A new packaging organisation has been formed to provide technical consulting services for manufacturers as they navigate the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
Established by Germany’s Gerhard Schubert and the Berlin-based packaging consultancy Berndt+Partner Group, the Packaging Competence Centre (PCC) will advise on the development of sustainable packaging and practical solutions for implementation.
The focus will be on helping the manufacturers evaluate as quickly as possible how to respond to often complex requirements and challenges of the PPWR as well as other sustainability issues, the companies said.
The collaboration will involve BP Consultants, a subsidiary of the Berndt+Partner Group. It will clarify the PPWR and explain its impact on respective packaging portfolios.
Machine manufacturing company Schubert will evaluate the machinability of new packaging, thereby ensuring automation essential for packaging processes.
“Manufacturers are dealing with very practical considerations,” explained Michael Graf, head of the PCC and a sustainability expert at Schubert.
“What are the implications of packaging a chocolate bar in paper instead of a flowpack in the future? Or, how does an existing cartoning machine run when blanks are resized, when they behave differently in the machine or when they can no longer be glued? These issues are significant and require answers along the entire value chain.”
Practical support will be offered in the form of an ‘Impact Check’.
The PCC cited the example of a manufacturer looking to switch its packaging materials to paper or recyclable mono films.
Experts from the centre will analyse whether the manufacturer’s existing packaging range meets the regulatory requirements or whether it needs to be improved.
The PCC said manufacturers can then develop a new packaging design, with support available if desired from Berndt+Partner Creality, a subsidiary of the Berndt+Partner Group that specialises in packaging design and branding.
Once the modified packaging concept is finalised, Schubert will test it on its own machines in Crailsheim.
The machinery manufacturer will then determine whether the new materials and formats can still be processed efficiently and whether they may require technological adjustments.
“Regulations change quickly, so manufacturers will soon have new questions for which they want equally creative answers – and they will find them at the PCC,” said Matthias Giebel, partner at BP Consultants.
