American Forest & Paper Association Releases October 2017 Containerboard Report

As a major step toward fulfillment of its pledge to the RE100 initiative, which focuses on accelerating the transition to zero carbon grids at global scale, Crown Holdings, Inc. has signed a 15-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with Longroad Energy to utilize wind power in all of its U.S. and Canadian beverage can plants starting on July 1, 2020. The new program will rely on a wind farm based in Knox County, Texas to generate over 400,000 MWhs of electricity. The renewable power will offset 100% of the energy usage within Crown's U.S. and Canadian beverage plants, which account for over 20% of the Company's global Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. This transition serves as the first phase of Crown's RE100 plan, which anticipates that the Company will run 100% renewable electricity by 2050. The RE100 initiative is led by The Climate Group and CDP. One of the first milestones on the Company's journey will be achieving 30% renewable electricity by 2020. To accomplish this goal, Crown is exploring renewable options in other countries, including Mexico, which runs on a different electricity grid than the U.S. and Canada and would serve as the final portion of a complete North American renewable energy program by RE100 standards. The Company's next goal will be reaching 50% renewable energy utilization by 2030. Click Read More below for additional information.

Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging Europe now offers three different tube laminate structures, for use in oral care and cosmetic products, which have been certified to be fully recyclable. The Huhtamaki team, together with partners Plastuni Lisses, member of the Somater Group, and Zalesi, have developed polyethylene (PE) based tubes that have been certified as fully recyclable within the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) container stream by RecyClass, the cross-industry initiative that works to advance plastic packaging recyclability and to establish a harmonized approach towards recycled content calculation and traceability in Europe. “The new recyclable blueloop laminates are a perfect example of effectively implementing sustainable design principles and contributing to the development of the circular economy,” says Jens Pilzecker, Head of Global Tube Laminates at Huhtamaki’s Flexible Packaging segment. “With these laminate structures we help our customers take a big step forward in addressing their sustainability targets as they can now package products in fully recyclable high-barrier tubes. In addition, this innovation is in line with our target of designing 100% of our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.”

Unilever buttery spread brand Country Crock has been refreshed with new and simpler ingredients and with packaging that provides greater consumer convenience and bolsters the product’s “Real Country Fresh Taste from Real Ingredients” proposition. Introduced in summer 2015, the new recipes for Original, Churn Style, and Light Country Crock varieties are made with no artificial preservatives or flavors, and contain 0g trans fat per serving. Says Benjamin Cook, Marketing Director, Country Crock and Baking, Cooking Spreads Company, “We are continuously listening to consumers who are asking more from food brands to deliver products that they can trust and are from fewer, simpler ingredients.” Replacing the brand’s round polypropylene container is a rectangular PP “Space Saver Tub” that is reusable, dishwasher-safe (in the top rack), and recyclable. The container, from a mix of proprietary suppliers, comes in three sizes: 15 oz, 30 oz, and 45 oz.