The Latest

  • Puzzle pieces with packaging
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    Photo illustration: Shaun Lucas/Industry Dive; Getty Images

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    Tracking packaging mergers and acquisitions in 2024

    Mondi is acquiring European assets from Schumacher Packaging; ACR acquired Mat-Pac; SupplyOne acquired Gulf Packaging; Enjay Converters acquired Corner Edge Products.

    Updated Oct. 11, 2024
  • Fiber packaging on equipment at a shipment fulfillment center.
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    Permission granted by Amazon
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    Brands make packaging design changes for e-commerce compatibility

    Pandemic-related and sustainability trends, along with Amazon's requirements, are among the factors prompting Clorox, Mars Wrigley and Nestlé to tweak product packaging designs they use for e-commerce.

  • Front and side view of Silk Kids oatmilk blend
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    Permission granted by Danone
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    How2Recycle revamp

    Danone chooses cartons for initial How2Recycle Plus rollout

    The company also detailed other packaging formats where it’s considering adding the labels, which include a Recycle Check QR code. It’s unclear how much consumers engaged with those QR codes during other brands’ pilots.

    Updated Oct. 11, 2024
  • Clorox disinfecting wipes are seen displayed for sale at a Walmart Supercenter on September 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Clorox says 2023 cyberattack hurt progress on 2030 plastic, waste reduction goals

    The company is reassessing some sustainability goals, according to its latest annual report. Data shows the company stagnated on lowering virgin material and upping PCR in packaging.

  • A production line fills compostable coffee pods with coffee grounds
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    Courtesy of NatureWorks
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    Deep Dive

    Inside the debate over PLA, the packaging industry’s favorite bioplastic

    Polylactic acid has been around for decades, but it only became popular as an option for compostable packaging more recently. While some environmental groups question its credentials, the packaging sector expects demand to grow.

  • A sign outside a building that shows a logo for Plastipak.
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    Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa/AP

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    Longtime Plastipak Packaging CEO steps down, welcomes ‘next generation of leadership’

    William Young, who co-founded the family-owned company in 1967, passed the torch this week to his son-in-law, Edward Morgan, who has worked at Plastipak for more than 20 years.

  • Taco Bell and TerraCycle are expanding a sauce packet recycling program to accept all brands of condiment packets.
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    Courtesy of Taco Bell
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    Yum! Brands’ 2025 virgin plastic reduction target remains in question

    The corporation described packaging sustainability efforts across its fast-food brands in an ESG report, including updating Pizza Hut box graphics to promote recycling and expanding mail-in recycling for Taco Bell sauce packets.

  • Clear plastic bottles
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    golubovy via Getty Images
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    Washington state fines 35 companies violating recycled plastic law

    Clorox, Ocean Spray and Albertsons are among the companies facing the highest penalties. Under the law, plastic beverage containers had to use at least 15% recycled content in 2023 and plastic trash bags had to contain 10%.

  • A large screen at an event shows a bubble graph of words that consumers believe makes a brand sustainable.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Consumers are confused by packaging sustainability claims

    Between greenwashing, confusing terminology and a lack of information, a lot gets lost in translation, according to speakers from the National Retail Federation, NielsenIQ and others at recent industry events.

  • A woman in a supermarket smiles and holds a smartphone above a carton
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    Courtesy of GreenBlue
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    How2Recycle revamp

    How2Recycle Plus ready to take dynamic labels mainstream

    The new offering features a QR code so consumers can access localized recycling information. It will come at a higher price to brands than the more traditional How2Recycle Pro label. Danone will be the first to adopt it.

  • A box of Hot Pockets microwaveable sandwiches.
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    Permission granted by Nestlé USA
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    Packaging innovations: Hot Pockets go sleeveless, Henkel’s coating lightens dry food packaging

    Plus, hair care brand Overtone joins a Target sustainability initiative as it launches tubes with a new look and PCR.

  • Close-up shot of a food container with film that says recyclable.
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    K Neville via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Hush-hush: Is greenwashing pushback prompting pivot to ‘greenhushing’?

    Companies must focus on data to back their sustainability claims instead of resorting to silence, or exaggerations, said sources from groups such as the U.S. Plastics Pact, Glass Packaging Institute and McCormick & Co.

  • Four speakers seated on a stage at the SPC Advance conference in Chicago on Oct. 1, 2024.
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive
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    Paying their fair share: CAA and states detail approach to EPR enforcement

    The new CEO of Circular Action Alliance and state producer responsibility leads shared how they’ll collaborate on compliance and enforcement. A Colorado deadline this week brought a surge of producer registrations.

  • A view of vendor displays on the show floor at Pack Expo East at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on March 20, 2024.
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive
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    Packaging trade shows to watch in 2025

    Mark your calendar: These U.S. conferences and events will cover timely trends in sustainable packaging design, recycling technologies, regional market trends, substrate evolutions, automation and more.

  • Piles of organic material in the composting process, managed by a piece of heavy equipment
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    Mary Catherine O'Connor/Packaging Dive
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    BPI Summit highlights ongoing compostable packaging debate ahead of USDA decision

    World Centric, the California Compost Coalition, Athens Services, Dirt Hugger, A1 Organics, Moonshot Compost and others weighed in with their thoughts about this growing category of packaging.

  • Origin Materials' first commercial-scale plant for manufacturing CMF.
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    Permission granted by Origin Materials
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    Dart Container, Origin Materials announced workforce cuts in September

    New data shows U.S. manufacturing contracted and layoffs rose last month. News of workforce reductions by Berry Global and Origin cropped up in Canada, as well as at Dart’s corporate headquarters in Michigan.

  • A person in glasses and a long sleeve shirt stands on a stage in front of the word "Advance"
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    Permission granted by GreenBlue
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    How2Recycle revamp

    The How2Recycle label is getting a new look

    The campaign to transform the instructional label program involves a refreshed design, enhanced data sources and partners handling different aspects of the system, and planning for greater investment in consumer education.

  • stacks of brown paper cups in a row in a coffeeshop setting
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    dmf87 via Getty Images
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    Pactiv Evergreen divests 2 facilities to Suzano for $110M

    The sale of sites in Arkansas and North Carolina is the culmination of a strategic review by Pactiv as the company also restructures its beverage and food merchandising businesses and explores footprint optimization.

    Updated Oct. 1, 2024
  • A lineup of plastic cleaning product containers without labels
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    tarasov_vl via Getty Images
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    Q&A

    What’s next for product certification amid concerns about PFAS and toxics in plastic

    Lagging regulation and a potential “toxic treadmill” with recycled content are viewed as just some of today’s pressing challenges. Clean Production Action Executive Director Mark Rossi reflects on two decades of change in the field.

  • A jar of pasta sauce sits next to boxes of pasta and cereal, with their date labels facing out, on a kitchen counter
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    Cole Rosengren/Packaging Dive
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    California Gov. Newsom signs food date label law, updates PCR reporting rules

    This marks the first state law requiring products to include standardized “best by” and “use by” language in an effort to reduce food waste. Newsom also acted on two microplastics-related bills.

  • Three people sit in chairs on a stage and one person stands at a podium, with a green background behind all of them that says Packaging Recycling Summit.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Insights from the 2024 Packaging Recycling Summit

    AI applications, recycled plastic supply and demand, and how brands are thinking about extended producer responsibility were among the topics Packaging Dive covered from this year’s event in California.

  • Nespresso
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    Courtesy of Nespresso
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    Nespresso spotlights aluminum in marketing campaign

    The Nestlé coffee brand timed the campaign to New York's Climate Week as it seeks to position itself as a more sustainable format than other single-use coffee products.

  • Two bottles of wine - one rose, one chardonnay - on a wood table with a charcutier board, and two empty wine glasses
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    Courtesy of Albertsons Companies
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    Packaging innovations: Bottle material changes from Albertsons and Johnnie Walker

    Plus, Cambio Roasters and Glatfelter debut new coffee pod packaging, while Sleever partners with Cambio for a biodegradable shrink sleeve.

  • A large screen at a conference shows how artificial intelligence works for recycling equipment.
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    Katie Pyzyk/Packaging Dive
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    Advancements push AI from jargon into practice for packaging management

    Glacier demonstrated at the Packaging Recycling Summit how it developed new AI models through partnerships with Colgate and Amazon to capture more recyclables at MRFs.

  • Styrofoam containers
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    Genevieve Isabelle via Getty Images
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    Research spotlights how food-contact chemicals found in packaging show up in humans

    Challenges with regulating food-contact chemicals and materials “are diverse and legislation often does not keep up with the latest scientific understanding,” researchers wrote in a widely covered scientific journal article.