports of consumer goods, which arrive in fiber packaging such as corrugated boxes that eventually are recycled. Those imports dropped “significantly” last year, but for the first half of 2024 have increased about 3% year over year, she said. 

Overall U.S. OCC exports dropped 13% in 2023, due in part to Asia’s sluggish paper packaging market and weak overall demand for recycled fiber. In the first half of 2024, such exports fell by another 11%, though demand from Mexico and Canada increased.

The global OCC demand and supply balance will become very tight again in the future, Zhao predicted. “Asia will continue to rely heavily on North American recovered paper, especially when the supply of recovered paper from other major exporters, such as Europe, become limited.”

Dive Brief:

• The U.S. EPA wants to expand the scope of sustainability certifications it recommends for guiding federal purchasing of food service ware products.
• In a proposed update Tuesday, the agency outlined additional standards and ecolabels covering reusable, certified recyclable and certified compostable food service ware, including certain ones promulgated by Clean Production Action and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. EPA said it would accept comments on the proposed updates for 30 days.
• In a newly published resource, EPA also ranked the best choices when selecting sustainable food service ware. It said the top option is reusables (those “used in a system that enables repeated collection, washing, and return”), followed by those that are certified compostable and then certified recyclable. EPA said recyclable was the last choice because food service ware products like utensils have low recycling rates due to food contamination or small size.

Dive Insight:

The agency had not evaluated additions to the official Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing in nearly 10 years, EPA reported.

EPA initiated the update process in November 2022, when it invited standards development organizations, ecolabel programs and conformity assessment bodies to apply for potential assessment, it said. EPA evaluates standards against a framework that considers the process for developing and managing the standard, along with its environmental effectiveness and other factors. 

“With hundreds of ecolabels in the marketplace, EPA’s Recommendations cut through the clutter and give federal purchasers and other sustainability-conscious consumers confidence when making purchasing decisions,” said Jennie Romer, deputy assistant administrator for pollution prevention in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, in a statement. “The ecolabels and standards that EPA includes in the Recommendations have demonstrated that they can truly help us achieve sustainability at scale.”

EPA’s existing recommendations cover compostable options for food service ware, having added the BPI standard in September 2015. The agency is now proposing the following labels for food service ware categories:

Reusable: GreenScreen Certified Standard for Reusable Food Packaging, Food Service Ware, & Cookware; Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard

Certified compostable: GreenScreen Certified Standard for Single-Use Food Service Ware & Thermal Paper; Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard (Platinum Level in Product Circularity); BPI Commercial Compostability Certification Scheme

Certified recyclable: GreenScreen Certified Standard for Single-Use Food Service Ware & Thermal Paper; Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard (Platinum Level in Product Circularity)

The Biden administration also announced this year a goal to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics — from food service packaging, operations and events by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035 — and replace those choices with reusable, compostable and “highly recyclable” products. The 2024 action built on a 2021 executive order pushing for net-zero procurement by 2050. EPA noted federal procurement accounted for more than $700 billion in spending in 2023.

The EPA update also comes as the Federal Trade Commission is considering an update to the Green Guides, or guidelines for environmental marketing claims for products that sellers may want to deem “recyclable,” “compostable” or the like.

In the waning months of President Joe Biden’s administration, there are still several pending regulatory, policy and strategy actions with potential implications for packaging on the docket. Some of these updates have been a long time coming, including next steps for the Green Guides and the National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, both of which had public comment periods that closed more than a year ago.

The spring 2024 unified agenda is the federal road map for upcoming agency rulemaking and guidance development. The fall 2024 unified agenda has not yet been published.

These are some of the updates that industry is still waiting for clarity on in 2024:

EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to release the finalized National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution “later this year,” an agency spokesperson recently told Packaging Dive.

The draft was released in April 2023 and called for reducing pollution in the plastic production process and at the end of life for products like packaging. At the time, EPA expected to finalize the document by year’s end. The agency said it is still revising the strategy based on nearly 92,000 comments received during last year’s public comment period, including from packaging groups and brands.

Also related to packaging, EPA is expected to take steps to revise the existing Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards, according to the unified agenda. Specifically, EPA will address PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, discharged from facilities manufacturing these “forever chemicals.” This is in the proposed rulemaking stage.

EPA is also developing “significant new use” rules related to phthalates, a class of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible. The agency is focusing on “conditions of use identified as not currently ongoing in the final scope documents for the High Priority Substances undergoing [the Toxic Substances Control Act] section 6 risk evaluations.”

USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to issue updates soon related to its BioPreferred Program, which aims to increase the purchase and use of biobased products. It includes mandatory federal purchasing requirements as well as a voluntary labeling initiative for biobased products.

The program was created by the 2002 farm bill and reauthorized and expanded in the 2018 farm bill. With the rule, USDA intends to add provisions for the Biobased Markets Program, codifying program guidance into the regulations. A public comment period was open from January to March of this year. The update also addresses how the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label may be used on packaging.

According to a USDA spokesperson, the agency has completed the updated regulation, which will be published as part of its fall 2024 regulatory agenda and take effect 30 days later.

Separately, the definition of “compost” is still under consideration following a petition last year from the Biodegradable Products Institute. BPI wanted to modernize the definition so that it accounts for composting not just as a primarily on-farm activity, but also as a commercial-scale activity that brings in food scraps and food-soiled packaging.

USDA said it referred the petition on Oct. 11, 2023, to the National Organic Standards Board for consultation. The NOSB Crops Subcommittee published a discussion document, which included requests for information, as part of its spring 2024 meeting agenda. It then gathered public comments, USDA noted. NOSB’s spring meeting featured technical presentations and discussions on compost regulations. The issue will again be discussed at NOSB’s fall meeting in Portland, Oregon, from Oct. 22-24, USDA said.

FDA, FTC and State Department

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pursuing front-of-package nutrition labeling, according to the unified agenda, which could mean design changes for packaged foods. Regulators say that the reason for this would be “to help consumers, including those who are busy and those with lower nutrition knowledge, make more informed dietary choices.” Additionally, the proposed rule “is being developed as part of a broader, whole-of-government approach to help reduce the burden of chronic disease and advance health equity by helping to improve dietary patterns in the United States.” FDA launched research to inform effective design in 2023.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has offered no public updates on its review of the Green Guides, which are guidelines for environmental marketing intended to guide companies’ acceptable use of labels like “recyclable” or “compostable” on product packaging.

Clarity on the FTC’s position could be especially important as companies seek to comply with different states’ labeling laws and emerging state extended producer responsibility laws create more rules. The FTC was considering updating the guides for the first time since 2012. An agency spokesperson told Packaging Dive this summer that the agency was still working to develop the draft updated Green Guides, analyzing numerous comments and public hearing feedback from over a year ago.

In addition to developing plastic pollution strategy domestically, the U.S. is engaged in plastic pollution policy abroad. A fifth meeting scheduled to negotiate an international agreement to limit plastic pollution by the end of 2024 is slated for Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 in Busan, Korea.

The Biden administration previously faced criticism from environmental groups for focusing on strategies around end-of-life management like recycling versus capping plastic production. But it recently evolved its position to support targets for decreasing overall plastic production and potentially negotiating a list of chemicals and problematic or avoidable plastics to phase out, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed.

Congress

Aside from federal regulation, two notable bipartisan bills in Congress with implications for how packaging is handled at end of life remain stalled in the House.

The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act were passed by the Senate in March; they were previously introduced in 2022 and passed the Senate but not the House. They would establish a recycling infrastructure pilot to increase access and collect more data on recycling and composting, respectively. The bills have been supported this year by packaging trade groups including Ameripen, the American Forest & Paper Association, the Plastics Industry Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute.

Fondly known as ‘the chef’s favourite eggs’, St. Ewe Free Range Eggs said it continues to select only the finest free-range medium eggs for culinary professionals.

Alongside changes to the packaging, St. Ewe Medium Egg has shifted its name to St. Ewe Signature and St. Ewe Rich Yolk moves from ‘mixed weight’ to a guaranteed ‘medium’ size of eggs following chef feedback.

With these added touches, St. Ewe said it guarantees that only the best of the best make it to professional kitchens.

‘Signature’ has been adopted for these eggs, in a nod to the journey for St. Ewe Free Range Eggs founder, Rebecca Tonks – anchoring the quality of their British-Free Range Medium Eggs.

The updated St. Ewe Signature Egg brand will be arriving in foodservice depots from mid September.

Following the launch of its mixed-weight Rich Yolk eggs, feedback found that egg size consistency was the most sought after requirement.

St. Ewe Free Range Eggs now offers their multi-award winning eggs as a medium size guaranteed.

St. Ewe Free Range Eggs adopts colours that not just match aesthetics but reflect the premium quality and care that goes into producing some of the best eggs available in retail stores and in foodservice. T

he easily recognisable boxes not only make handling and storage efficient, they offer a visual testament to the quality found within the product.

As a nod to St.Ewe Free Range Eggs work with the industry’s top accreditors, the brand has incorporated its accolades on pack, both front and back highlighting their partnerships and accolades with the Craft Guild of Chefs and Roux Scholarship.

Duy Thao, a student at Ton Duc Thang University, transforms the Superchef kitchen knife packaging with vibrant colors and bold typography. Inspired by traditional Japanese Gyotaku fish prints, Thao creates a sharp identity with plenty of edge.

 Via Duy Thao:

Companies constantly innovate with technology and redesign their packaging to get better performance, improve marketability and enhance sustainability. Here’s a look at four new or redesigned packaging solutions on Packaging Dive’s radar.

Tabling the issue

Pizza Hut launched what it calls the Moving Box Table, a specialty box that transforms into a miniature table. In a limited edition marketing play, the company is targeting the product toward people who are moving and says it provides a practical and “tasty solution for moving woes.”

A corrugated structure can be folded into a base that supports the pizza and serves as a tabletop. Pizza Hut’s own July survey of more than 1,000 American adults discovered that 87% of respondents reported ordering pizza during a move, and 79% had to eat their pizza on the floor.

“Many can relate to the chaos that comes with moving, and the last thing you want to worry about is unpacking to enjoy a hard-earned meal at the end of a long day,” said Pizza Hut Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Friebe in a news release. The corrugated product offers “not just a delicious pizza after a stressful moving day but somewhere easy and comfortable to enjoy it, too.”

The Moving Box Table comes with orders of a large pizza in three cities: Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas; and Orlando, Florida. 

Compostable container collection

Restaurantware launched the Sustain collection, a new product line it says provides compostable alternatives for more than 40 commonly used food service packaging items. The line includes items such as hot and cold cups, boxes with windows, salad containers and taco containers.

Many of the products are made from bamboo and lined with the bioplastic PLA. Some products are manufactured from kraft paper and bioplastics besides PLA.

Most of the products are available now through Restaurantware’s website and through Amazon; more products will become available Oct. 15.

Not so dense after all

Pactiv Evergreen introduced Recycleware reduced-density polypropylene meat trays that it says are an alternative to polystyrene foam. The reduced-density containers can be recycled in communities where PP trays are accepted, the company said in a news release, and they meet design for recyclability criteria put forth by the Association of Plastic Recyclers.

“Our new Recycleware RDPP Meat Trays are vertically integrated, meaning they are extruded, thermoformed and padded at our facilities. They are processor grade and run well on existing overwrap equipment,” Eric Wulf, president of Pactiv Evergreen’s food and beverage merchandising business, said in the news release.

Vital variation

Vital Proteins is transitioning its collagen peptides out of plastic packaging and into an 80% paperboard canister. The company said in the news release that using this type of container is a first for the product category, and it’s the first significant packaging change in the brand’s 10-year history. The canister also is curbside recyclable, according to the company.

Vital Proteins designed and manufactured the new packaging itself, a spokesperson said via email. The new design includes a patented pull-tab lid that no longer requires twisting. It contains an internal waterproof polymer layer in addition to an outside water-based, water-resistant varnish to make the product moisture resistant.

The canister is the result of three years of research and development, and the product underwent extensive testing for stability and its ability to withstand leaks and spills. Certain varieties of the collagen peptides are currently available in the paper-based canister, and all of those products in Vital Proteins’ portfolio are slated to be in the canisters by 2026. In 2022, Vital Proteins started removing the plastic scoops from its containers and aims to completely eliminate them by the end of 2025.

They claim one of Kite Packaging’s customers is Instro Precision, owned by Elbit Systems, an Israel-based international military technology company.

Palestine Action said the company provides “engineered solutions to protect, transport and store” weaponry.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said: “We refuse to allow companies who are enabling the Gaza genocide through working with Israel’s Elbit Systems to continue with business as usual. Through relentless action, we have acquired a wealth of knowledge on different firms who enable Elbit’s deadly business. Actions will continue until the links end and Elbit is shut down for good.”

Police have confirmed they are investigating a burglary reported at the site.

A spokesperson for the force said: “During the incident several windows, doors and vehicles were damaged and an investigation is underway to identify those responsible.”

In Shelf Life, I’ve spoken about the rise of pickle-flavored everything, discussed what’s going on with dairy milk, and dished on savory ice cream. The list of food-related trends goes on. I’ve always been fascinated by how food and culture collide to say something more meaningful about what’s happening worldwide. And yet, my foodie self must accept that our pantries aren’t the only thing that can signify bigger cultural movements. 

In last week’s Shelf Life, I spoke with strategy director Eugene Healey. Before we chatted, I delved into all the videos he shared on his LinkedIn page. One, in particular, is the reason behind this newfound mindset shift.

In his video, he noted that home prices are soaring and may be unattainable for most Gen Zers, so instead of saving up to purchase a home, people are splurging on luxury items to go inside their rented homes. To be clear, this is perfectly acceptable, and I, too, fall into this bucket. Because if I can’t afford to buy a house, you can bet I will enjoy fancy jello and a beautiful humidifier in peace. 

Companies consistently introduce along with modern technology and also revamp their product packaging to feel better functionality, boost profitableness and also improve durability. Below is actually an examine 4 brand new or even renovated product packaging options on Product packaging Plunge’s radar.

X denotes the ease of access spot

Microsoft presented more accessible packaging for Xbox electronic devices combined with 3 brand new available video gaming tools. It created package for the recently discharged Xbox Adaptive Joystick along with points to consider for individuals along with handicaps or even mastery constraints.

The delivery package’s facility joint is actually kept all together along with tape that has loops on the ends for very easy elimination. The operator package possesses a big tag at the bottom to help unboxing, in addition to a hinged cover along with big loopholes for simplicity along with eliminating the tool. The product packaging performs certainly not consist of variation associations or even wires that might make complex managing.

Microsoft used ideas found out throughout the operator package growth to the product packaging for various other items, also. One instance is actually the renovated product packaging for 3 brand new Xbox Set X|S gaming consoles that appeared today. It included loopholes and also a top-down position for boosted ease of access.

” Pc gaming along with a handicap is actually very individual, and also our company are going to remain to buy Xbox’s ease of access offerings– thinking about reviews coming from the numerous gamers along with handicaps coming from all over the world,” Microsoft stated in a press release.

Enjoyable in a box

DS Johnson states it “happily created” bumpy cartons along with several additional make uses of for Funzy, that makes kids’s mobile play household furniture. While package safeguards the household furniture items throughout transportation and also storage space, it can easily eventually be actually exchanged a shelve or even completely transformed in to playthings for kids.

All-time low cover has die-cuts that could be constructed in to bodies including spacecrafts and also shaking steeds. Package can easily additionally be actually created in to a little shelve for kids to make use of.

” The product packaging style is actually wanted to make a knowing method and also the unboxing knowledge on its own could be among enthusiasm and also ideas for each kids and also grownups as they are actually left open to varied opportunities of an easy principle in upcycling,” the provider stated in a press release.

Cooking a substratum switch

De Zilch Tequila has actually rebranded, with help from style agency Sandstrom Allies. It changed substratums for its own containers, the provider stated in a press release, offering what it claims is actually the world’s first tequila in an aluminum bottle. Liquors are actually helped make coming from recycled product and also are actually recyclable after usage, the provider stated.

Liquor evaluates lower than glass, which helps in a carbon-neutral impact, the provider said on Instagram. And also the metallic product makes the compartment not easily breakable, which “is actually excellent for any type of experience– take it along with you anywhere you go,” the site claims.

” In the sens sector, durability must certainly not simply be actually a pattern; it must be actually a desire,” stated Danny Neeson, founder and also head of state of De Zilch Tequila, current launch. ” Customers are actually significantly knowledgeable about ecological concerns and also are actually selecting brand names that focus on durability. Through taking on light weight aluminum containers, our company are actually satisfying this need and also leading through instance.”

The containers are actually right now on call in choose retail places in Connecticut, New Shirt and also New York City. They’ll additionally transport all over the country when obtained on De Zilch’s site.

Unbreakable downpour reusables

Plastics producer and also recycler Alpla partnered along with multiple-use product packaging creator Zerooo to make reusable bottles for cosmetics made of PET. In the end of their functional lifestyles, liquors and also hats could be reprocessed, the business stated in a press release.

The 300 milliliter compartments are actually on call in very clear, brownish and also milklike white colored variations. They are actually unbreakable, that makes all of them perfect for usage in downpour and also shower room environments, the business stated. Each container is actually laser device inscribed along with a 2D code to offer details regarding the components and also liquor’s blood circulation past history.

” The electronic labelling allows openness and also guarantees the top quality of liquors,” stated Jörg Schwärzler, elderly modern technology supervisor at Alpla, current announcement.

Following month, makers in Germany are going to start turning out items in the multiple-use containers, and also Austrian makers are going to comply with in Oct.