According to the company, its latest edition is ‘designed for all your extraterrestrial and earthly travels,’ featuring intergalactic, aluminium packaging, and is filled with the blue and purple candies you know and love from the brand, featuring Pineapple Passionfruit, Raspberry and Berry Punch.

“SKITTLES is always looking for ways to surprise fans, both earthlings and extraterrestrials, with shocking innovation,” said Fernando Rodrigues, Mars Wrigley Senior Brand Manager for Skittles. “We’re thrilled to bring better moments to fans by marking Skittles’ first trip to space with limited edition packs and look forward to pushing the boundaries of confectionery space exploration.”

As the company added, fans can follow Skittles for details on how they might be lucky enough to get their hands on the limited edition Zero-G packs later this summer.

Furthermore, as part of the brand’s expansion into extraterrestrial confections, the brand added that it is proud to make a donation to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in support of inspiring the next generation of innovators and explorers.

AIPIA returns to the virtual stage for its two remaining Congresses for 2021. Both are carefully focused, covering the highly important and topical issues of Supply Chain Solutions (16th September) and the whole spectrum of Digitization: Connected Packaging & Sustainability (2nd November.) Each will address how these issues are impacting on current Smart Packaging development and use.

In November there will be an special emphasis on where Smart Packaging is making a positive contribution to more Sustainable solutions and contributing to reducing waste, better food safety and security, as well as improving ways to achieve a truly Circular Economy for plastics.

Both events already boast a strong line up of leading Smart Packaging product and service providers. These include Aptar CSP, Cambridge Design Partnership, Digimarc, Dimaco, Scantrust, Systech, Talkin’ Things, Tapwow, and Wiliott. Several other leading active and intelligent packaging technology providers are set to join shortly and a provisional agenda for September will be published on line soon. As usual this will be a ‘real time’ agenda and updated as speakers confirm.

Setting out the rationale for the two Congresses, Eef de Ferrante, managing director of AIPIA explained, “We consulted with our Advisory Board and other leading members who are developing or using the technologies and these topics came out as clear areas of primary interest. The pandemic has highlighted many ‘pain points’ in supply chain management, not least to do with distributing PPE and now vaccines. How to harness the full potential of Connected Packaging using digital solutions and making it work in a Sustainable environment is a challenge which many on both sides of the AIPIA community – developers and users – are keen to address. As usual with AIPIA, we aims to go beyond explaining the tech to understanding its impact and how best to apply it commercially.”    

Real ‘use cases’ will be featured to illustrate how Smart Packaging is benefiting food, beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical markets already. They are an opportunity to listen to and learn from many of the leading exponents of Smart Packaging solutions, as well as network with them and Brand Owners in Discussion Rooms. AIPIA is using a ‘user friendly’ virtual meeting platforms to deliver value and an effective meeting environment for everyone.

While the Association looks forward to getting back to Person-to-Person in 2022 the pace of developments in Smart Packaging continues to accelerate continuously. So these two virtual opportunities for 2021 should not be missed!

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"We are driven by the very present need to reduce CO₂ emissions and look after the world around us, and so too are our customers”, says Iñaki Sigler, H.B. Fuller's Global Product Manager for Woodworking and Composites. "This inspires us to continually explore new avenues to reduce our products' environmental footprint and encourage our supply chain to do the same. Together with our partner, Covestro, we see this new, strategic product development as an investment in all our futures and a commitment to a more sustainable world."

Bio-based feedstock partly replaces fossil raw materials via the mass balance approach

The new ingredient used in H.B. Fuller's adhesive is a bio-attributed raw material created via a mass balance approach and will replace a proportion of previous fossil raw materials. Renewable raw materials are used as feedstock at the very beginning of the value chain and processed together with fossil-based ingredients in the same production units. The characteristic of the renewable feedstock process is then attributed to the end-product.

“We are excited to supply H.B. Fuller as our first customer for adhesive applications with a mass-balanced product,” says Dr. Thorsten Dreier, Head of Coatings and Adhesives at Covestro. "With the increased use of such alternative raw materials, we want to become less dependent on petrochemical feedstocks and contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. Alternative raw materials are part of a comprehensive program to work with our partners to drive the transition to a Circular Economy and ultimately become fully circular ourselves.”

The usage of an equivalent amount of the alternative feedstock is guaranteed by Covestro through a third party verified certification method. By gradually converting its production to alternative raw materials and working with reliable partners, who in turn collaborate with many certified suppliers, Covestro aims to replace fossil materials and make its value chains more sustainable. As mentioned, the correct raw material balance, the allocation method, and the raw material sourcing – according to defined sustainability standards – is ensured via an independent third-party certification.

A no-compromise approach

H.B. Fuller is able to use the new drop-in solution immediately in its existing manufacturing processes without any technical conversion. No adjustments are required at its customers’ facilities either. Product quality is in no way inferior to conventional counterparts, but the lower attributed CO₂ footprint makes products more sustainable. In fact, the company has made sure that its customers' own products and processes will not be compromised in any way. The 'reformulation' of the reactive hot melt adhesive has no impact on its performance, nor on their customers' own manufacturing and can be treated in exactly the same way as the product it replaces.

The new solution represents an evolution of previous sustainable product development and will likely extend into other products and areas of production. Iñaki Sigler concludes, “We believe that any way CO₂ emissions can be reduced should be embraced, no matter how small, because many small steps can add up to a strong economy of scale and a giant leap forward for the adhesives industry.”

Both companies believe that the strategic agreement and the innovative process they are now launching together can play a major role in driving the circular economy forward, reducing carbon emissions and replacing the extraction of finite resources with partly renewable raw materials.
 

Through ePacConnect, which was announced in October of 2020, the companies offer secure, serialized QR codes on all of ePac’s packaging and provide access to a suite of Scantrust applications for consumer engagement, brand protection, and track and trace.

With ePacConnect, all packaging can be born digital, each with a unique digital identity, they say. When scanned by a normal smartphone camera, every package becomes a gateway to 2-way communication between brands and consumers. The companies expect billions of pouches to be produced with ePacConnect over the coming years.

Leveraging the innovative digital printing capabilities of ePac and innovative solutions from Scantrust, ePacConnect democratizes access to smart packaging by offering an entry-level no-cost solution for all brands, while also making it easy and flexible to add-on a comprehensive suite of readily available applications, they claim. 

Scantrust powers these underlying capabilities with a secure platform that provides scalable tools to brands who want to actively protect from counterfeits, easily share product provenance, and offer tailored consumer experiences.

According to Carl Joachim, ePac’s CMO, “We’ve been working with Scantrust for some time now to develop and market a connected packaging solution that is scalable from small brands to large CPGs. Scantrust also operates globally, as well as sharing our commitment to helping small and medium sized businesses compete and grow. We already have a number of customers in the USA and Europe using the solution”.  

Nathan Anderson, Scantrust CEO added, “We saw great synergies between our two companies from the start. With this partnership, we’re able to bring Scantrust’s advanced connected goods solutions to brands of all sizes at-scale. This will enable more meaningful connections with their customers, and empower people to be able to trust the source, safety, and integrity of the products in their life, while also increasing supply chain visibility.”

Particularly soda and water bottles of all shapes and sizes. Scientists have been looking for ways to cut down on this waste and a study for Green Chemistryshows it may now be possible. Using genetically-modified bacteria, a team at Edinburgh University in Scotland, has been able to convert PET plastic waste into vanilla flavouring. 

Previous studies have demonstrated that it is possible to break down PET into its basic subunit, known as terephthalic acid (TA). The researchers in Edinburgh discovered that E. coli bacteria can be “deployed” in order to convert TA into vanillin. Vanillin is the main component of extracted vanilla beans, and it’s responsible for vanilla’s signature taste and smell. It has a very similar chemical composition to TA, and so the engineered bacteria only needs to make minor changes to the number of hydrogens and oxygens that are bonded to the same carbon backbone.

The researchers mingled their E. coli with TA and kept them at room temperature for a day, in roughly the same conditions used for brewing beer. After process optimization, around 79% of the TA was converted to vanillin.The team believes it may be possible to increase this percentage. Also they believe that this vanillin would be fit for human consumption, but further tests are required.

Joanna Sadler, first author and BBSRC Discovery Fellow from the school of biological sciences, University of Edinburgh, said, “This is the first example of using a biological system to upcycle plastic waste into a valuable industrial chemical. It has very exciting implications for the circular economy.”

Stephen Wallace, also of the University of Edinburgh, added, “Our work challenges the perception of plastic being a problematic waste and instead demonstrates its use as a new carbon resource from which high value products can be made.”

One million PET bottles are sold every minute around the world, but just 14% are recycled. Currently the recycled ones have limited ‘second use’  opportunities, although much work is being done by the industry to ameliorate this situation. The plastics lose about 95% of their value after a single use, so the ability to upcycle into more lucrative materials could make this recycling process far more attractive and effective.

There is a shortage in supply of vanillin, which is found in a wide variety of food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, cleaning, and herbicide products. In 2018, the global demand was about 40,000 tonnes and is expected to grow to 65,000 tonnes by 2025 which “far exceeds” the vanilla bean supply. About 85% of vanillin is currently synthesized from chemicals derived from fossil fuels – and this new experiment offers another way to do that, at a potentially viable level.

Building on consumer demand for sustainable ring carriers, the new WaveGrip cardboard carrier is lightweight, strong and easy to use, providing the same levels of pack retention as plastic. Each carrier weighs under 7g for a standard six-pack and is recyclable in all paper and board waste collection streams.

The white fully coated top side offers high quality printability in up to 10 colours, allowing brand messages and promotions to be easily included for enhanced shelf impact. In addition, the naturally brown reverse opens-up to offer a multitude of additional design possibilities and enable further direct communication with customers.

The new carrier style is available for both standard and sleek cans and unlike many competitive products, its patent pending design does not require folding and manipulation during application. This allows continuous running at high speeds, meeting both the performance and production needs of the latest beverage canning lines.

Applicators are competitively priced and range from simple, manual solutions to more integrated higher speed options. Planned developments also include the addition of an integrated advertising panel option for increased on shelf marketability.

Darryl Roadnight, Business Director at WaveGrip said: “Our new cardboard carrier meets the growing consumer demand for easy to recycle packaging and its unique design delivers both performance and sustainability that today’s brands are seeking.

“We are delighted to add this solution to the WaveGrip range and deliver even more choice in the effective, efficient and sustainable packing of beers and beverages around the world.”