Beyond The Headlines: Amcor’s paper stand-up pouch, Oji India Packaging’s new plant

This week in industry news, Amcor introduced a paper-based refill pack for coffee products and Oji India Packaging opened one of the largest corrugated packaging plants in South Asia. Meanwhile, Conner Industries acquired Kirkland Sales, marking the US-based company’s fifth acquisition in its integrated packaging division.

In brief: Launches and redesign

Amcor launched its AmFiber Performance Paper stand-up pouch, a paper-based refill pack for instant coffee and dry beverage products. The innovation is part of Amcor’s AmFiber Performance Paper portfolio and delivers recycle-ready paper packaging designed specifically for dry beverages. The stand-up pouch provides seal integrity, to preserve the aroma and taste of coffee products. The refill pack offers curb-side recyclability in several European countries. The recycle-ready structure of the  stand-up pouch enables brands to cut down on EPR fees, with potential savings of up to 70–90% compared to non-recycle-ready solutions.

Koehler Paper, part of Koehler Group, in collaboration with Wimbée, a French manufacturer of cardboard packaging, created “the first” cap for aerosol cans entirely made of cardboard and paper. The cap was produced for Héritage, who markets furniture care products under the brand name O'Cedar. The cap is available in standard diameters of 51 mm and 63.5 mm with cap sizes with diameters of 45 mm and 55 mm in the works. The flexible packaging paper, which provides “high fold-crack resistance,” complements the cardboard in terms of improved printing and processing characteristics as well as reduced environmental impact. 

The Butter yellow can effectively highlight each individual varietal.Butter Wines unveiled the packaging redesign of its Butter portfolio. The packaging redesign focused on the selection of glass, label design, and capsule choices to differentiate each Butter wine. The team  improved the sustainability of the packaging by selecting lighter glass options, reducing label size, and embracing the simplicity of the twist-off cap. The packaging will roll out throughout 2025. The first of these updates is starting to hit shelves with Butter Sauv Blanc in a bright, flint-glass bottle, elegant silver accents on the label and capsule, and the iconic Butter yellow label. 

RS, a product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, provided Schneider Electric’s Lexium product portfolio with software to enable end-to-end integrated smart manufacturing solutions. Schneider Electric’s Lexium product portfolio combines mechanical, electrical, and PLC logic devices, including cobots, which can leverage the constant, real-time data-sharing capabilities of all the connected devices in its network to automate and optimize manufacturing processes, reduce or replace operator workloads, and improve process performance, quality, agility, consistency, efficiency, and safety.

In brief: Opening and acquisition

Oji India Packaging opened its fifth manufacturing site in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, India. The facility, touted to be 43,000 square meters in area, is said to be one of the largest corrugated packaging plants in South Asia. It forms part of the strategic expansion by Oji India in the packaging industry in India. Oji India’s growth strategy allows further action to the existing company with the commissioning of the Sri City facility to capture the increased demand for corrugated packaging products in South India.

Conner Industries, a US-based provider of lumber, industrial wood crates and pallets, along with integrated packaging solutions, acquired Kirkland Sales, a custom foam fabricator, to expand its market share as an integrated transportation packaging provider combining wood, foam, plastics, and corrugated components. The investment marks the company’s fifth acquisition in its integrated packaging division and highlights its intention to bring customized solutions via the mixed material packaging market. Conner plans to consolidate the capabilities of its acquisition with its current facility. The Garland facility recently underwent a 53% expansion with the growth of its location to over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space and new ISO and AS certifications in anticipation of this acquisition. SIG Terra solutions in aseptic cartons accounted for 9.3% of the food packed in SIG aseptic cartons in Europe.

In brief: Certification, business growth, and trial

Kraton Corporation, a producer of specialty polymers and high-value biobased products derived from by-products of pine wood pulping, announced its manufacturing facility in Niort, France, received the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus certification. The certification enables Kraton to offer fully ISCC Plus certified AMS and AMS Phenolics resins through a mass balance attribution method.

SIG witnessed a 15% increase in sales for SIG Terra packaging materials for aseptic cartons in 2024. The growth was above the 6% overall revenue growth of the company’s carton packaging and demonstrated the increase in market demand for sustainable packaging solutions. In 2024, approximately 1.7 billion liters of food were packed in packs made with SIG Terra packaging materials. 

O-I Glass completed a trial in its plant in Harlow, UK, using biofuel to replace natural gas in the furnace for the glass-making process. This achievement is part of a larger initiative led by Glass Futures and part of the UK government’s “Net Zero Innovation Portfolio” program, aimed at exploring sustainable fuel options for the UK industry. By combining biofuel with advanced technologies such as cullet pre-heating, 88% cullet usage throughout the entire trial period, and an oxy-fuel furnace, the Harlow plant achieved a reduction in the CO2 footprint for the amber bottles produced. The trial at O-I’s Harlow plant  demonstrated the potential for using biofuel on a large scale.