Image: Aeropowder

18.07.2024

Natural insulation from feathers

With their microscopically small hollow fibre structure, feathers are among the lightest natural fibres ever and provide excellent heat insulation. A British start-up utilises these properties and turns feathers, a waste product from the poultry industry, into an insulating packaging material for the cold transport.

Image: iStock

26.03.2024

Why ‘right-sizing’ your parcel packaging is good for the planet, and the bottom line

Consumers are all but addicted to home delivery of all types of products, driving the number of parcels shipped globally from 161 billion in 2022 to an estimated 225 billion by 2028.

interpack 2023 is ready to start. But is the industry ready? (Image: Jamentle Reskp/unsplash)

18.04.2023

Everything in crisis? The packaging industry before interpack 2023

Six years are a long time. All the more so for a dynamic industry like the packaging sector. But this is the amount of time that has passed since the last interpack. Which issues are being debated worldwide shortly before the start of the trade fair?

Schubert opens educative training centre

Image: Gerhard Schubert GmbH

16.01.2023

Training to overcome the lack of skilled professionals

Within the framework of digitalisation and automation, there is a continual further development of machines. To enable staff to meet these new requirements, Schubert supports their customers with a new training concept which is also intended to combat the lack of trained professionals.

Image: Kelly Sikkema/unsplash

12.12.2022

Eventful times for the packaging industry

Only few would have expected the direction in which the year 2022 will develop. A lot has also happened in the packaging industry. Not only has the conflict in Ukraine thrown the markets into turmoil, but new legislation is also presenting the industry with new challenges. But there are also good things to report.

A delivery van showing many different parcels with different labels stacked inside.

The number of online orders and delivered packages is growing every year, all over the world. (Image: Claudio Schwarz / Unsplash)

17.11.2022

Packaging in the times of e-commerce

Today, even your grocery shopping is delivered by mail. The changes to the way we live our everyday lives, brought about by the lasting e-commerce trend, also mean that packaging is not what it used to be. Even something as seemingly simple as a shipping box comes with a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration and improved.

The PowerCast XL is a high performance system for the manufacture of stretch films (Image: SML)

17.11.2022

PCR in film production

Mechanical engineering company SML and plastics producer Braskem have entered a cooperation and are now using recycled raw materials to produce film for a joint project. The use of PCR (post-consumer recyclates) is supposed to save resources and reduce waste.

White smoke coming out from factory grounds

Many companies are thinking about their energy consumption and CO2 emissions. (Image: Marcin Jozwiak/ Unsplash)

26.09.2022

Reliably determining the carbon footprint of packaging machines

Companies are looking for ways to make their production and their products more sustainable. One of the important factors is the machinery which is used here. TÜV Rheinland has now certified a method by Syntegon which determines the carbon footprint of the machines produced by the company.

There is no such thing as innately good or bad packaging, and the environmental impact should always be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. (Image: Nick Fewings/unsplash)

26.09.2022

Life cycle assessments – a useful tool or greenwashing?

Plastic or paper, single use or reusable – which packaging gets the best marks in a life cycle assessment? The answer often appears to be simple, but an environmental assessment should always look at the individual case in detail, because there are benefits and drawbacks everywhere – and the results are sometimes surprising.

Three garbage bins next to each other and one garbage sack for different kinds of waste.

Image: "Mülltrennung wirkt" (waste separation works) initiative / Steffen Jagenburg

14.07.2022

Public obligations for recycling: Germany – a good role model?

In 2019, the Central Agency Packaging Register started its work. Since then, companies that place packaging in circulation must register with it. An amendment to the German Packaging Act led to this requirement being extended to all online retailers and providers of take-away packaging on July 1st, 2022. Is this still reasonable or is this over-regulation?

Photo: Wiederstein Verpackungen

24.06.2022

Hemp, a trending material?

When cannabis is mentioned, its intoxicating effects are the first thing that springs to mind for most people. However, the European hemp varieties that are cultivated today contain very little that is intoxicating, and instead have a high amount of fibres that are ideally suited for making them into paper labels, cold storage packaging or even one-way pallets.

A fully loaded container ship being towed into a harbour.

Image: Mika Baumeister/Unsplash

23.06.2022

What are the consequences of the strain on supply chains?

The pandemic, war, scarcity of resources, the energy crisis – there are many reasons why supply chains, including the packaging industry, are under pressure the world over. As an end to this situation is not currently in sight, companies are called to examine their logistics procedures.

A collage showing the use of the waste compartment in the cigarette packet Input.

Four students of the Muenster School of Design have created a cigarette packet that contains a compartment for butts. (Photo: J. Zerr, E. Freymüller, M. Hesse, F. Vennemeyer)

28.04.2022