If you were at FachPack 2019… you probably saw a lot of stands with trees on!

FachPack’s one of the biggest European packaging conferences, with approx. 44,000 industry visitors a year.
And this year, it was all about Sustainability. Fitting really, given it was the same week Greta Thunberg was addressing the UN about climate change and CO2 emissions.

Sustainability has been on the packaging agenda for years, but this year was different. It feels like the view on sustainability is maturing. It’s now recognised that it’s not just about the packaging itself, it’s how the packaging is made, the energy consumed making it, how it’s packed and transported, how it’s filled. Mature, holistic end-to-end sustainability.
On our stand, whether we were talking to buyers interested in laminates, pre-made pouches, or production machinery itself – sustainability was on the agenda for everyone, whether they’re packaging dog food or detergent. This was exciting for us. We’ve always felt pouches have a natural advantage here as a packaging format. Their thin and flexible nature means less material and energy cost during production…and critically, they’re incredibly light when we’re distributing them across the entire world. Not just a little bit lighter, but dramatically. The IFEU institute estimated in 2014 that the use of pouches, because of the minimal use of materials and their optimal transport volume, reduces CO2 emissions by:

38% compared to glass

35% compared to cans

30% compared to Plastics

We’re proud of that.

However, until now our challenge has been easy recyclability. But…at Fachpack we were able to unveil our new monomaterial packaging innovation: CIRCflex

CIRCflex, Pouch Partners' sustainability concept
CIRCflex offer our customers a complete, sustainable solution that ensures less CO2 impact throughout the whole value chain. So it’s not a sustainable packaging format… it’s sustainable laminates, pre-made pouches and machines. A total solution.
This for us, is the critical next step in keeping up the immense momentum building around Pouches as the packaging format of the future. We’ve already launched CIRCflex pouches in the homecare category (e.g. detergents) and our variations of films for beverages, petfood and cosmetics are in development. We know that consumers and customers have their eye on pouch innovation for 2020 and beyond, asking questions like: how can packaging become more energy efficient to make? How can we get rid of unnecessary packaging? How can we reduce the energy and CO2 needed to transport packaging? And how can we ensure it is recyclable to feed into a new, circular future. We’re excited to have an answer to those questions.

Our group company, Capri Sun, recently celebrated it’s 50th anniversary, at a wonderful event in Eppelheim with our international distributors. It was brilliant to be able to celebrate our impact on the world of packaging over the last few decades. However, whilst we’re proud of the last 50 years…we’re even more excited about the next 5 years. A circular, sustainable future, with recyclable pouches as a driving force.

Find out more about CIRCflex