Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals and fertilizers, announces that it has acquired a minority stake in Bockatech Limited, a UK-based growth-stage green tech business and inventor of the innovative EcoCore ® manufacturing technology platform for sustainable packaging. The investment deepens the existing partnership between the two companies and underscores Borealis’ commitment to plastics circularity. The move entails joint market and material development in the long term as well as the scaling of the EcoCore platform itself. The aim is to enable a greater number of global customers, value chain partners, and supply chain players to benefit from a broader range of lighter weight foam-based applications, primarily in the packaging sector.

True to the EverMinds™ ambition: synergistic effects to drive plastics circularity

Borealis and Bockatech are leading the transition to plastics circularity, building on co-operation which began in 2016 to develop foam injection moulding solutions for reusable and recyclable packaging. The partnership has already chalked up success with the 2020 “Close the Loop” pilot project at Borealis sites in Belgium. Here, over a million single-use drinking cups were replaced with 30,000 EcoCore lightweight cups, which can be collected and washed for reuse before ultimately being recycled. Thousands of these more environmentally-friendly cups also made an appearance at the recent COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, where they were used for publicly catered events. The conference venue ordered 70,000 reusable cups for use at this and future events.

By intensifying their collaboration, Borealis and Bockatech are accelerating the development of more circular packaging solutions for converters and brand owners in order to meet demand for packaging formats with lower environmental footprints. Bockatech EcoCore uses optimised polyolefin resins supplied by Borealis to create mouldings that have skin-foam-skin walls with high strength-to-weight ratios and excellent thermal insulation. Because only minimal investment in new equipment is required to produce safe and reliable mouldings using the EcoCore technology, converters can readily move into more sustainable packaging formats for a wide range of sectors.

While collaboration will continue to focus on reusable coffee cups, additional applications for technology licensing are foreseen, including more sustainable reusable packaging types and lightweight single-use solutions. Applications in non-packaging product ranges are also envisioned, as the EcoCore technology is further advanced and scaled up.

One aim of deeper co-operation is to produce success stories which exemplify the Borealis circular cascade model, in which design for eco-efficiency, reuse, and design for recycling are key elements integrated in a complementary and cascading way to achieve plastics circularity. The EcoCore technology platform aligns with the Borealis circular cascade model on all three levels. “We are proud and pleased to deepen our partnership with Bockatech,” says Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Circular Economy Solutions and Innovation & Technology. “This is proof positive of our EverMinds approach and commitment to collaboration and innovation to bring about plastics circularity. We look forward to enabling an exciting range of lighter weight and easily recyclable solutions that facilitate the transition from single-use to reuse. This is the right path towards more sustainable living.”

“Working together with Borealis, we’ve already been able to develop packaging for several leading foodservice and fast-moving consumer goods brands in North America and Europe. This new investment will help us advance our EcoCore technology even further and increase the number of applications,” says Henri Gaskjenn, Bockatech CEO. “We share with Borealis a long-term vision of sustainability and, like them, aim to be leaders in the new plastics economy. Their material expertise combined with our manufacturing technology is creating more sustainable solutions with better performance for converters, brands, and consumers alike.”

This new technology created by TIPA, Printpack, and Digimarc will help consumers put their compostable packaging in the correct bin and enables compost operators to scan and sort certified compostable packaging with food and organic waste.

It will help expand consumer access to composting, reducing landfill waste and its accompanying greenhouse gas emissions. Easy-to-sort compostable packaging helps reduce contamination in the organics bin and with states like California mandating food recycling, this is needed now more than ever.

The next step in development will evaluate performance with mixed organic materials moving on a sorting conveyor belt.

Before you say that of course the FAA wasn’t going to let a private company mount a frickin’ laser beam (sorry, old reference) to their airplanes, you should know that we’re not exactly talking about the kind of high-energy solid state lasers that can literally blast things till they catch fire and/or explode — though the US military has certainly tested those sorts of lasers aboard large aircraft, too.

No, FedEx’s proposal was for a “Infrared Laser Countermeasure System,” a fancy name for what’s effectively a high-power laser pointer (with a sophisticated targeting system) that blinds incoming missiles before they hit. As The Drive explains, the US has been exploring ways to protect airliners from missile strikes for a while now, particularly given the proliferation of cheap shoulder launched surface-to-air missile systems, and those sorts of laser systems looked to be an effective but expensive option.

FedEx even tested out one of the infrared variety, Northrop Grumman’s “Guardian” pods, in 2006. Here’s a close-up of a Northrop Grumman infrared laser pod:

But it doesn’t seem like any US commercial airplanes have installed the tech yet; the FAA’s proposal suggests that FedEx’s addition of a laser would have been “novel or unique.”

It’s not clear whose system FedEx was hoping to attach to its planes when it submitted its proposal in October 2019, why the FAA decided it should move forward this month, or why the FAA decided to suddenly stop it now — but it does seem like your FedEx packages won’t be protected by laser anytime soon.

The new Twist Wrap packs feature a portion control mechanism that allows shoppers to “twist to seal” and save half for later.

The new packaging uses memory technology, meaning the wrapper stays twisted by a single twist “preserving fresh flavour, texture and shape”.

The format will roll-out from the end of January across five key members of the Cadbury Duos portfolio – Cadbury Wispa, Cadbury Wispa Gold, Cadbury Boost, Cadbury Double Decker and Cadbury Dairy Milk.

The Cadbury Duo range makes up 24% of the Duo market, the brand said, and the majority of Duos shoppers are unique to the format so it is a “valuable offering for retailers”.

The packaging innovation underscores Mondelēz International’s commitment to “help promote healthier snacking to consumers”, with a focus on portion control being recognised as “one of the most effective ways of helping people balance their calorie intake”.

Kelly Lawrence, brand manager for Cadbury at Mondelēz International, said: “Following good results during concept testing, we are excited to announce the new packaging this year, allowing shoppers to indulge in a sweet treat then easily reseal and save the remainder of the product for later.

“We have put a lot of time and investment into ‘portionable’ packaging as a way of empowering consumers to snack in a more mindful way, and we are excited to see what shoppers think.

“Duos are the growth driver of singles, particularly in the independent convenience channel, so an important part of any retailer’s chocolate range.”

US-based baby food company LactaLogics has finalised a partnership with flexible packaging manufacturer Scholle IPN for developing aseptic packaging technology.

The companies have partnered after carrying out a packaging research and development phase.

The collaboration will involve integrating Scholle IPN’s solutions with LactaLogics’ Gentle-UHT processing capabilities to deliver safe human milk-based products for infants in pharmaceutical-grade packaging.

This will provide hospital newborn intensive care units (NICUs) with access to shelf-stable, ready-to-serve human milk and human milk fortifiers packaged in aseptic pouches and cartons.

Scholle IPN business development manager Andrew Lively said: “Our aseptic packaging, especially as it relates to pharmaceuticals, protects delicate products from contamination and outside environmental factors, which is critical when feeding premature infants.

“The ability to combine this with shelf-stability and controlled, precise dosing delights us as we look forward to the positive impact of our packaging on the lives of premature infants.”

The new packaging solution is designed to maintain the reliability and safety of LactaLogics’ human milk-based products.

It is part of the company’s commitment to giving all premature infants access to an exclusive human milk diet.

LactaLogics co-founder and chief operating officer Chelly Snow said: “Our partnership with Scholle IPN will give hospitals access to aseptic packaging technology.