Anti-plastic campaigner sees “quiet revolution” in packaging

Leading print consumables provider to the global packaging industry, Flint Group Packaging Inks has revealed its new range of chlorine-free heat sealable coatings under the NexisCode brand name. Launched in support of its overall sustainability vision of ‘supporting packaging markets with responsibly built products and sustainable solutions designed for circular economies’, the new portfolio is designed for a wide range of film, paper and aluminium packaging applications and is based on a number of binder technologies ensuring suitability no matter what substrate is used. The chlorine-free heat sealable coating range meets all technical and regulatory requirements and provides a solution for the latest mono-material packaging structures designed for today’s recycling infrastructure. Stephen Butler, Product Manager for Flint Group Flexible Packaging in Europe, said: “Many brands and corporations are seeking to eliminate polyvinyl chloride from their packaging due to concerns about its impact on the recyclability of packs, as well as the environment. When PVC is mechanically recycled in today’s typical recycling stream, the high processing temperature can cause degradation of the resin into smaller chlorinated components, which can impact the quality of the resulting recyclate.

Esko has announced it has delivered a world-first in connected packaging production, "supercharging" secure Variable Data Print (VDP) capabilities in terms of both speed and scale for a new collaboration with Scantrust and packaging company ePac Flexible Packaging. Esko Automation Engine is at the heart of the operation, with its VDP technology enabling the printing of serialized and secure QR codes on flexible packaging on a mass scale, unleashing the power of VDP for the new connected packaging and connected goods service, ePacConnect™. “Variable Data Printing has the ability to take the role of packaging to a whole new level,” says Esko product manager, Paul Land. “With opportunities for localization, serialization, personalization and traceability, the advances in automation mean it is now possible to further harness the technology to transform the prepress environment. With cloud deployment for 24/7 global access to data and new scalability capabilities, Automation Engine is enabling ePac to realize the power of VDP for an organization without the downsides. “By connecting the VDP module in Automation Engine with Scantrust, we have created a framework for codes that makes it easy for converters to use,” adds Land. “Not only is this implementation the first of its kind, but it also unlocks capabilities that were previously difficult to achieve.”

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2017, net sales were $12,812,000 down 9.5% from net sales of $14,151,000 for the Second Quarter 2016. For the six month period ended June 30, 2017, net sales were $28,171,000 down 4% from net sales of $29,355,000 for the same period of 2016. The second quarter net loss was ($526,000) or ($0.15) per share basic, ($0.14) per share diluted, compared to a 2016 second quarter net loss of ($83,000) or ($0.02) per share. For the six month period ended June 30, 2017, there was a net loss of ($468,000) or ($0.13) per share compared to a net loss of ($76,000) or ($0.02) per share for the same period of 2016. Click Read More below for additional detail.