Speaking on the launch of the report, Elopak’s Sustainability Director Marianne Groven stated, “To be sustainable in business is not only possible, it is highly necessary. Maintaining healthy growth without exploiting natural or human resources is essential.” Sustainability is at the heart of Elopak’s mission to provide consumers with a natural and convenient alternative to plastic bottles that fit within a low carbon circular economy. The company has previously recorded a number of key environmental milestones including the reduction of its emissions by 70 per cent between 2008 and 2018 and the attainment of carbon neutrality in 2016. In the introduction to the report CEO Thomas Körmendi sets out the context for Elopak’s ever-strengthening focus on sustainability stating, “2019 was a year of many global challenges. We saw teenagers on strike for climate change. We saw the Amazon on fire. We saw hurricanes and flooding, and terrorist attacks. We saw politicians struggling to agree on how to tackle the global challenges ahead. Lately we have also seen how the whole world can rapidly change and adjust to forces greater than ourselves.” “We recognize our part in the global struggle to preserve the planet for future generations,” Körmendi continues. “In 2019, Elopak strengthened the focus on sustainability, thoroughly embedding sustainability as part of our overall business strategy. A set of goals and strategic initiatives were anchored in the Board of Directors and several projects have been initiated in various business units. Elopak was one out of 87 companies, and the first packaging company, to lead the way towards a 1.5°C future at the UN Climate Action Summit,” he explains. As one of the first companies to have signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative commitment to keep the rise in global average temperature below 1.5°C, Elopak continues to push itself towards new sustainability goals. These include a 55 per cent reduction of internal GHG emissions by 2030, and a 16 per cent reduction in emissions across the value chain by 2030 from a 2017 baseline, as approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Other targets include a 70 per cent recycling rate in the EU and Canada by 2025, a sustainability evaluation of key suppliers by 2022, and 100 per cent certified forestry in Elopak cartons. Innovation is set to play a key role in helping Elopak meet its ambitious targets going forward, with the company increasing R&D spending by 25 per cent between 2017 and 2019. Recent innovation efforts contributed to the launch of Elopak’s most environmentally friendly carton to date – the Pure-Pak® Imagine. Launched in 2020, the carton is a modern version of the company’s original Pure-Pak® carton, containing 46 per cent less plastic and designed with a new easy open feature. It has no plastic screw cap and is 100 per cent forest-based made with Natural Brown Board.

Through our on-going global partnership, Aptar will support CARE’s mission, including education programming, women’s economic empowerment efforts and CARE’s Crisis Response Campaign, by sponsoring the Fast + Fair COVID-19 Vaccine Response Campaign.

Women and girls have always been a vital part of CARE’s fight against global poverty. During the pandemic, women are on the frontlines of the crisis, and women are at a higher risk of infection while caring for the sick and out-of-school children.

“CARE has a tremendous, worldwide track record as a highly effective non-profit organization that has supported and empowered women and girls around the world for over 75 years. We are very proud to make CARE the global signature cause for Aptar as we work to further women’s education and empowerment, and join their fight against COVID-19 through global vaccine distribution,” said Stephan B. Tanda, Aptar President and CEO. “As a manufacturer of components for the delivery of vaccines, including stoppers for glass vials and syringe components, the work CARE is doing to advocate, facilitate, protect and educate about vaccines is critical. We believe that everyone should have the same level of access to vaccines and COVID-19 support.”

Through the Fast + Fair COVID-19 Vaccine Response Campaign, the organization is stepping in to help communities around the globe ensure more than 100 million people in 10 countries – including women, those living in extreme poverty, and nearly 275,000 healthcare workers – have access to the COVID-19 vaccines over the coming year. Wealthy countries have already purchased 53% of the most promising vaccines. However, they account for just 14% of the world’s population. Through CARE’s Fast + Fair campaign, CARE is working to influence U.S. and global policy to ensure equitable vaccine availability and distribution.

CARE is also focused on supporting health systems in every stage of vaccine chain—including planning, tracking, training and delivery—prioritizing at risk groups including health workers, caregivers and refugees. CARE will work to engage communities to provide correct information, combat stigma and build trust.

Aptar is an early sponsor of the Fast + Fair Campaign and will join the CARE Corporate Council, a coalition of corporate partners committed to multi-sector collaboration, and using their influence, expertise and people to empower women and girls.

“CARE’s mission aligns with our purpose, values and mission to further diversity and inclusion, empower women and to support the communities where we live and work, along with global communities who are the most marginalized and the most in need,” said Shiela Vinczeller, Chief Human Resources Officer. “By partnering with CARE, we can also work to accelerate Gender Equality both within Aptar and around the world.”

CARE rose to an enormous challenge 75 years ago, sending millions of CARE Packages® to starving families in Europe after World War II. The CARE Package became iconic, representing a tangible way to provide immediate, lifesaving and life-changing assistance. Since then, CARE’s work has grown it has become a recognized leader in disaster relief and humanitarian aid. In April 2020, CARE quickly mobilized to launch a new CARE Package to respond to the United States’ biggest needs due to COVID-19. The organization has sent 3 million CARE Packages in the US – including food, income, support for frontline workers, and protections from sexual abuse/gender-based violence to individuals and communities in need.

“CARE is grateful to be partnering with Aptar to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine reaches those most in need, regardless of where they live,” President and CEO of CARE US, Michelle Nunn said. “Aptar’s support of our Fast + Fair COVID-19 initiative will help protect those most often overlooked by society, including women, those living in extreme poverty, and informal healthcare workers. This pandemic has taught us that none of us are safe, until all of us are safe. Protecting those most vulnerable is not only ethical, it’s the only way to wage an effective global vaccination campaign and end this pandemic.”

Aptar has formalized policies around Human Rights; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Community Engagement and Global Giving on its corporate website. These important policies outline Aptar’s commitment to upholding human rights, the environment, and the communities in which it operates.

Home skincare devices: a growing trend

As beauty consumers increasingly seek dermocosmetic solutions for their daily skincare needs, devices that deliver salon-quality skincare treatments at home have boomed as a category. Developed within the auspices of Paris Santé Cochin — Europe’s largest start-up incubator in the health sector located within the Hospital Cochin in Paris — the revolutionary LightinDerm skincare device uses three types of regenerative light to transform and activate photo-active serums and provoke deep skin regeneration and rejuvenation when applied. Within the device, the airless roll-on capsule enables secure housing and delivery of different formulas according to the customer’s preference and skincare requirements. For Aptar, the challenge was to develop a perfectly sealed resistant product which would also diffuse light rays in the most efficient way to enable activation of the ingredients within the serum.

Technical challenge: accepted!

A market-first, the airless roll-on recharge capsule developed for LightinDerm is the result of two years’ intense work by Aptar’s airless and custom design experts. After extensive laboratory and industrial testing, the designers hit on three materials — the combination of which remains a tightly guarded secret — for the final airless roll-on capsule, which is fully recyclable. The recharge capsule consists of three parts made by Aptar, combined with the glass roller ball through which the light passes as it evenly distributes the formula and mechanically massages the skin. Inside the capsule, which has a guaranteed seal, is an airless piston designed exclusively for LightinDerm.

Made in France excellence

The technical achievement of creating an airless roll-on capsule was made possible thanks to the cutting-edge technologies and expertise across various disciplines present at Aptar’s industrial sites around France. Aptar’s capacity for next-level research and large-scale testing, undertaken in close collaboration with the client, was key to producing this revolutionary product for LightinDerm. Globally renowned for excellence in the beauty industry, Aptar is a proud contributor to France’s reputation as an industry leader. Innovative start-ups like LightinDerm, working together with industrial powerhouses like Aptar, will help to ensure the continued health of the French beauty industry and its ability to reinvent the market with the delivery of ground-breaking new products.

European countries with DRS are found to have the highest rate of success, with an average beverage container return rate of 91 per cent. Australia’s deposit programmes, which are relatively new compared to other jurisdictions, have the lowest success rates so far, with an average return rate of 68 per cent.

The return-to-retail model of DRS – where empty bottles and cans are returned for a refund of the deposit at shops where they are purchased – is the most effective, with an average return rate of 89 per cent, compared to return-to-redemption centre or depot systems, which have an average return rate of 81 per cent.

Clarissa Morawski, chief executive of Reloop, said: “This is good news for the planet. It reveals that each year more and more countries are realising the need for DRS to collect and recycle valuable cans and bottles and to address the massive crisis in wasted containers, many of which end up as litter.

“Deposit Return Systems are the only proven way for a country to achieve recycling rates of over 90 per cent, meaning fewer bottles and cans in our forests and on our beaches.”

Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, has launched a new paper EcoWicketBag for Drylock Technologies’ baby diaper ranges, bringing sustainable paper-based packaging to the hygiene market globally.

The global hygiene products manufacturer approached Mondi to create a more sustainable alternative to its existing plastic diaper packaging that would travel well, have strong shelf-appeal, and protect the product - while also using renewable resources and significantly reducing its CO2 footprint.

A key advantage of using paper-based solutions is the recyclability of paper and that consumers are more likely to know how to dispose of it correctly. The EcoWicketBag can be placed in existing paper streams, even in countries with the strictest recycling regulations, thereby supporting the circular economy. An EcoWicketBag made out of fully compostable materials is also available.

EcoWicketBag fits with Drylock Technologies’ existing plant processes, meaning it is the first paper wicket bag range that can be filled and sealed on existing machines.EcoWicketbag is made of extremely durable kraft paper keeping products sterile and safe with easy opening. It is fully  recyclable and also available in compostable version.

According to Anheuser-Busch, it will work with metals giant Rio Tinto on bringing low-carbon aluminum to its cans via a manufacturing process that will ultimately cut carbon emissions by 30% per can. This falls under the beverage giant’s pledge, launched in 2018, to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent across its supply chain by 2025.

The partnership with Rio Tinto will reportedly leverage a disruptive new process called ELYSIS, a type of zero-carbon aluminum smelting technology, in tandem with using renewable hydropower for manufacturing.

Michelob Ultra, the fastest-growing beer brand in the United States, will be responsible for a pilot project of a million cans produced using the new process. While 70% of the average Anheuser-Busch can is already made of recycled materials, pairing it with low-carbon aluminum will mean cutting carbon specifically in the packaging supply chain, which is the sector of its process responsible for the most emissions.

According to AB’s Vice President of Procurement and Sustainability, Ingrid De Ryck, the new project “will bring low-carbon aluminum to the forefront with our consumers and create a model for how companies can work with their suppliers to drive innovative and meaningful change for our environment.”

Paper-based packaging solutions provider Smurfit Kappa has introduced a new range of eBottle packaging solutions for online beverage and liquids market.

The new product portfolio consists of several sustainable solutions, including the Rollor bottle pack, BiPack, and Pop-up insert, for single and multi-pack products.

Smurfit Kappa Europe innovation and development vice president Arco Berkenbosch said: “Our new eBottle product range offers beverage businesses a suite of fit-for-purpose and bespoke packaging solutions which address the key challenges for their e-commerce channel.

“The innovative range, combined with our focus on e-commerce processes, supply chain and consumer experience, have all contributed to increased sales and greater efficiencies for our customers.”

Smurfit Kappa also provides a host of automated solutions to enhance packaging processes, in addition to the new eBottle product range.

The new product portfolio is part of Smurfit’s Better Planet Packaging range, which is produced using sustainable, renewable and recyclable raw materials.

InterDrinks is an eMerchant that sells overs 2,500 different types of beers and beer products.

Smurfit Kappa has launched a flexible and advanced packaging solution, which is suitable for various sized products marketed by InterDrinks. It also consists of an automated assembly that mounts the packs as needed.

Smurfit Kappa market development director Herwin Wichers said: “The online European alcohol beverage market is worth €5.6 billion and we want to help companies take advantage of the real growth and opportunity in this segment.

“As a result of the implemented packaging and automation solution by InterDrinks, it has increased its packing and filling capacity by 66%, allowing it to fulfil more orders, faster.”