Packaging Industry News

“This panel is instrumental in keeping the industry’s longest running, independently judged awards program competitive and relevant,” said Yasmin Siddiqi, global packaging relationship manager, DuPont. “The judges represent different parts of the value chain and different geographies so they can bring a broad and diverse perspective that enables them to thoroughly assess which ones are game-changing packaging innovations.”

For innovators looking to nominate their packaging solutions, the competition remains open until Feb. 2. Entry forms and guidelines are available at packagingawards.dupont.com.

Members of the 2015 judging panel include:

• Roza Altin - packaging development director, Yildiz Holding, Turkey
• Hung Le - vice president, global innovation engagement, MeadWestvaco (MWV), USA
• David Luttenberger, CPP, global packaging director, Mintel Group, Ltd., USA and lead judge
• Paul Pezzoli, vice president, global packaging innovation & technology, Kellogg Company, USA
• Pat Reynolds, vice president and editor, Packaging World, USA
• Jane Skelton, head of print and packaging, Sainsbury, UK
• Nandlal Tiwari, head of packaging development, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Singapore
• George Wofford, vice president, core R&D, Sealed Air, USA
• Romulo Zamberlan, head of packaging development, Natura, Brazil

“One of the unique things about the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation is that judges represent such a variety of industry knowledge and expertise and perspective,” said David Luttenberger, this year’s lead judge. “A great judging panel helps build credibility for the award, and year over year, DuPont manages to build a fresh panel who deliberate on what is truly innovative. As a result, you earn a DuPont Award, you don’t just win it.”

Judges will spend three days together in March reviewing and debating entries from around the world. In advance of this session, each judge prepares and presents an in-depth review of a group of entries based on excellence in one or all of these areas: technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience.

“The judging process is robust and the face-to-face opportunity gives us a chance to not only interact, but to touch, feel and experience the packaging as the consumer would,” Luttenberger said. “That’s imperative to the process.”
DuPont will videotape portions of the proceedings and capture juror’s insights on industry trends and post on packagingawards.dupont.com.

Brand owners, retailers, packaging designers, converters and technology providers from around the world are encouraged to enter new packaging that has been commercialized since Jan. 1, 2013. There is no fee for entry and DuPont materials do not need to be in the packaging structure. Winners will be honored at a ceremony on May 14, 2015. Information on the program and past winners is posted on packagingawards.dupont.com.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers manufactures an extensive portfolio of adhesive, peelable lidding and sealant resins. DuPont provides a globally networked development team to work with customers on packaging programs that improve performance, shelf appeal and convenience, while optimizing costs for the food, cosmetics, industrial and health and personal care industries.

Published in Angewandte Chemie, a leading international journal, the proof of concept experiment outlines the work of researchers in the Center for Sustainable Materials Science at NDSU. The multidisciplinary team includes researchers from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry: Mukund Sibi, university distinguished professor; Sivaguru Jayaraman, James A. Meier professor; postdoctoral fellow Saravana Rajendran; graduate student Ramya Raghunathan; postdoctoral fellow Retheesh Krishnan; and staff scientist Angel Ugrinov; as well as Dean Webster, professor and chair of the Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials and postdoctoral fellow Ivan Hevus.

The research team focuses on biomass, using oilseed from agricultural crops, cellulose, lignin and sucrose to generate building blocks of molecules that are made into polymers to create plastics. One of the grand challenges for the 21st century is sustainability that lessens dependency on fossil fuels. NDSU, in association with the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR), established the Center for Sustainable Materials Science to develop a program for the preparation of polymers and composites using biomass, a renewable resource.

"Real sustainability involves breaking it back into the building blocks. We have shown that we can break it down into the building blocks and re-make the polymer," said Dr. Sibi.

In their proof of concept experiment, the group used fructose, found commonly in fruit, to create a solution of molecules, which was then converted to a plastic (polymer). By exposing the plastic to ultraviolet light at 350 nanometers for three hours, researchers degraded the plastic, reducing it back to the soluble building block molecules from which it began.

Plastics usually don't decay for hundreds of years, creating solid waste issues. They generally degrade slowly, potentially leaching chemicals into the environment or creating toxins in the air when burned.

"This cradle-to-cradle approach to create a plastic which can be degraded easily offers scientific potential for eventual products that could lessen dependence on fossil fuels and decrease the amount of raw materials needed," said Dr. Webster.

"Our strategy has the potential to build novel materials from biomass that are degradable with light after usage, mitigating the stress of unwanted chemicals in our environment. Studies to address these aspects are currently underway in our laboratories," said Dr. Sivaguru Jayaraman.

Dr. Sibi's lab makes monomers and biobased triggers; Dr. Siva's group specializes in photochemical sciences and photo degradation; and Dr. Webster's team works in polymer chemistry.

"It is the teamwork which allows us to do this kind of work. We need everyone's expertise to solve this issue," said Sibi.

The researchers say further study is needed to evaluate the durability and strength of potential plastics derived from biomass before potential product commercialization could occur. "What is the best trigger to use to break them down? What is the best monomer to use? What is the best polymer we can make?" said Sibi.

In the next two years, the group will examine how their process might work with plastics used in cars and electronics, as well as in other items.

This research is based on the support from the National Science Foundation (grant numbers EPS-0814442 and IIA-1355466) for the Center for Sustainable Materials Science (CSMS) at NDSU, a research center in association with the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

About NDSU

NDSU, Fargo, North Dakota, USA, is notably listed among the top 108 U.S. public and private universities in the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education's category of "Research Universities/Very High Research Activity." As a student-focused, land grant, research institution, NDSU is listed in the top 100 research universities in the U.S. for R&D in agricultural sciences, chemistry, physical sciences, psychology, and social sciences, based on research expenditures reported to the National Science Foundation. www.ndsu.edu/research

CHICAGO-U.S. packaging machinery shipments increased by 6 percent to $7.9 billion, in 2013, reports PMMI. A rise in retail-ready packaging (RRP) is changing the role of secondary packaging. PMMI released the findings of its 2014 State of the Industry: Packaging Machinery Shipments Study (SOTI) and 2014 Secondary Packaging market research study.

PMMI member packaging machinery manufacturers provided data for their 2012 and 2013 shipments for this study; total U.S. packaging machinery shipment estimates also incorporated projected non-member shipments.

“Total U.S. consumption — an overall figure that includes imports, exports and domestic shipments — reached $9 billion in 2013,” says Jorge Izquierdo, vice president, Market Development, PMMI. “Foods and beverages together continue to account for more than half of the shipments. This is consistent with what we’ve seen over the past 10 years.”

“In 2008, when we last conducted this survey, every company we spoke to said they were trying to reduce their costs and improve their sustainability ratings in secondary packaging, and retailers demanded those changes because of consumer preferences," Izquierdo says. "In contrast, roughly half of the 2014 study participants say they’ve implemented those changes and are satisfied with the results."

One of the most visible trends for secondary packaging, however, is its role as a retail-ready packaging medium. “Retailers are asking for more shelf display containers and as a result, we’re seeing secondary packaging going directly from pallet to store shelf," he says.

Changes in primary packaging are also driving shifts in secondary packaging, the report notes. Food (45 percent) and beverage (50 percent) producers noted changes such as switching flexible packaging and lightweighting primary packaging are resulting in the need for stronger support from secondary packaging.

The 2014 study also shows a decrease in RSC usage and corrugated fiberboard materials, and an increase in the use of recycled material content, overwrapped trays and shrink-wrapped pads.