Following the success of the CHINAPLAS x CPRJ Plastics Recycling & Circular Economy Conference (Sept 7), the 10th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Packaging Conference and Showcase was held on Sept 8 at Radisson Collection Hotel, Yangtze Shanghai, China.

Industry professionals and experts enjoyed a multitude of discussions under the theme of “Creativity • Low-carbon • Breakthrough. Reshape the future”.

The 10th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Packaging Conference and Showcase was concluded successfully.

The conference was hosted by Adsale Group, organized by Adsale Plastics Network, China Plastic & Rubber Journal (CPRJ) & CPRJ International, and co-organized by PKG family and Shanghai Packaging Technology Association.

It was supported by CHINAPLAS, Green Recycling Plastic Supply Chain Group, China Plastic Recycling Association of CRRA, LOVERE of Shanghai Yuekun Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., Meituan, Shanghai World of Packaging (swop), GIZ GmbH, Sino-Pack and Planning Committee of China Packaging Federation.

Scan the QR code to view the photo album.

Click HERE to watch the video clip. 

More than 30 thematic presentations, one “CEO Dialogue” international summit, and solution showcases of about 40 exhibitors were organized at the Conference. The presentations covered many hot topics in the morning session and three parallel sub-forums. Check out the following highlights.

Morning Session

“Circular economy plays a vital role in the development of packaging.” - Janet Tong, General Manager at Adsale Group Adsale Publishing Ltd.

In her welcome speech, Janet Tong greeted the participants. She commented that the increasing penetration of global retail and e-commerce in the key application industries of plastic packaging is driving the growth of demand for plastic packaging. The circular economy also plays a vital role in the development of packaging.

"Chinese packaging industry has been accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Packaging Strategy." - Xueshan Han, Vice President of China Packaging Federation.

In his welcome remarks, Xueshan Han stated that China has become one of the world's largest packaging manufacturers. The Chinese packaging industry has been accelerating the implementation of the "Sustainable Packaging Strategy" initiated by the 14th Five-Year Plan.

As the pandemic has gradually been brought under control, the demand for various packaging materials is growing rapidly. He said that China Packaging Federation will work with the industry chain partners to advance the development of packaging.

Lin Wu, Founder of Packaging Family, delivered welcome speech as well.

"WBCSD is convinced that the global economy is 8.6% circular today." - Weidong Zhou, Director of WBCSD China Office, World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

WBCSD is a global, CEO-led community working to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net-zero, nature positive and more equitable future, he introduced. WBCSD is convinced that the global economy is 8.6% circular today.

Thus, it uses the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) to provide insight in circularity on a company level to drive the transition towards a circular economy by encouraging businesses to adopt innovative circular business models that improve company longevity and resilience.

For packaging, he continued, WBCSD and its members have co-created SPHERE, a packaging sustainability framework that enables businesses to consider all environmental impacts and the trade-offs of their packaging to make better informed decisions.

SPHERE consists of four steps, including understanding the approach, scoping the assessment, selecting methodologies and setting thresholds. Then, results for strategic or design decision making can be interpreted.

"Yili has released a zero-carbon plan in the first half of this year, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in the industry chain by 2050." - Yuming Deng, R&D Director Innovation Center at Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd.

In response to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, Yuming Deng reported that Yili has released a zero-carbon plan in the first half of this year, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in the industry chain by 2050.

Specifically, the company has developed an all-polyolefin solution to replace non-recyclable composite film packaging, he told. And as dairy products are rich in vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids that will easily lead to deterioration, Yili has created a series of barrier technologies to address it. Also, the company is working on carbon reduction through structural innovation and is creating carbon neutral products, he added.

"Hualong’s mono-material MDOPE film features high transparency, high gloss, high strength and high rigidity even after stretching." - Hongmei Wei, Chief R&D Engineer at Jiangmen Hualong Membrane Material Co., Ltd.

Hualong’s mono-material MDOPE film features high transparency, high gloss, high strength and high rigidity even after stretching, she told. Hongmei Wei presented that coating PVA on stretched PE film is a way to improve the barrier properties of the MDOPE film. This method saves energy and reduces VOC emissions.

Besides, the company’s GRS-certified recycled films are widely used. Among them, she underlined that the packaging film prefabricated food shows good adhesion strength, low tear strength and low seal initiation temperature.

"A new project focusing on recycling flexible packaging is launched." - Victor Wang, Secretary General of Plastic Recycling Association of CRRA.

Led by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and China National Resources Recycling Association and with joint efforts made by 16 corporates, Green Recycling Plastic Supply Chain Group was set up.

Victor Wang continued that the group has favorably established standards to improve packaging product design, processing and recyclability. Now, a new project buckling down to recycling flexible packaging is launched, which the group is working with brands and recyclers to build a recycling network. 

It is estimated that by 2025, the network will cover all first-, second- and third-tier cities in China. He emphasized that the recycling volume of flexible packaging is expected to reach 50,000 tons.

"There should be new evolution of on green packaging on top of the traditional one that focuses on waste reduction." - Jerry Duan, Person In Charge of Packaging of JD Logistics.

Jerry Duan believes that there should be new evolution of on green packaging on top of the traditional one that focuses on waste reduction. In the future, the development trend of green packaging for e-commerce logistics will include both circular and basic packaging, he stated.

He also stressed that cooperation of upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain and the support of policies and regulations are crucial when it comes to sustainable development of the packaging industry.

During the CEO Dialogue section, the moderator, Bin Li, Professor of Donghua University, along with Horton Zhang, Co-CEO at Berry Ace Packaging (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd, Jialiang Xia, President of Jiangsu Caihua Packaging Group Co., Ltd., and Stephane Wahl, I&D and Moldshop Director, China Cluster, Albea Group, interacted under the theme of “How to Implement Low-carbon Plastic Packaging?”

Parallel sub-forum: Packaging Innovation: Functional New Packaging and Intelligent Production Solutions

"JCtimes’ 2.5D multilayer co-extrusion analysis system makes it possible to quickly analyze the simulation of multi-layer co-extrusion." - Wenkang Zhang, Marketing Engineer at JCtimes Group.

JCtimes’ 2.5D multilayer co-extrusion analysis system makes it possible to quickly analyze the simulation of multi-layer co-extrusion. Wenkang Zhang highlighted that the system optimizes the runner design and derives analytical data in a simpler and faster way. The entire process can be completed in half a day.

The system adopts 2.5D algorithm for the calculation of multilayer co-extrusion dies, so that the dies range from 2-3 layers to 7-9 layers and from 5 meters to over 10 meters can both be computed.

“Changes in consumer and brand requirements are making packaging more important than ever.” - Dr. Jack Chen, R & D Director–Technology & Sustainability, Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific

Dr. Jack Chen explained the model of creating an efficient packaging from concept to sample. He emphasized that consumer requirements are changing, snack has become the new norm, and trusted brands are using concise messages and instructions with growing environmental concerns. Most importantly, packaging is seen as one way to reduce food waste.

All these changes are making packaging more important than ever, stated Dr. Jack Chen. Amcor's Catalyst full-chain innovation service turns packaging concepts into real objects. Combining material science with industry knowledge and consumer insights, Amcor's Innovation Center can rapidly create packaging prototypes and dramatically shorten customers' product development and evaluation cycles.

“Milliken's PP performance modifier can shorten production cycle, reduce energy consumption and improve mechanical properties.” - Dr. Zina Zhu, Senior Marketing Manager of Milliken Chemical, Milliken Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Dr. Zina Zhu introduced the innovative solutions of polypropylene (PP) in food and beverage packaging. For example, Milliken's polypropylene performance modifier can shorten production cycle, reduce energy consumption and improve mechanical properties.

Besides, its transparent technology can improve the transparency of packaging design, optimize the appearance of packaging, realize transportation at temperatures of -22°C and below, and improve impact resistance.

“YingYu produces innovative bottles with different functions and a wide range of applications.” - Caesar Sun, Director of Innovation Department, Shanghai YingYu Plastic Products Co., Ltd.

Caesar Sun talked about the role of art in the future development of bottles. He also remarked that YingYu produces innovative bottles with different functions and a wide range of applications. Among them, materials suitable for special-shaped vacuum bottles - bags in bottles are: PET, rPET, PP, EVOH, nylon, acrylic, etc. Meanwhile, the texture of button bottle is on the inner wall, which has little influence on the secondary process of the bottle body, and can be customized.

“Want Want will continue to increase the use of clean energy, improve energy efficiency, and implement mono-material packaging.”- Jeff Cui, R&D Center Packaging Manager of Want Want China Holdings Limited

Jeff Cui said that Want Want will continue to increase the use of clean energy, improve energy efficiency, develop original food, and implement mono-material packaging to facilitate the sustainable development of packaging.

He commented that replacing packaging materials with transparent packaging materials, moisture permeability and oxygen permeability are optimized and improved. Besides, using paper fiber instead of mineral desiccant not only improves moisture absorption capacity, but also achieves 100% degradation and pollution-free, and can be in direct contact with food.

"With new AI functions and comprehensive optimization, the system can realize one-key training and intelligentization of visual inspection." - Julien Zhou, Founder and General Manager, Shanghai JW Autotech. Co., Ltd.

JW Autotech’s inspection equipment is used for inspecting bottle caps, containers, preforms, in-mold labels, etc. They have the advantages of simple operation and powerful software. Among them, the JWS high-speed bottle cap inspection machine 3,000 can inspect up to 3,200 pieces/min.

Julien Zhou expects the JWS5.0 system of the company will be upgraded in October, 2024. With new AI functions and comprehensive optimization, the system can realize one-key training of software as well as the intelligentization of visual inspection. 

“Packaging material identification empowers the digital management of enterprises.” - Daniel Pang, Deputy General Manager of China Commerce Networks (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Daniel Pang introduced how to empower the digital management of enterprises with packaging material identification. For example, precise operation strategy, product and user distribution, as well as marketing promotion can be consolidated based on enterprise BI analysis and big data.

In addition, adopting the “one item, one code” products across the chain, from factory, warehouse, channel distributors, stores and consumers, can realize data automation and transparency.

"Kraft Heinz is committed to replacing all the PVC/PVDC in the packaging materials by 2025." - Hui Zhang, Packaging R&D Manager at Kraft Heinz China.

Hui Zhang reported that the company is working to fulfill its sustainability target for packaging with three major methods, including eliminating recycling disrupters, reducing the use of recyclable materials and looking for alternative materials for not-recycle-ready materials.

For eliminating recycling disrupters, he stated that Kraft Heinz is committed to replacing all the PVC/PVDC in the packaging materials by 2025 and replacing the colored PET packaging by clear PET by 2025.

Moreover, for reducing the use of recyclable materials, the company is making its product packaging even more lightweight. And regarding alternative materials, the company is exploring alternative technical solution to upgrade to polyolefin structure for multi-layer flexible packaging.

"Yuzen can effectively detect the defects of products with Visual Artificial Intelligence." - Jie Hui, Technical Director of Suzhou Yuzen Automation Technology Co., Ltd.

Jie Hui shared the new application of Visual Artificial Intelligence Detection in plastic packaging. Yuzen achieves the description of sampling data points of objects by establishing mathematical models. For data that cannot be described by simple mathematical models, it can be collected by deep learning which is a tool for building mathematical models of arbitrary complexity.

Jie Hui pointed out that for curved surface printing detection, the industry has been facing the pain points of printing pattern expansion and contraction, misalignment between color blocks, and container forming tolerances.

Yuzen can effectively detect the defects of products with Visual Artificial Intelligence. The technology can be applied to container products such as mineral water bottle caps, milk bottles, medical spray pumps, and in-mold labels.

Three "Case Study and Demand - Sharing Meetings for Brands" events were also organized.

Parallel Sub-Forum: O2O New Lifestyle and Opportunities for Packaging

"There is a lot of room for growth and development of China's prefabricated food industry." - Junfeng Wu, President at Shanghai Patasty Food Technology Co., Ltd.

He underlined the market and opportunity of packaging of prefabricated food. At present, packaging suitable for prefabricated vegetables include PP containers, aluminum foil bags, aluminum foil containers and composite film bags.

Driven by higher operating cost of restaurant, change in lifestyles, increase in small family and improvement in cold chain logistics infrastructure, Junfeng Wu believes that there is a lot of room for growth and development of China's prefabricated food industry.

"LENA injection molding machine features high-speed filling, short molding cycle, high stability and effective cost control." - Kah Leong Chong, Technical Director at L.K. Technology Holdings Limited.

Kah Leong Chong highlighted the application of the company’s LENA direct-clamp injection molding machine in thin-wall packaging. LENA features high-speed filling, short molding cycle, high stability and effective cost control. It meets the requirements of high injection rate for thin-walled products.

He stated that LENA's screw was customized for new high temperature resistant packaging materials, and its modular design effectively addresses material differences.

Furthermore, the ELETTRICA all-electric injection molding machine of L.K. embraces European direct drive technology. It has low energy consumption and precise control, and is specially designed for medical applications.

"The future development direction of starch-based materials will be enhancing performance, reducing costs and making them waterproof." - Yu Long, Chief Consulting Scientist at Green Fill Material Technology Co., Ltd.

He delivered a presentation regarding the development of all-starch degradable packaging. Starch foamed board is widely used because of its value of sustainability and added value of agricultural by-products.

According to Yu Long, the future development direction of starch-based materials will be enhancing performance, reducing costs, making them waterproof, functionalizing, creating composites and innovating new products.

"UR series collaborative robots are applicable for sorting, scanning, processing, detecting, packing, and so on." - Kenneth Sun, Key Account Manager, General Industry at Universal Robots (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Kenneth Sun presented how collaborative robot empowers the packaging industry to innovate and upgrade. Collaborative robots are quick to set up, simple to program, and can be deployed flexibly and cost-effectively, when compared with traditional industrial robots.

He shared that the company’s UR3e table-top robot is suitable for intricate tasks, while the UR16e model handles up to 16 kg of payload and has working radius reaching 900mm. UR series collaborative robots are applicable for sorting, scanning, processing, detecting, packing, and so on.

"Huayue achieves its goals with the ‘green alternative’ core concept and ‘operation and synergy’ strategy." - Weiqi Huang, Assistant to the President, Shanghai Huayue Packaging Co., Ltd.

Huayue specializes in design innovation for various packaging bag products. The company is committed to building a sustainable industry chain for plastic flexible packaging.

As introduced, Huayue achieves its goals with the “green alternative” core concept and “operation and synergy” strategy, and successfully established a supply chain system for recycling and biodegradation in the context of policy upgrades.

Weiqi Huang pinpointed that the company has developed many recyclable and biodegradable products, including supermarket shopping bags, garbage bags, and courier bags. The recycled content can reach up to 80% certified PCR materials.

"Processing technology and packaging choice of prefabricated food have to be customized." - Bing Yang, General Manager Assistant at Tipack Group Co., Ltd.

He mentioned that processing technology and packaging choice of prefabricated food have to be customized. For the cold chain transportation of the business side, for example, refrigerated and cold-resistant packaging is required. The packaging is generally made from polypropylene with certain modifications so that it is able to adapt to liquid nitrogen quenching at -40°C and be stored at -35°C.

For the normal temperature transportation of the customer side, high temperature sterilization and high barrier packaging is required for maintaining food flavor and improving food shelf life, he said.

Parallel Sub-Forum: Sustainability: Mono-material, PCR, Biodegradable Technologies

"Naturally Good is Nivea's first climate neutral product." - Emily Xiao, Technology Manager - Packaging Material & Compliance at Beiersdorf Group.

She mentioned Beiersdorf's latest innovations and examples of sustainable development. Among all, the company has opted for a more sustainable cosmetics packaging alternative made from certified renewable polypropylene for the NIVEA Naturally Good product range.

It is Nivea's first "climate neutral" product, she remarked. The packaging made of renewable PP is neither visually nor haptically distinguishable from the previous packaging.

“Dry ice cleaning technology can help achieve plastics circular economy, improve production efficiency and save costs.” - Steven Sun, Sales Director-China, Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Steven Sun explained to the audience how dry ice cleaning technology can help achieve plastics circular economy, improve production efficiency and save costs. There are three primary factors that contribute to the dry ice cleaning process: impact, cold and expansion.  

According to Steven Sun, using the technology in plastics and packaging can make better and more parts, as well as extend the service life of molds. Besides, it contributes to a better environment by eliminating solvents. It can be applied to injection, compression, extrusion, thermoform molds and pleastic injection screw barrels.

“Mono-material is an emerging and important trend in recyclable packaging.” - Mike Wang, CRP Innovation & Development Manager, China, Albéa Group

Mono-material is an emerging and important trend in recyclable packaging. Mike Wang shared the mono–material innovations in cosmetic packaging with many examples. According to him, mono-material is one of Albéa’s sustainable strategies, and the company offers solutions for all beauty markets, including sticks, compacts & palettes, bottles, jar, etc.  

One of the examples he shared is an innovative refillable mechanism for stick. The components of the stick can be disposed separately for easy recycling. Besides, the refillability allows keeping the same cap and base, reducing plastic waste. It demonstrates the design evolution for recycling.

"Plastics recycling can be realized through cooperation in the value chain." - Jianfeng Huang, Ph. D., Greater China Market Development Lead Engineer, SABIC Petrochemicals, SABIC.

The sustainable solutions for packaging under the roof of the TRUCIRCLE program follow the concept of “from linear to circular” and values lie in the complete traceability from plastic waste to PCR to final products, high-value utilization of waste plastics, optimization of logistics, and policies and legislation that affect classification and collection.

Jianfeng Huang emphasized the importance of collaboration in his presentation, and he stated that plastics recycling can be realized through cooperation in the value chain.

For example, the recyclable biaxial stretching BOPE film made of SABIC LLDPE BX202 pushes the performance beyond that of traditional PE blown film, thereby providing more possibilities for the design and application of flexible packaging.

"The challenges are enormous for reducing the use of virgin plastics while developing business." - Nigel Li, Senior R&D Manager, AMEA Biscuit Packaging Development, Mondelēz China.

Nigel Li focused in circular design of packaging in his presentation. He remarked that the design of packaging should take recyclability and the use of recycled materials into consideration, supporting the improvement of the packaging recycling system. The challenges are enormous for reducing the use of virgin plastics while developing business, he said.

As it is inadequate to adopt conventional methods such as lightweighting, the packaging industry have to develop innovative solutions including application of PCR. . In addition to material innovation, packaging equipment advancement is also important, he added.

"For packaging, the company’s machines allow multi-cavity injection molding of various products." - Dongqian Wang, ROBOSHOT Sales Division Senior Sales Manager at Shanghai Fanuc Robomachine Co., Ltd.

He talked about the application of smart manufacturing of injection molding for packaging. The latest servo control system of FANUC electric injection molding machine can handle up to 8 servo motors simultaneously, he introduced. The system is equipped with a high-precision CNC system, enabling accurate pressure, temperature, speed and position control.

For packaging, the company’s machines allow multi-cavity injection molding of various products, and are able to complete tasks of automatic pickup and assembly, identification, classification and packing. As a result, unmanned intelligent assembly lines can be realized, he stated.

“Composite materials need to be redesigned to achieve 100% recyclability and use at the same level.” - Justin Wang, General Manager, Guangzhou Rego Packing Industry Co., Ltd.

Justin Wang pointed out that compared with other packaging materials, composite materials have poor recyclability, recycling of composite materials is difficult and energy consuming. They need to be redesigned to achieve 100% recyclability and use at the same level. Considering cost and market demand, mono-material should be the focus of work at present.

Nevertheless, the production requirements for mono-material recyclable tubes are high, the thickness must be less than 0.25mm, and mono-material must reach more than 95%. Besides, the tubes must have barrier property, and the cover, shoulder and body are of the same material.

"Menshen developed various solutions to solve the common problems of mono-material spout bags." - Stephen Huang, Sales Manager of Menshen Packaging (CHINA).

According to Stephen Huang, the common problems of mono-material spout bags are: the base welding ribs break the membrane layer easily; the delaminated membrane material may destroy the surface printing; the risk of leakage and overflow is increased when the sealing layer is damaged.

To solve these problems, Menshen developed various solutions, such as reverse welding technology, low temperature welding technology, a new generation of welding cover design - LoTUS, which are simple, convenient and efficient.

“Recycling and composting are not the only ways to achieve circularity.” - Janell Siek, Sustainable Packaging Officer of APCO 9867, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).

In the online presentation, Janell Siek introduced the transitioning to the circular economy for packaging in Australia. She mentioned that the industry has to realize that recycling and composting are not the only ways to achieve circularity. To fully realize circular economy, plastic packaging should be designed for reuse after end-of-life in mind, and material loss should be reduced during each recycling process.

She also highlighted then principles in design and sourcing to support packaging sustainability, including Design for Resource Recovery, Elimination of Toxic and Hazardous materials, Use of Recycled Materials, Use of Renewable Materials, Design for Transportation Efficiency, etc.

Special events to demonstrate PCR and mono-material applications

Apart from presentations and exhibit showcase, two special events in response to the increasing enthusiasm about PCR and mono-material technology was conducted.

Henkel and Berry were invited to jointly create an environmentally friendly daily chemical packaging sample, demonstrating a successful practice for the industry.

The bottle made from PCR HDPE variegated material and equipped with mono-material plastic pump.

The Schwarzkopf bottle is made from 30% PCR HDPE variegated material and equipped with Berry’s mono-material plastic pump. It breaks the limitation that variegated HDPE bottles can only be downcycling.

This is also Henkel's first application of bottle-to-bottle recycling and reuse of variegated HDPE in the Chinese market.

The co-branded silk scarf provided by ATRenew and Meituan.

In addition, ATRenew and Meituan collaborated to launch an activity that visitors can exchange two waste bottles for the co-branded eco-friendly silk scarf made from recycled materials. A mini recycling line of Meituan was also on stage.

Concurrent solutions and products showcase

Jiangmen Hualong Membrane Material Co., Ltd.

Shanghai JW Autotech.Co., Ltd.

Milliken Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

JCtimes Group

Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Suzhou Yuzen Automation Technology Co., Ltd.

SABIC

L.K. Technology Holdings Limited

Universal Robots (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Fanuc Robomachine Co., Ltd.

China Commerce Networks (Shanghai) Co., Ltd

Following the success of the CHINAPLAS x CPRJ Plastics Recycling & Circular Economy Conference (Sept 7), the 10th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Packaging Conference and Showcase was held on Sept 8 at Radisson Collection Hotel, Yangtze Shanghai, China.

Industry professionals and experts enjoyed a multitude of discussions under the theme of “Creativity • Low-carbon • Breakthrough. Reshape the future”.

The 10th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Packaging Conference and Showcase was concluded successfully.

The conference was hosted by Adsale Group, organized by Adsale Plastics Network, China Plastic & Rubber Journal (CPRJ) & CPRJ International, and co-organized by PKG family and Shanghai Packaging Technology Association.

It was supported by CHINAPLAS, Green Recycling Plastic Supply Chain Group, China Plastic Recycling Association of CRRA, LOVERE of Shanghai Yuekun Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., Meituan, Shanghai World of Packaging (swop), GIZ GmbH, Sino-Pack and Planning Committee of China Packaging Federation.

Scan the QR code to view the photo album.

Click HERE to watch the video clip. 

More than 30 thematic presentations, one “CEO Dialogue” international summit, and solution showcases of about 40 exhibitors were organized at the Conference. The presentations covered many hot topics in the morning session and three parallel sub-forums. Check out the following highlights.

Morning Session

“Circular economy plays a vital role in the development of packaging.” - Janet Tong, General Manager at Adsale Group Adsale Publishing Ltd.

In her welcome speech, Janet Tong greeted the participants. She commented that the increasing penetration of global retail and e-commerce in the key application industries of plastic packaging is driving the growth of demand for plastic packaging. The circular economy also plays a vital role in the development of packaging.

"Chinese packaging industry has been accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Packaging Strategy." - Xueshan Han, Vice President of China Packaging Federation.

In his welcome remarks, Xueshan Han stated that China has become one of the world's largest packaging manufacturers. The Chinese packaging industry has been accelerating the implementation of the "Sustainable Packaging Strategy" initiated by the 14th Five-Year Plan.

As the pandemic has gradually been brought under control, the demand for various packaging materials is growing rapidly. He said that China Packaging Federation will work with the industry chain partners to advance the development of packaging.

Lin Wu, Founder of Packaging Family, delivered welcome speech as well.

"WBCSD is convinced that the global economy is 8.6% circular today." - Weidong Zhou, Director of WBCSD China Office, World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

WBCSD is a global, CEO-led community working to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net-zero, nature positive and more equitable future, he introduced. WBCSD is convinced that the global economy is 8.6% circular today.

Thus, it uses the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) to provide insight in circularity on a company level to drive the transition towards a circular economy by encouraging businesses to adopt innovative circular business models that improve company longevity and resilience.

For packaging, he continued, WBCSD and its members have co-created SPHERE, a packaging sustainability framework that enables businesses to consider all environmental impacts and the trade-offs of their packaging to make better informed decisions.

SPHERE consists of four steps, including understanding the approach, scoping the assessment, selecting methodologies and setting thresholds. Then, results for strategic or design decision making can be interpreted.

"Yili has released a zero-carbon plan in the first half of this year, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in the industry chain by 2050." - Yuming Deng, R&D Director Innovation Center at Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd.

In response to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, Yuming Deng reported that Yili has released a zero-carbon plan in the first half of this year, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in the industry chain by 2050.

Specifically, the company has developed an all-polyolefin solution to replace non-recyclable composite film packaging, he told. And as dairy products are rich in vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids that will easily lead to deterioration, Yili has created a series of barrier technologies to address it. Also, the company is working on carbon reduction through structural innovation and is creating carbon neutral products, he added.

"Hualong’s mono-material MDOPE film features high transparency, high gloss, high strength and high rigidity even after stretching." - Hongmei Wei, Chief R&D Engineer at Jiangmen Hualong Membrane Material Co., Ltd.

Hualong’s mono-material MDOPE film features high transparency, high gloss, high strength and high rigidity even after stretching, she told. Hongmei Wei presented that coating PVA on stretched PE film is a way to improve the barrier properties of the MDOPE film. This method saves energy and reduces VOC emissions.

Besides, the company’s GRS-certified recycled films are widely used. Among them, she underlined that the packaging film prefabricated food shows good adhesion strength, low tear strength and low seal initiation temperature.

"A new project focusing on recycling flexible packaging is launched." - Victor Wang, Secretary General of Plastic Recycling Association of CRRA.

Led by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and China National Resources Recycling Association and with joint efforts made by 16 corporates, Green Recycling Plastic Supply Chain Group was set up.

Victor Wang continued that the group has favorably established standards to improve packaging product design, processing and recyclability. Now, a new project buckling down to recycling flexible packaging is launched, which the group is working with brands and recyclers to build a recycling network. 

It is estimated that by 2025, the network will cover all first-, second- and third-tier cities in China. He emphasized that the recycling volume of flexible packaging is expected to reach 50,000 tons.

"There should be new evolution of on green packaging on top of the traditional one that focuses on waste reduction." - Jerry Duan, Person In Charge of Packaging of JD Logistics.

Jerry Duan believes that there should be new evolution of on green packaging on top of the traditional one that focuses on waste reduction. In the future, the development trend of green packaging for e-commerce logistics will include both circular and basic packaging, he stated.

He also stressed that cooperation of upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain and the support of policies and regulations are crucial when it comes to sustainable development of the packaging industry.

During the CEO Dialogue section, the moderator, Bin Li, Professor of Donghua University, along with Horton Zhang, Co-CEO at Berry Ace Packaging (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd, Jialiang Xia, President of Jiangsu Caihua Packaging Group Co., Ltd., and Stephane Wahl, I&D and Moldshop Director, China Cluster, Albea Group, interacted under the theme of “How to Implement Low-carbon Plastic Packaging?”

Parallel sub-forum: Packaging Innovation: Functional New Packaging and Intelligent Production Solutions

"JCtimes’ 2.5D multilayer co-extrusion analysis system makes it possible to quickly analyze the simulation of multi-layer co-extrusion." - Wenkang Zhang, Marketing Engineer at JCtimes Group.

JCtimes’ 2.5D multilayer co-extrusion analysis system makes it possible to quickly analyze the simulation of multi-layer co-extrusion. Wenkang Zhang highlighted that the system optimizes the runner design and derives analytical data in a simpler and faster way. The entire process can be completed in half a day.

The system adopts 2.5D algorithm for the calculation of multilayer co-extrusion dies, so that the dies range from 2-3 layers to 7-9 layers and from 5 meters to over 10 meters can both be computed.

“Changes in consumer and brand requirements are making packaging more important than ever.” - Dr. Jack Chen, R & D Director–Technology & Sustainability, Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific

Dr. Jack Chen explained the model of creating an efficient packaging from concept to sample. He emphasized that consumer requirements are changing, snack has become the new norm, and trusted brands are using concise messages and instructions with growing environmental concerns. Most importantly, packaging is seen as one way to reduce food waste.

All these changes are making packaging more important than ever, stated Dr. Jack Chen. Amcor's Catalyst full-chain innovation service turns packaging concepts into real objects. Combining material science with industry knowledge and consumer insights, Amcor's Innovation Center can rapidly create packaging prototypes and dramatically shorten customers' product development and evaluation cycles.

“Milliken's PP performance modifier can shorten production cycle, reduce energy consumption and improve mechanical properties.” - Dr. Zina Zhu, Senior Marketing Manager of Milliken Chemical, Milliken Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Dr. Zina Zhu introduced the innovative solutions of polypropylene (PP) in food and beverage packaging. For example, Milliken's polypropylene performance modifier can shorten production cycle, reduce energy consumption and improve mechanical properties.

Besides, its transparent technology can improve the transparency of packaging design, optimize the appearance of packaging, realize transportation at temperatures of -22°C and below, and improve impact resistance.

“YingYu produces innovative bottles with different functions and a wide range of applications.” - Caesar Sun, Director of Innovation Department, Shanghai YingYu Plastic Products Co., Ltd.

Caesar Sun talked about the role of art in the future development of bottles. He also remarked that YingYu produces innovative bottles with different functions and a wide range of applications. Among them, materials suitable for special-shaped vacuum bottles - bags in bottles are: PET, rPET, PP, EVOH, nylon, acrylic, etc. Meanwhile, the texture of button bottle is on the inner wall, which has little influence on the secondary process of the bottle body, and can be customized.

“Want Want will continue to increase the use of clean energy, improve energy efficiency, and implement mono-material packaging.”- Jeff Cui, R&D Center Packaging Manager of Want Want China Holdings Limited

Jeff Cui said that Want Want will continue to increase the use of clean energy, improve energy efficiency, develop original food, and implement mono-material packaging to facilitate the sustainable development of packaging.

He commented that replacing packaging materials with transparent packaging materials, moisture permeability and oxygen permeability are optimized and improved. Besides, using paper fiber instead of mineral desiccant not only improves moisture absorption capacity, but also achieves 100% degradation and pollution-free, and can be in direct contact with food.

"With new AI functions and comprehensive optimization, the system can realize one-key training and intelligentization of visual inspection." - Julien Zhou, Founder and General Manager, Shanghai JW Autotech. Co., Ltd.

JW Autotech’s inspection equipment is used for inspecting bottle caps, containers, preforms, in-mold labels, etc. They have the advantages of simple operation and powerful software. Among them, the JWS high-speed bottle cap inspection machine 3,000 can inspect up to 3,200 pieces/min.

Julien Zhou expects the JWS5.0 system of the company will be upgraded in October, 2024. With new AI functions and comprehensive optimization, the system can realize one-key training of software as well as the intelligentization of visual inspection. 

“Packaging material identification empowers the digital management of enterprises.” - Daniel Pang, Deputy General Manager of China Commerce Networks (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Daniel Pang introduced how to empower the digital management of enterprises with packaging material identification. For example, precise operation strategy, product and user distribution, as well as marketing promotion can be consolidated based on enterprise BI analysis and big data.

In addition, adopting the “one item, one code” products across the chain, from factory, warehouse, channel distributors, stores and consumers, can realize data automation and transparency.

"Kraft Heinz is committed to replacing all the PVC/PVDC in the packaging materials by 2025." - Hui Zhang, Packaging R&D Manager at Kraft Heinz China.

Hui Zhang reported that the company is working to fulfill its sustainability target for packaging with three major methods, including eliminating recycling disrupters, reducing the use of recyclable materials and looking for alternative materials for not-recycle-ready materials.

For eliminating recycling disrupters, he stated that Kraft Heinz is committed to replacing all the PVC/PVDC in the packaging materials by 2025 and replacing the colored PET packaging by clear PET by 2025.

Moreover, for reducing the use of recyclable materials, the company is making its product packaging even more lightweight. And regarding alternative materials, the company is exploring alternative technical solution to upgrade to polyolefin structure for multi-layer flexible packaging.

"Yuzen can effectively detect the defects of products with Visual Artificial Intelligence." - Jie Hui, Technical Director of Suzhou Yuzen Automation Technology Co., Ltd.

Jie Hui shared the new application of Visual Artificial Intelligence Detection in plastic packaging. Yuzen achieves the description of sampling data points of objects by establishing mathematical models. For data that cannot be described by simple mathematical models, it can be collected by deep learning which is a tool for building mathematical models of arbitrary complexity.

Jie Hui pointed out that for curved surface printing detection, the industry has been facing the pain points of printing pattern expansion and contraction, misalignment between color blocks, and container forming tolerances.

Yuzen can effectively detect the defects of products with Visual Artificial Intelligence. The technology can be applied to container products such as mineral water bottle caps, milk bottles, medical spray pumps, and in-mold labels.

Three "Case Study and Demand - Sharing Meetings for Brands" events were also organized.

Parallel Sub-Forum: O2O New Lifestyle and Opportunities for Packaging

"There is a lot of room for growth and development of China's prefabricated food industry." - Junfeng Wu, President at Shanghai Patasty Food Technology Co., Ltd.

He underlined the market and opportunity of packaging of prefabricated food. At present, packaging suitable for prefabricated vegetables include PP containers, aluminum foil bags, aluminum foil containers and composite film bags.

Driven by higher operating cost of restaurant, change in lifestyles, increase in small family and improvement in cold chain logistics infrastructure, Junfeng Wu believes that there is a lot of room for growth and development of China's prefabricated food industry.

"LENA injection molding machine features high-speed filling, short molding cycle, high stability and effective cost control." - Kah Leong Chong, Technical Director at L.K. Technology Holdings Limited.

Kah Leong Chong highlighted the application of the company’s LENA direct-clamp injection molding machine in thin-wall packaging. LENA features high-speed filling, short molding cycle, high stability and effective cost control. It meets the requirements of high injection rate for thin-walled products.

He stated that LENA's screw was customized for new high temperature resistant packaging materials, and its modular design effectively addresses material differences.

Furthermore, the ELETTRICA all-electric injection molding machine of L.K. embraces European direct drive technology. It has low energy consumption and precise control, and is specially designed for medical applications.

"The future development direction of starch-based materials will be enhancing performance, reducing costs and making them waterproof." - Yu Long, Chief Consulting Scientist at Green Fill Material Technology Co., Ltd.

He delivered a presentation regarding the development of all-starch degradable packaging. Starch foamed board is widely used because of its value of sustainability and added value of agricultural by-products.

According to Yu Long, the future development direction of starch-based materials will be enhancing performance, reducing costs, making them waterproof, functionalizing, creating composites and innovating new products.

"UR series collaborative robots are applicable for sorting, scanning, processing, detecting, packing, and so on." - Kenneth Sun, Key Account Manager, General Industry at Universal Robots (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Kenneth Sun presented how collaborative robot empowers the packaging industry to innovate and upgrade. Collaborative robots are quick to set up, simple to program, and can be deployed flexibly and cost-effectively, when compared with traditional industrial robots.

He shared that the company’s UR3e table-top robot is suitable for intricate tasks, while the UR16e model handles up to 16 kg of payload and has working radius reaching 900mm. UR series collaborative robots are applicable for sorting, scanning, processing, detecting, packing, and so on.

"Huayue achieves its goals with the ‘green alternative’ core concept and ‘operation and synergy’ strategy." - Weiqi Huang, Assistant to the President, Shanghai Huayue Packaging Co., Ltd.

Huayue specializes in design innovation for various packaging bag products. The company is committed to building a sustainable industry chain for plastic flexible packaging.

As introduced, Huayue achieves its goals with the “green alternative” core concept and “operation and synergy” strategy, and successfully established a supply chain system for recycling and biodegradation in the context of policy upgrades.

Weiqi Huang pinpointed that the company has developed many recyclable and biodegradable products, including supermarket shopping bags, garbage bags, and courier bags. The recycled content can reach up to 80% certified PCR materials.

"Processing technology and packaging choice of prefabricated food have to be customized." - Bing Yang, General Manager Assistant at Tipack Group Co., Ltd.

He mentioned that processing technology and packaging choice of prefabricated food have to be customized. For the cold chain transportation of the business side, for example, refrigerated and cold-resistant packaging is required. The packaging is generally made from polypropylene with certain modifications so that it is able to adapt to liquid nitrogen quenching at -40°C and be stored at -35°C.

For the normal temperature transportation of the customer side, high temperature sterilization and high barrier packaging is required for maintaining food flavor and improving food shelf life, he said.

Parallel Sub-Forum: Sustainability: Mono-material, PCR, Biodegradable Technologies

"Naturally Good is Nivea's first climate neutral product." - Emily Xiao, Technology Manager - Packaging Material & Compliance at Beiersdorf Group.

She mentioned Beiersdorf's latest innovations and examples of sustainable development. Among all, the company has opted for a more sustainable cosmetics packaging alternative made from certified renewable polypropylene for the NIVEA Naturally Good product range.

It is Nivea's first "climate neutral" product, she remarked. The packaging made of renewable PP is neither visually nor haptically distinguishable from the previous packaging.

“Dry ice cleaning technology can help achieve plastics circular economy, improve production efficiency and save costs.” - Steven Sun, Sales Director-China, Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Steven Sun explained to the audience how dry ice cleaning technology can help achieve plastics circular economy, improve production efficiency and save costs. There are three primary factors that contribute to the dry ice cleaning process: impact, cold and expansion.  

According to Steven Sun, using the technology in plastics and packaging can make better and more parts, as well as extend the service life of molds. Besides, it contributes to a better environment by eliminating solvents. It can be applied to injection, compression, extrusion, thermoform molds and pleastic injection screw barrels.

“Mono-material is an emerging and important trend in recyclable packaging.” - Mike Wang, CRP Innovation & Development Manager, China, Albéa Group

Mono-material is an emerging and important trend in recyclable packaging. Mike Wang shared the mono–material innovations in cosmetic packaging with many examples. According to him, mono-material is one of Albéa’s sustainable strategies, and the company offers solutions for all beauty markets, including sticks, compacts & palettes, bottles, jar, etc.  

One of the examples he shared is an innovative refillable mechanism for stick. The components of the stick can be disposed separately for easy recycling. Besides, the refillability allows keeping the same cap and base, reducing plastic waste. It demonstrates the design evolution for recycling.

"Plastics recycling can be realized through cooperation in the value chain." - Jianfeng Huang, Ph. D., Greater China Market Development Lead Engineer, SABIC Petrochemicals, SABIC.

The sustainable solutions for packaging under the roof of the TRUCIRCLE program follow the concept of “from linear to circular” and values lie in the complete traceability from plastic waste to PCR to final products, high-value utilization of waste plastics, optimization of logistics, and policies and legislation that affect classification and collection.

Jianfeng Huang emphasized the importance of collaboration in his presentation, and he stated that plastics recycling can be realized through cooperation in the value chain.

For example, the recyclable biaxial stretching BOPE film made of SABIC LLDPE BX202 pushes the performance beyond that of traditional PE blown film, thereby providing more possibilities for the design and application of flexible packaging.

"The challenges are enormous for reducing the use of virgin plastics while developing business." - Nigel Li, Senior R&D Manager, AMEA Biscuit Packaging Development, Mondelēz China.

Nigel Li focused in circular design of packaging in his presentation. He remarked that the design of packaging should take recyclability and the use of recycled materials into consideration, supporting the improvement of the packaging recycling system. The challenges are enormous for reducing the use of virgin plastics while developing business, he said.

As it is inadequate to adopt conventional methods such as lightweighting, the packaging industry have to develop innovative solutions including application of PCR. . In addition to material innovation, packaging equipment advancement is also important, he added.

"For packaging, the company’s machines allow multi-cavity injection molding of various products." - Dongqian Wang, ROBOSHOT Sales Division Senior Sales Manager at Shanghai Fanuc Robomachine Co., Ltd.

He talked about the application of smart manufacturing of injection molding for packaging. The latest servo control system of FANUC electric injection molding machine can handle up to 8 servo motors simultaneously, he introduced. The system is equipped with a high-precision CNC system, enabling accurate pressure, temperature, speed and position control.

For packaging, the company’s machines allow multi-cavity injection molding of various products, and are able to complete tasks of automatic pickup and assembly, identification, classification and packing. As a result, unmanned intelligent assembly lines can be realized, he stated.

“Composite materials need to be redesigned to achieve 100% recyclability and use at the same level.” - Justin Wang, General Manager, Guangzhou Rego Packing Industry Co., Ltd.

Justin Wang pointed out that compared with other packaging materials, composite materials have poor recyclability, recycling of composite materials is difficult and energy consuming. They need to be redesigned to achieve 100% recyclability and use at the same level. Considering cost and market demand, mono-material should be the focus of work at present.

Nevertheless, the production requirements for mono-material recyclable tubes are high, the thickness must be less than 0.25mm, and mono-material must reach more than 95%. Besides, the tubes must have barrier property, and the cover, shoulder and body are of the same material.

"Menshen developed various solutions to solve the common problems of mono-material spout bags." - Stephen Huang, Sales Manager of Menshen Packaging (CHINA).

According to Stephen Huang, the common problems of mono-material spout bags are: the base welding ribs break the membrane layer easily; the delaminated membrane material may destroy the surface printing; the risk of leakage and overflow is increased when the sealing layer is damaged.

To solve these problems, Menshen developed various solutions, such as reverse welding technology, low temperature welding technology, a new generation of welding cover design - LoTUS, which are simple, convenient and efficient.

“Recycling and composting are not the only ways to achieve circularity.” - Janell Siek, Sustainable Packaging Officer of APCO 9867, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).

In the online presentation, Janell Siek introduced the transitioning to the circular economy for packaging in Australia. She mentioned that the industry has to realize that recycling and composting are not the only ways to achieve circularity. To fully realize circular economy, plastic packaging should be designed for reuse after end-of-life in mind, and material loss should be reduced during each recycling process.

She also highlighted then principles in design and sourcing to support packaging sustainability, including Design for Resource Recovery, Elimination of Toxic and Hazardous materials, Use of Recycled Materials, Use of Renewable Materials, Design for Transportation Efficiency, etc.

Special events to demonstrate PCR and mono-material applications

Apart from presentations and exhibit showcase, two special events in response to the increasing enthusiasm about PCR and mono-material technology was conducted.

Henkel and Berry were invited to jointly create an environmentally friendly daily chemical packaging sample, demonstrating a successful practice for the industry.

The bottle made from PCR HDPE variegated material and equipped with mono-material plastic pump.

The Schwarzkopf bottle is made from 30% PCR HDPE variegated material and equipped with Berry’s mono-material plastic pump. It breaks the limitation that variegated HDPE bottles can only be downcycling.

This is also Henkel's first application of bottle-to-bottle recycling and reuse of variegated HDPE in the Chinese market.

The co-branded silk scarf provided by ATRenew and Meituan.

In addition, ATRenew and Meituan collaborated to launch an activity that visitors can exchange two waste bottles for the co-branded eco-friendly silk scarf made from recycled materials. A mini recycling line of Meituan was also on stage.

Concurrent solutions and products showcase

Jiangmen Hualong Membrane Material Co., Ltd.

Shanghai JW Autotech.Co., Ltd.

Milliken Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

JCtimes Group

Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Suzhou Yuzen Automation Technology Co., Ltd.

SABIC

L.K. Technology Holdings Limited

Universal Robots (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Fanuc Robomachine Co., Ltd.

China Commerce Networks (Shanghai) Co., Ltd