Boxes. Labels. Books. Your child’s first report card. A tissue for their first heartbreak. All made from paper; a renewable, recyclable material that is an inextricable, often invisible part of our lives. Think about it: from the moment we wake up to when we nod off with a book in hand, paper is there. In a world that strives to go paperless, often for the wrong environmental reasons, the...

In a study commissioned by the Friends of Glass, 85% of Europeans vote for glass packaging for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. Find out why...

Coca-Cola European Partners has unveiled its new Great Britain sustainable packaging strategy, setting out an ambition for its Great Britain business unit to work with local and national partners to recover all its packaging so that more is recycled and none ends up as litter. At present, only 70% of the cans and 57% of the plastic bottles used each year are recycled. CCEP...

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles are everywhere. However, brand owners continue to commercialize water in packaging that often times does not meet consumer expectations for convenience and price, nor does it minimize the carbon footprint. The most common strategy deployed by many brands to meet sustainability initiatives has been to significantly lightweight the PET...

Ever wonder how aluminium is made? And how is it transformed into cans, cars or tailor made parts? http://www.hydro.com/en/About-aluminium/How-its-made/

Global paper and paper packaging producer, Sappi, is one of only a few local suppliers of raw materials into the packaging industry – and they take this role seriously. “We are passionate about our paper packaging ,” says Richard Wells, Sales and Marketing Director of Sappi’s Paper and Paper Packaging division in South Africa. As such, the company has made it their business to...

Schools around the country stand a chance of once again winning big prizes in Plastics|SA’s annual Clean-up and Recycle Competition, entitled “Let’s do it … Let’s Clean-Up South Africa!” The competition is open to primary and high schools as well as businesses or organisations around the country who are eager to initiate a clean-up and/or recycling activity in their area.  By writing a short...

FOOD fraud is putting the lives of thousands of South Africans at risk daily as a result of the burgeoning trade in fake food and alcohol. Olive oil, milk products with melamine, illegal food colourants, expired food with manipulated labelling and illegal alcohol are the biggest players in the South African fraud food industry. The National Department of Health’s Food Control...

The United Kingdom government is to introduce a ban on the sale and manufacture of microbeads in cosmetic and personal care products, including tooth pastes, later this year. Environment secretary Michael Gove announced July 21 that the ban on the tiny pieces of plastic, which can be swallowed by marine life, is part of the government’s pledge to reduce plastic waste in oceans. The ban...

No other single packaging material provides the combined benefits of glass: clarity, barrier to moisture and gases (UV light, too, when colored), chemical inertness, premium image, and reassuring tactile signals. Its susceptibility to breakage conceded, glass, nonetheless, has excellent resistance to compression. Such benefits are inherent in glass, dating back to its earliest...