September 2025 - Midland Paper

Ranpak lands second major e-commerce deal of 2025

A deal with Walmart comes shortly after one with Amazon. CEO Omar Asali discusses the importance of these enterprise customers and navigating economic uncertainty ahead of the busy holiday season. Ranpak is expanding its automation solutions at Walmart’s distribution centers. Under the multiyear agreement, Walmart will install Ranpak’s AutoFill machines at sites in the Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento, California, metro areas. Walmart already uses this equipment at an Indianapolis-area fulfillment center, where it automates void filling and box closing to increase productivity. This is the second major deal Ranpak has landed this year with an e-commerce giant. In January, Amazon agreed to spend $400 million on an eight-year deal to acquire up to 18.7 million Ranpak shares, which will amount to an estimated 17% of the company’s shares when completed.

Mexico’s avocado industry pledges deforestation-free exports by 2026

The United States is Mexico’s top avocado export market and the destination for 80% of the 1.34 million metric tons — worth about $4 billion — predicted to be exported in 2025, according to a 2025 U.S. Department of Agriculture report. Ana Ambrosi, director of the Avocado Institute of Mexico, the industry groups’ corporate communications arm, told ESG Dive that the industry creates $7.5 billion in economic output in the U.S. and $6 billion in Mexico. APEAM and MHAIA, which represent 90 packers, 35,000 growers and 54,000 orchards, estimate that the industry supports 78,000 direct jobs in Mexico and more than 42,000 U.S. jobs, per the press release. Under the industry groups’ new commitment, orchards planted on land deforested between 2018 and 2024 will be able to qualify for the deforestation-free certification if they compensate for any lost ecosystem services, preferably through interventions in the environment rather than financial reparations, Ernesto Enkerlin, an environmental consultant for APEAM and MHAIA, told ESG Dive. As of 2026, orchards on land deforested from 2025 onward will never be eligible for export, per the announcement.

Global toilet-paper market to approach US$47 billion in 2033, up 4.5% CAGR, says new study

September 1, 2025
Midland Paper Clips
Misc

The global toilet-paper market was valued at US$41.04 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$42.88 billion this year, further expanding to US$46.83 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2025 to 2033, says a new study via Business Research Insights. Toilet paper is a key part of the hygiene and personal-care market, mostly because people use it every day, and there is growing attention on the need for sanitation. Strong retail services and a desire to use premium, environmentally sustainable and thicker papers give North America and Europe dominance in this market. At the same time, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa are showing steady growth because of cities becoming bigger, living standards increasing. New methods for sustainable manufacturing such as using bamboo for toilet paper and other recycled-paper options, are growing in popularity due to people’s concern for the environment.

Chicago-based catalog company lays off staff

Looking to buy a nose hair trimmer, wearable neck air conditioner or holographic fish tank from the always quirky Hammacher Schlemmer catalog? Time may be running out. Last week, the Chicago company laid off 21 employees — most of its staff — in a brief video conference call, according to four former employees who lost their jobs. “They told us that Hammacher was going to cease operations, and that all of our positions were effectively gone,” said Carol-Joy Kilpatrick, 50, of Tinley Park, senior art director at Hammacher Schlemmer for 19 years. “I’m devastated.” It is unclear what the company’s plans are for the venerable brand, the oldest catalog retailer in the U.S. Hammacher Schlemmer, which was acquired last year by S5 Equity, a California-based investment firm, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Deposited in nearly 50 million mailboxes each year, the most recent catalog was canceled before going to the printer this month, Kilpatrick said, a first in her two-decade tenure with the company.