Conference backs Circular Economy

Pro Carton are invited to present at a number of industry events during the year. Recently Horst Bittermann, Pro Carton President, spoke at the Sustainability in Packaging Europe Conference and joined in the panel discussion later that day. The conference attracted over 300 people from across the entire supply chain, including retailers, the major brand owners, suppliers and associations. The main topic was how to reduce, or even avoid, plastic littering and how to prevent the horrific scenario of plastic in our food chain in the future. The panel discussion included representatives of Unilever, Coca Cola, Pepsico, Danone and Mars who once more made it clear that a truly functioning circular economy is the KEY to achieve packaging sustainability goals.  Mr Bittermann re-iterated that fibre based material is the ideal packaging medium – being renewable, biodegradable and fully recyclable and importantly, is actually recycled in huge quantities, with well over 80% of paper based packaging already being recycled. Mr Bittermann further demonstrated that sustainable packaging is already a key differentiator on the shelves and drives consumer decisions citing evidence from the 7,000 strong consumer research study that Pro Carton had undertaken.  He added that there were also many real examples in the exhibition hall that showed how sustainable fibre based packaging are replacing other less environmentally-friendly materials. The conference has now become an established annual event for everyone interested in packaging sustainability and next year’s event will again be held in Barcelona on 12-14 November 2019. Attendees of the 2018 conference included representatives from these companies: