Graphic Packaging releases 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance report

According to FANUC, an industrial robotics manufacturer, there are approximately 1.9 jobs per unemployed worker in the United States. Why? Well, e-commerce is still creating strong labor demand across all areas of the supply chain. To add to that, U.S. businesses are reshoring their sourcing to domestic suppliers in hopes of combating the long overseas lead times; all of which means the creation of even more job openings across North America. Pregis attended Automate in Detroit, MI last week, and returned with a wealth of innovation trends that are adding value within the fulfillment centers of so many industries – from third-party logistics to retail. Timely Takeaways from the Event: 1. Picking and packing goes autonomous: The days of workers wearing out the warehouse floor as they transport goods from inventory to the packing area are numbered. Robotics manufacturers, such as Fetch (now owned by Zebra technologies), are now offering automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated mobile robots (AMRs) that autonomously transport goods from storage to pack stations. 2. Machine vision & artificial intelligence: Software and hardware capabilities within the optics space are beginning to reach sci-fi levels. 3. [Insert technology] as a service: Software-as-a-service (SaaS) has been around for a while, but now, technology companies are leveraging this business model for varying forms of technology – one of which is robotics. 4. The rise of integration: As businesses increasingly adopt autonomous equipment, internet-of-things (IoT), and warehouse management systems (WMS), integrators are emerging as key partners.

Metsä Board has, once again, been awarded the Platinum level rating by EcoVadis for the company’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Having improved the score to a record level 87/100 Metsä Board is among the highest 1% of companies assessed in the manufacture of corrugated paper and paperboard and containers of paper and paperboard. EcoVadis assesses companies covering four themes. Metsä Board was in the top 1% of companies for Environment, Labour & Human Rights and Sustainable Procurement and in the top 7% for Ethics. For the first time Metsä Board scored the full 100/100 in the Environment section. “At Metsä Board, sustainability is an integral part of our strategy and daily operations – now and in the future. Reaching the full 100 score in the Environment section and the Leader status in carbon management assessment acknowledges our journey towards fossil free production and products by the end of 2030,” says Mika Joukio, CEO at Metsä Board.

Georgia-Pacific announced the expansion of its Hummingbird® digital print solutions with the purchase of an HP PageWide T1190 Press, the world’s highest-volume digital corrugated packaging solution. The HP T1190 will be GP’s third inkjet web press installed since 2015 when it launched digital print services with the HP T400S press and subsequently deployed a T1100 110-inch press. GP’s Hummingbird provides a range of digitally printed corrugated packaging solutions for consumer-packaged goods, electronics, and food and beverage brands across North America. Digital print allows for regional or product variations without minimum quantities, variable print, and faster turn on print since print plates are not needed. Digital allows a customer to print only what they need, when they need it – which reduces waste. The press also uses water-based inks, which HP notes does not contain hazardous air pollutants and is also odorless. Hummingbird’s digital offerings include corrugated shelf-ready packaging (SRP), food trays, large-format boxes, e-commerce solutions, and volume displays (POP).