Closure design can advance flexible packaging sustainability by reducing overall material consumption and improving recyclability. Engineered caps and fitments help protect product integrity through reliable sealing, tamper evidence and controlled dispensing. Source: (all) Hoffer Plastics

Meeting these varied goals while improving environmental performance requires more than a cosmetic design tweak or a simple resin substitution. Real sustainability gains in flexible packaging emerge from disciplined engineering decisions that optimize materials, reduce weight, simplify recycling and enhance molding efficiency.

How Caps and Closures Help Drive Sustainability Goals

While focus is often placed on films and packaging design, closures and fitments should be considered as a critical part of the flexible packaging sustainability story, not treated as an afterthought. Caps and spouts can enable lightweighting, improve recyclability and support efficient manufacturing. In practice, closure design can advance sustainability goals in five key ways:

• Reducing overall material consumption across the packaging system through optimized resin use and structural efficiency. 
• Improving recyclability by simplifying material choices and supporting fully recyclable packaging systems.
• Enhancing manufacturing and logistics efficiency through faster cycle times, reduced scrap and improved line performance.
• Enabling broader adoption of flexible packaging formats by improving functionality and usability for all users.
• Protecting product integrity to prevent waste through reliable sealing, clear tamper evidence and controlled dispensing.

Together, the following four engineering pathways provide a practical framework for achieving these sustainability outcomes while maintaining the performance that customers demand.

1. Material Optimization

Material selection and structural design determine how effectively a closure balances environmental impact with functional requirements. Decisions about resin and geometry influence not only recyclability and material reduction, but also seal integrity, torque retention, molding efficiency and long-term durability. For engineers, this means evaluating alternative materials in conjunction with part geometry and tooling considerations, ensuring performance, manufacturability and end-of-life compatibility are addressed together.

Circularity is ultimately determined not by design intent, but by how closures move through collection, sorting and reprocessing system.

A growing trend in material optimization is the shift toward mono-material systems — packaging structures from films to fitments designed around a single resin family, most commonly polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE). Since polymers with different melt characteristics and chemistries do not always reprocess together effectively, aligning materials within the same family simplifies mechanical recycling for the end user and improves overall material yield. As flexible packaging moves in this direction, closure design increasingly needs to align with the film structure, driving collaboration across the value chain between film manufacturers, converters and cap and spout suppliers.

While often overlooked, closures and fitments play a critical role in sustainable flexible packaging. Engineered designs that optimize materials, enable recyclability and maintain reliable sealing can drive measurable environmental gains.

Alignment within a resin family is only part of the material evaluation process. Incorporation of post-consumer recycled (PCR) or bio-based resins requires evaluation beyond environmental claims. Engineers must ensure alternative materials deliver consistent stiffness, impact resistance and process stability at scale. Successful material optimization balances sustainability objectives with molding performance, line efficiency and overall cost viability.

2. Lightweighting Considerations

Lightweighting has long been a go-to strategy for reducing plastic usage across applications – including flexible packaging. For caps and spouts, the engineering challenge is optimizing material use while protecting the areas the support sealing, dispensing and durability. That’s why lightweighting remains a core sustainability focus for closure design.

Reducing part weight depends on deliberate engineering. Modern closure lightweighting focuses on redistributing material to support sealing surfaces, load-bearing features and dispensing functionality while eliminating excess mass elsewhere. By eliminating redundant features and optimizing geometries, engineers can reduce resin usage while maintaining, and often improving, functional performance and line efficiency. Advances in resin performance, mold design and simulation allow today’s closures to do more with less.

While modern materials can more easily drive optimizations, in-house engineering expertise and decades of closure design experience remain critical. Lightweight designs must account for real-world variables such as temperature variation, varied filling processes and consumer handling. Closures that succeed are those that achieve efficiency without compromising durability, usability or manufacturing reliability.

3. Design for Recycling Fundamentals

A closure system can use mono-materials and lightweight designs and still fall short of sustainability goals if it can’t be recovered at end of life. Circularity is ultimately determined not by design intent, but by how closures move through collection, sorting and reprocessing systems. Design for recycling addresses this reality by treating end-of-life pathways as a core engineering constraint, alongside filling performance and end-use functionality.

In spouted-pouch applications, resin selection can also affect seal initiation temperature at the fitment-to-film interface. Tailored PE and PP-based sealant systems may help reduce seal initiation temperature and widen the sealing window, improving seal strength at lower sealing temperatures without distorting the film structure.

Successful material optimization balances sustainability objectives with molding performance, line efficiency and overall cost viability.

However, these benefits depend on more than the spout material alone. They must integrate with the film structure and advanced sealing methods used on the line, including ultrasonic sealing, pre-heating the spout and digital heat-seal technology. Successful sealing depends on the intersection of all these variables. The most robust systems are those in which sealing technology, film design and spout material work together to create greater overlap between the film’s and spout’s seal windows.

4. Injection Molding Process Adjustments

Lightweighting, material optimization and design for recycling all depend on one thing: the ability to manufacture closures consistently at scale. Injection molding adjustments strengthen sustainability by improving repeatability, reducing scrap and supporting stable production.

Sustainable designs must be supported by manufacturing processes that deliver consistent quality at scale. Lightweighted and recyclable closures place greater demands on tooling design, requiring careful attention to gating, cooling and material flow to maintain dimensional stability and part performance. Advanced closure geometries, including optimized threads and tamper-evidence features, can reduce material usage while preserving sealing, dispensing and usability, provided they are supported by robust tooling and manufacturing strategies.

As brands, suppliers and manufacturers work to align with growing consumer expectations and emerging regulations, circularity has become the guiding principle in rethinking flexible packaging. Through material innovation, thoughtful design and deep collaboration across the supply chain, companies like Hoffer Plastics are helping shape a future where packaging performance and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.

Precision injection molding plays a central role in sustainable manufacturing. Cavity pressure monitoring, closed-loop process control and data analytics help maintain repeatability, reduce scrap and minimize start-up waste. Advanced cooling strategies further improve cycle stability, mitigate energy and water consumption and extend tool life. Prioritizing durable, repeatable tooling reduces downtime, maintenance-related scrap and overall lifecycle waste.

Delivering Sustainability Through Engineering Discipline

Achieving sustainability in your product’s packaging depends on the integration of all components of the package – including caps and spouts. By taking an engineered approach to closures and fitments, manufacturers can ensure that material selection, recyclability, manufacturability and product integrity are aligned rather than competing priorities. When closures are designed with the full lifecycle in mind, they become not just functional components, but contributors to measurable environmental progress.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Strubulis is a senior product manager at Hoffer Plastics, South Elgin, Illinois. With more than 20 years of experience in flexible packaging, Strubulis brings technical expertise across the food, beverage and confectionery markets. He drives product innovation, market expansion and customer-focused growth through advanced pouch closure design and development. He leads product strategy for Hoffer Plastics’ Trust-T-Lok family of closures, shaping solutions that align with evolving consumer needs and industry demands. Through close collaboration with machine manufacturers, material suppliers and brand owners, Strubulis delivers integrated, forward-thinking packaging solutions. Contact: 847-741-5740; info@hofferplastics.com.

Brink Services USA repairs and manufactures new components for Brink molds, specializing in thin-wall mold repair, hot runner service, precision machining, prebuilt components and on-site support for European and North American molds. Source (all images): Brink Services USA

How does Brink Services USA collaborate with the main Brink Group operations in the Netherlands for mold maintenance projects, including any knowledge or resource sharing?

Michael Klestinec, Managing Director, Brink Services USA: Brink Services USA is the U.S.-based branch of the Dutch company Brink B.V. It is fully equipped not only to repair but also to manufacture new mold components for all Brink-designed molds located in North America, and it also builds completely new molds — both European- and North America-designed — for the region’s packaging market. By using the same CAD and CAM systems and high-speed five-axis CNC mills as Brink, we can efficiently share CAM programs, tooling lists and design data, ensuring seamless communication and rapid turnaround.

It is also important to highlight the key differences between European and North American thin-wall plastic packaging mold designs. A typical North American mold builder will often design round modules with round locking tapers for most round containers and lids. In contrast, European mold builders, such as Brink B.V., commonly design square or rectangular modules with a wedge-lock taper and wear plates.

The Brinks Services USA team excels in mold restoration, reverse engineering and process optimization, enhancing performance, extending mold life and improving production efficiency.

This distinction sets Brink Services USA apart from most North American mold repair shops. We have both the expertise and capability to repair European and North American-style molds. For North American designs, we typically rely on our ID and OD grinders to handle the majority of component rework. For European Brink B.V. designs, we leverage our parent company's knowledge and use a finish-milling approach to restore components to precise specifications.

Our repair facility is intentionally configured with high-precision machines and tooling to address the full spectrum of mold designs. This combination of experience, technical knowledge and equipment capability ensures we can provide superior repair and component manufacturing services for both European and North American thin-wall plastic molds.

Brink Services USA

1475 S Arthur Ave       

Unit 7                                                                     

Louisville, CO 80027

816-305-2397 / m.klestinec@brinkbv.com

brinkbv.com

• Specializes in thin-wall plastic packaging mold maintenance and repair
• Uses identical CAD/CAM systems for seamless collaboration
• Repairs both European- and North American-style mold designs expertly
• Manufactures critical components in advance, reducing turnaround by 50%
• Performs complete hot runner repairs
• Delivers production-ready molds with comprehensive testing and quality documentation
• Maintains precision machining capabilities, achieving tenth of thousandth tolerances
• Provides on-site emergency services, minimizing downtime for high-volume production

What are some common challenges or issues you encounter when maintaining and repairing molds for thin-wall and fast-running applications and how do you address them?

Klestinec: One of the main challenges we face is that customers often wait too long before sending molds in for repair. This delay increases the amount of required work, which extends lead times. To minimize repair lead times, we often manufacture and stock critical components in advance. These parts can be manufactured through heat treat or manufactured with stock for final fitting when needed.

For example, lock rings and gate inserts are among the most frequently replaced or worn parts in a thin-wall mold. By producing these components and keeping them on the shelf, repair turnaround time can be reduced by up to 50%.

Critical components are pre-manufactured and stocked when possible to minimize repair lead times, enabling faster turnaround and final fitting when needed.

What are the essential maintenance and repair approaches for thin-wall plastic packaging molds used in IML and multi-cavity applications?

Klestinec: Effective mold maintenance requires a three-tiered approach: preventive, corrective, and refurbishment services.

Preventive maintenance should focus on preserving performance and efficiency before problems develop. This starts with complete disassembly and inspection, thorough cleaning of all plates and components, and dimensional verification using CMM, optical comparators or micrometers on critical wear points like core pins, cavity inserts, slides and gates. Cooling channels need flushing to restore heat transfer efficiency. Reassembly should use high-performance, FDA-approved lubricants suitable for high-speed cycling.

A systematic approach begins with comprehensive documentation.

Corrective maintenance addresses existing wear or damage. The priority is component restoration—fabricating or reconditioning cores, cavities, lifters and slides to original specifications. Gate and hot runner systems require particular attention, especially for systems from manufacturers like Husky, Manner and Mold-Masters. Surface restoration through laser and micro-TIG welding can repair worn edges and shutoffs with precision finishing. Alignment systems — leader pins, bushings and taper locks—must be refurbished to maintain shutoff precision.

Refurbishment becomes necessary after extended production cycles. Begin with comprehensive dimensional mapping to benchmark wear. Consider using plating such as DLC on wear surfaces to significantly extend tool life. Ejection system replacement eliminates scuffing and galling. Polishing and surface finishing improve mold release and part clarity.

Minimizing downtime requires capability for on-site troubleshooting, hot runner diagnostics, in-press adjustments and emergency repairs. Documentation is critical — detailed reports with dimensional data and recommended maintenance intervals help prevent future issues.

What workflow ensures thorough diagnosis and effective repair of high-speed injection molds?

Klestinec: A systematic approach begins with comprehensive documentation. During receiving, record all mold identification, production history, and reported issues like flash, galling or dimensional drift. Visual inspection and photography establish baseline condition. Functional checks of ejector systems, slides, cores and hot runner connections reveal binding or misalignment. Reviewing CAD data before disassembly protects critical surfaces.

A systematic intake documents mold history, inspects components, checks function and reviews CAD data before disassembly to protect critical surfaces.

 

Controlled disassembly and preparation are foundational. Separate components methodically while capping all ports to prevent contamination. Remove all resin buildup and clean cooling channels thoroughly. In a temperature-controlled environment, organize components by function for systematic evaluation.

Detailed inspection must quantify actual conditions, not assumptions. Measure parting lines and shutoffs for wear and flashing potential. Use CMM to verify component dimensions against original CAD specifications. Inspect gates for wear patterns and flow imbalance indicators. Check ejector and slide systems for alignment degradation. Flow-test all cooling circuits and record GPM to identify blockages. Evaluate hot runner electrical continuity and examine manifolds for leakage or overheating.

Root cause analysis separates symptoms from underlying issues. Flashing typically stems from worn shutoffs or plate misalignment. Short shots indicate gate wear or cooling inefficiency. Burn marks point to vent restrictions. Dimensional variation reveals cavity wear or uneven cooling. Slower cycles suggest cooling or surface finish degradation affecting ejection.

Restoration work should return molds to OEM specifications or better. Micro-TIG or laser welding repairs worn edges with minimal distortion. Manufacturing replacement components from original or reverse-engineered CAD data allows material upgrades. Cooling system work may require re-drilling blocked components. Hot runner servicing includes replacing heaters, thermocouples and seals, internal manifold cleaning and temperature uniformity verification. During assembly, verify shutoffs with blue-check compound and confirm proper preload and stroke.

Final verification ensures production readiness. Conduct pressurized hot and cold water tests on all cooling circuits. Connect hot runners to temperature controllers and verify all zones reach specification. Test pneumatic systems for proper PSI and cycle functionality. Package with appropriate rust prevention and provide comprehensive documentation, including before/after data, CMM results and photos.

What equipment capabilities are essential for precision mold repair work?

Klestinec: Thin-wall packaging molds demand tenth-of-thousandth tolerances, making equipment selection critical. Machining

capabilities should include high-speed five-axis CNC mills for precision cavity work and shutoff reworking. CNC lathes with hard turning capability handle horizontal molding surfaces. Sinker EDMs

provide fine detail work and texturing. High-precision surface grinders and ID/OD grinders are essential—concentric locking tapers are among the most critical elements in thin-wall tooling.

The repair facility combines precision equipment, technical expertise and experience to support superior repair and component manufacturing for European and North American thin-wall molds.

Welding systems with fine beam control enable localized repairs with near-zero distortion and minimal heat-affected zones, crucial for maintaining dimensional accuracy. Micro-TIG handles deeper buildup. Follow-up grinding, machining and polishing restore final geometry. Precision polishing stations should achieve all SPI finishes, while sandblasting provides specialized surface treatments.

Metrology infrastructure verifies every dimension. CMM systems measure components against CAD data and enable reverse engineering when original data is unavailable. Portable tools — height gauges, bore gauges, micrometers and dial indicators — support in-process verification.

Assembly and testing equipment maintains quality through the final stages. Precision benches with adequate crane capacity, hydraulic spotting presses for shutoff verification and blue-check compound for contact pattern analysis are fundamental. Hot runner controller test benches verify temperature zones and resistance. Pneumatic testing equipment confirms smooth operation of all mold actions. Water testing units verify leak-free cooling circuits under pressure.

Digital integration ensures consistency, using CAD, CAM, Moldflow, reverse engineering and maintenance systems for precise machining, design review and service tracking.

Digital integration ensures consistency. CAD software supports design review and modeling. CAM software drives precision machining. Reverse-engineering software recreates geometry when needed. Moldflow can diagnose fill, cooling or warpage issues. Maintenance management systems provide service history tracking and scheduling capabilities.

Could you share an example or case study of a recent mold repair project handled at the Louisville hub, including the steps taken and the outcomes achieved?

Klestinec: A 16-cavity, 2 × 8 stack mold, originally manufactured in 1998, was received for repair and evaluation. Upon receipt, the mold was operating at a severely reduced capacity, with only 6 of 16 drops functional, approximately one-third of the total cavities. No CAD data, reference drawings or last shot samples of molded parts were available, complicating the diagnostic and restoration process.

Refurbishment included full disassembly, cleaning, inspection, and rebuilding of mold base, hot runner, pins, plates, heaters, thermocouples and seals.

A comprehensive teardown revealed several age-related and wear-related issues. There was deterioration and contamination in several hot runner components. Severe pitting in O-ring grooves and corrosion buildup in water lines were evident. Blocked or leaking flow channels and drops in the manifold affected performance. Poor temperature uniformity across the tool, combined with locking taper wear, was causing severe core shift.

The lack of design documentation required the team to perform reverse engineering and manual inspection measurements to develop a strategy to adjust the parting line, which would improve component fit and alignment tolerances.

The refurbishment included complete disassembly, cleaning and inspection of the mold base and all stack components. We rebuilt the complete mold base, including the hot runner system, replacing all leader and guide pins, surface grinding all mold plates — including hot runner plates — replacing all heaters, thermocouples, nozzle tips and seals, and adjusting the “L” dimension. Precision rework of all stack components restored dimensional conformity. This included a complete let-down of the parting line, along with having to re-establish O-ring seal surfaces. We installed new heaters, thermocouples and wiring for improved process control. Reassembly included pressure balance verification and mold temperature mapping.

Restoration returns molds to OEM specs using welding, component replacement, cooling repair, hot runner service and careful assembly verification.

After the overhaul was completed, the mold ran at full cavitation. Performance testing demonstrated faster cycle time than the pre-repair condition, improved process stability and repeatability and higher part quality consistency across all cavities. Operators and quality assurance personnel confirm that the mold is now running better than at any previous point in its service life.

Through detailed craftsmanship, problem-solving and collaboration, the team successfully refurbished a 27-year-old mold with no original data or plastic samples. This project showcases the team's technical capability in mold restoration, reverse engineering and process optimization, resulting in enhanced performance, extended mold life and improved production efficiency.

Source: Flexicon

Mounted on a carbon steel access platform, the bag-dumping station includes a stainless-steel hopper with a dust hood that features a glove box. Using the gloves, the operator pulls bags of material from an adjacent table through an opening in the hood’s sidewall and onto a grate. Each bag is emptied without any material contacting the operator's skin. Emptied bags are then passed through the opposite side wall opening into a bag compactor.

Dust generated from bag dumping, disposal and compaction is drawn away from the operator and onto the system's two cartridge filters. Timed blasts of compressed air shake the dust buildup on the filter surfaces, which falls into the hopper. Filters are readily accessed for removal and replacement.

The compactor’s cylinder can compress up to 80 bags into a removable bin. All compactor access points are equipped with safety interlocks that prevent operation of the compactor unless all points are closed.

A handheld pickup wand can be used to unload open containers from floor level. The wand is plumbed to the conveying line via a flexible hose, constructed of clear PVC with a static conductive wire and is compliant with regulations for handling dry food and pharmaceutical materials, according to Flexicon.

Both lines converge at a two-way diverter valve, which directs the flow of material from either source to the filter receiver. The filter receiver is typically mounted above a material use point and separates solids from the airstream using filter media and gravity. A rotary airlock valve at the base of the filter receiver meters the material into the receiving vessel. The filter receiver also features reverse-pulse jet filter cleaning to dislodge accumulated particles from the filter surfaces.

All conveying lines can be routed vertically and in any horizontal direction, including passing through openings in walls or ceilings.

Husky’s HyperSync injection molding machine line targets thin-wall food packaging, specialty closures, medical and personal care applications. Source: Husky

The high-performance packaging molding platform includes the HyperSync injection molding machine, which fully integrates the melt-delivery system, robot and auxiliaries into the Husky Ultra Helix hot runner and Delta5 Mold Controller with DataWave 2.0 technology, as well as PET Solutions upstream auxiliaries. Husky says the HyperSync molding platform delivers energy efficiency and reliability for thin-wall food packaging, specialty closures, medical and personal care applications. Energy saving technologies for the machine include electric mold stroke, electric clamp lock, energy recovery and variable-speed servo pumps.

Husky’s next generation Hylectric 6 platform features increased energy efficiency and uptime from the Advantage+Elite 24/7 remote monitoring. The new Altanium MultiShot technology for multimaterial molding combines advanced secondary injection units along with a rotary platen to convert conventional single-barrel machines into high-efficiency, 2K production cells.

Husky’s Hylectric machine line is suitable for molding industrial pails, thin-wall food containers, closures, consumer packaging, medical devices and more.
Source: Husky

The machines feature a three-platen clamping unit, including Husky’s Reflex platens for uniform clamp-force distribution across the entire molding surface, enabling part-to-part consistency and extending tool life, according to the company. Wide tie-bar spacing and robust clamp bases enable the system to run heavy, high-cavitation molds, while flexible interface options and Industry 4.0 connectivity make it an integrated system.

Both platforms support stack mold configurations, which Husky says effectively doubles output without increasing footprint. Optimized screw geometry and material selection, as well as specialized high-wear-resistant treatment of melt stream components make processing recycled and bio-based resins more efficient and sustainable, according to the company.

Uniqable film made with machine direction orientation (MDO) processing is designed to achieve minimum thickness while maintaining packaging performance. Source: LG Chem

Uniqable is built on two oriented polyethylene technologies: machine direction oriented polyethylene, or MDOPE, and biaxially oriented polyethylene, or BOPE. MDOPE is produced by stretching polyethylene in the machine direction at a ratio of five to seven times following a blown or cast process, improving stiffness, thermal stability and printability. It is primarily used for small pouches that require premium print quality across food, pet food, and home and personal care applications.

BOPE is produced by stretching cast polyethylene in both the machine direction at a ratio of four to six times and the transverse direction at a ratio of eight to 10 times, enhancing tear resistance, puncture resistance and toughness while maintaining sealability and low shrinkage. It is designed for liquid pouches, frozen food packaging and bulk packs.

According to LG, the design process is tailored to each customer's specific application and processing environment. Barrier performance is achieved by integrating the material with established packaging architectures, such as the incorporation of ethylene vinyl alcohol or a customer's proprietary coating technologies. Within these structures, LG Chem says it provides material solutions that optimize processing efficiency, mechanical properties and structural integrity.

Commercialized applications of Uniqable include a kitchen detergent pouch used by LG Household & Health Care, as well as packaging materials for food products from other companies. LG Chem plans to expand collaboration with global customers across a wider range of packaging applications, including packaging films.

"Packaging innovation that begins with material technology is expanding into a wider range of industries through proven commercial applications," says Lee Choong-hoon, VP and head of LG Chem's naphtha cracking center and polyolefin business unit.

LG Chem presented the technology at interpack, held in May at Messe Düsseldorf in Germany.

Sidel’s new “Returnable PET – Still Water” bottle design, available from 0.5L to 2L capacities and in cylindrical and square shapes, is designed to withstand up to 25 washing cycles. The company says the 1L size is 10% lighter than the lightest 1L returnable carbonated-water bottles currently used for still water. “The ability to create textured surfaces preserves the bottle’s premium appearance throughout multiple reuse cycles,” Sidel says. 

Although returnable/reusable PET bottles are not much of a factor in the North American market, they are popular in Mexico and parts of South America, as well as some European countries — notably Germany. 

The operation totals approximately 137,600 square feet across two buildings. One facility houses injection molding for returnable plastic packaging, while the second is dedicated to engineered protective shipping materials designed to cushion, separate and protect products throughout the supply chain.

Ribbon cutting at the new PolyFlex campus in Wixom, Michigan. Source: Nefab Group.

Injection molding capabilities include press sizes ranging from 125 to 2,600 tons, supporting production from precision components to large-format packaging and material-handling systems. Together, the two facilities function as a regional center for returnable and protective packaging, integrating design, tooling, injection molding and engineered packaging production on one campus, the company says.

“Having design, tooling and injection molding all on one campus means we can offer genuinely end-to-end service,” says Brian Finkel, director of operations at PolyFlex. “With press capacities up to 2,600 tons, we have the range to handle precision components and large-format systems while keeping quality high and lead times short.”

The facility supports reusable packaging systems designed to improve transport efficiency and reduce reliance on expendable packaging, according to the company. Local production also is intended to strengthen supply chain resilience and reduce packaging waste for customers across the region.

“The expanded operation strengthens our ability to scale reusable packaging solutions across North America,” says Darrell Tiedeman, VP of plastics solutions Americas at Nefab. “As manufacturers move away from single-use packaging, increasing local production of returnable systems is key to improving both efficiency and sustainability across the supply chain.”

Located in a Michigan manufacturing corridor, the investment is part of Nefab Group’s strategy to expand regional manufacturing capacity in North America.

Q. The report describes the packaging business environment as a new “pressure-verse.” That conjures a vivid image. What is the situation you are describing with this term? 

Daniel Nordigården: I think it’s important to think back to the industry coming out of COVID. In the past few years, we’ve continued to see this flatness or struggle in volumes, right? We do surveys around sustainability in 11 countries across multiple consumer groups, and more and more consumers prioritize price and quality as the key buying factors and less focus on other factors. So if you go one step up the value chain, there is a struggle for brand owners and retailers around volume growth.

Private labels and smaller brands continue growing, but for a lot of the value chain it’s a struggle. There are also the geopolitical uncertainties and raw material volatility. And as a final factor there is the increased regulatory landscape for sustainability. We have mapped over 70 countries historically, and you see strong development of regulations in different shapes and forms across most of them. So that’s the new situation the industry is facing.

Inflationary pressures have impacted consumers, CPG brands and therefore packaging converters. Source: Getty

David Feber: And more recently, with the latest geopolitical developments, we see inflation of energy costs and likely decreased consumer sentiment for purchasing, so soft volumes going forward. Converters will continue to feel this squeeze, putting a lot of pressure on them to outperform.

None of us has a crystal ball, but it looks like an inflationary environment is more likely right now. We wrote the report before this (recent war), focusing on the last four years of volume softness. And on the geopolitical side, the first wave was really tariff driven. 

Q. How tied to discretionary spending is packaging? 

Feber: Historically packaging has been very stable. It will have slight fluctuations in big economic downturns but not large ones like some durable goods. Even as we look back to some of the shocks of the recession in 2008, 2009, you see packaging takes a little dip but tends to be very stable.

Consumers may downsize or upsize, and that impacts packaging volumes because it’s less packaging per unit. Volumes are fairly stable, so the swings we talk about are +/- single-digit percentages. That has an impact, especially when you have cost pressure on inflationary items, some of which are harder to pass through than others. 

Nordigården: We looked at the top consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and deconstructed the last 12 months of growth. Price and mix was 2.5%, and volume was down 0.5%, giving you sales growth of around 2%. That’s not packaging specific, but, looking at the customers of the packaging industry, it gives you an idea of what is happening overall in the value chain: Prices have been a driver while a lot of the challenge has been on the volume side, starting with consumers buying less, turning to private label or even buying in bulk.  

McKinsey looked at 12 months of growth for consumer packaged goods companies. Source: McKinsey & Company

Q. What can companies do to succeed in their business, given this current environment? 

Feber: Where to play is really important for packaging companies to think about as they look at how to drive growth in the future. Growth is occurring in some segments and is negative in others. Private-label categories are growing in mid single digits while others are shrinking mid single digits. It’s winning with the winners and picking the sub-segments that have growth embedded in them.

Over the medium to long term, we believe that packaging will tend to follow GDP. In the short term, we continue to have these factors: COVID destocking followed by geopolitical concerns, beginning with tariffs and followed by this next wave of concerns. Events are forcing consumers to trade down and buy different products and consume less. We do think over the long term, packaging still has a very strong outlook. 

Regardless of substrate, regardless of the region, there will be growth pockets. So for packaging companies, understanding how to win in these growth pockets with the right commercial focus will be very, very important.

Nordigården: I think that’s a very important point David is making, about that granular growth. Regardless of substrate, regardless of the region, there will be these growth pockets. So for packaging companies, understanding how to win in these growth pockets with the right commercial focus will be very, very important. The strategy will need to be anchored to customer needs. That means starting from market back, and aligning assets and not the other way around. 

I think there are three important things to overlay. First is strong commercial excellence, that is, driving growth both in terms of volume but also price and margin discipline  — anything from value-based pricing to making sure you have good contract strategy. Another is a focus on cost leadership, operational procurement, high utilization in the plan to converting. And finally, we see more and more an appetite and interest in this industry in data, advanced analytics and AI.

Q. Where, in what operations, can AI tools make the most impact?

Feber: We’re seeing gen. [generative] AI investments in three areas right now. We’re seeing it on the commercial side in finding the space to grow — where to play — and helping to become more efficient in converting to real sales. The second place has been in operations, a lot in the maintenance side. Packaging companies have been very good at operations just to survive over the years on thin margins. But on maintenance we have seen gen. AI agents be very effective. And the third has been in procurement, especially with the medium-sized and small things packaging companies buy. Packaging companies have historically been very good with their resin procurement, but there are a number of other areas where gen. AI helps. 

We had a client that had a lot of its maintenance experts nearing retirement, and they had a lot of know-how. So they recorded a whole month of these conversations on troubleshooting and converted in into an AI agent, which people could query with issues. Within 30 days it was 90% accurate at answering these technical machine problems that their experts would answer. And so this is a way that companies can codify the expertise on a lot of converting equipment and keep that know-how within the company. 

I thought of this conversation recently while walking the aisles of my local member-based warehouse store. In a display of replacement heads for electric toothbrushes, the familiar packaging format — flat printed cardboard frame with a clear thermoformed PET casing for the heads — had replaced the transparent PET clamshell with an opaque molded fiberboard. Aesthetically the new package design was not for me (nor functionally, it’s nice to see the product), but I might be biased.

Expert Insight on Sustainability in Practice

The fact is right now lots of packaging designs are being reassessed through a sustainability lens and understandably so. At Plastics Technology as we seek to help our audience prepare for those conversations, we’ve created a focused PT Tech Days: Sustainable Packaging event on June 3 (if you’re reading this before then, register now, if you’re reading it afterwards, register and watch it on demand).

Free and online, this event will feature voices from across the supply chain. Heather Turner from Dow will address Reframing Sustainability: Where Compliance Meets Competitive Advantage; Kristoffer Stokes of Geisys Ventures will present Design for Reality: Bridging the Gap Between Polymer Science and Recycling Infrastructure; and Kristin Edie of Charter Next Generation will speak to Building the Business Case for Sustainability.

Plastics had those wins and it dislodged those other packaging materials because it was often the best choice for form, functionality, performance and aesthetics. From a carbon footprint standpoint, it’s also a clear winner when you compare its weight and ability to preserve foodstuffs (wastage has the largest carbon footprint along the entire food packaging supply chain by a mile).

All that said, there are clear end-of-life challenges around plastics that we’ve addressed in the publication (to wit: read Matt Stonecash’s report on Republic Services’ new Polymer Center in Indiana on page 32). Sign up now for our Sustainable Packaging Tech Days to see how leaders in material supply, consulting and converting are tackling those challenges.

All the necessary components to get started using internal gas-pressure technology included: a central unit for two pressure control modules, an IoT-compliant pressure control module, a manual control unit and, new to the starter package plus, a pressure generator.

Wittmann’s Airmould starter package plus includes a pressure generator. Source: Wittmann

For all projects, Wittmann’s specialist engineers offer application technology counseling. With the help of simulation and feasibility studies, potential target parts are reviewed to determine whether they are suitable for internal gas-pressure technology. For projects given a green light, Wittmann will handle the equipment’s layout and startup.

Existing production processes can also be adapted quickly, and many legacy molds can apply Airmould without any changes, according to Wittmann. Typical applications for the technology include automobile components such as handles, as well as gardening equipment and technical components with large cross-sections.

In the Airmould process, nitrogen gas is injected into a partially or completely filled cavity as the pressurized gas forms a bubble at the center of the melt, counteracting shrinkage and thereby eliminating sink marks. By reducing the quantity of plastic material injected and simultaneously enlarging the hollow space at the center, lightweight components with aesthetic requirements can be produced effectively with short cycle times.

Airmould has a modular design, with all technology modules interoperable via Euromap 62 on any injection molding machine regardless of make or model. When connected with a Wittmann injection molding machine, Airmould can be completely integrated into the work cell via Wittmann 4.0 control technology, enabling operation from the molding machine’s controller.

The package’s N2easy nitrogen generators are developed and manufactured by Wittmann and extract nitrogen from the ambient atmosphere. Wittmann says N2easy has a daily nitrogen consumption rate of just one gas bottle.