Alex Commins, CEO of Jamestrong and former CEO and owner of Colorpak, pays heartfelt tribute to his Colorpak/GPI colleague David Johnson who died on 13 July.

The deal that captured the attention of the Australian and New Zealand FMCG producers and packaging industry back in late 2019 has been completed as predicted. Visy will be the new owner of O-I ANZ, and now a one-stop packaging shop.

GS1 Australia is establishing an industry-led National Traceability Advisory Group, which will provide advice on global standards for trade and traceability. It is chaired by Ram Akella of Woolworths Group.

UK-based eco flat bottle packaging company Garçon Wines has made its first steps into the Australian market. PKN spoke to its new market development advisor for the region, Matthew Moate.

Melbourne-based packaging technology company Packform has won two Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for most innovative startup in the technology and business services categories.

Diageo partnered with Pilot Lite to launch Pulpex Limited – a sustainable packaging technology company – and will release the first 100 per cent plastic free, paper-based spirits bottle.

The global packaging market size during the Covid-19 pandemic is projected to grow from US$909.2bn to US$1trn by 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent.

Australian clean-tech startup, Seabin Project, is taking its next big step towards eliminating plastics in our waterways with the launch of a self-funded 12-month City Pilot in Sydney Harbour this week.

The Australian government is committing $190m to a new recycling modernisation fund that is to generate $600m in recycling investment and divert more than 10 million tonnes of waste from landfill.

KHS Group has introduced a new technology that uses its Innopack Kisters tray packers to wrap cans of food and beverages in paper instead of film or cardboard.

Amcor is donating one million of its Ultra and Bop sterilisation pouches to hospitals in Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine through its Covid-19 Community Program.

Detpak Cartons took out three Gold awards at the Print Industry Creativity Awards, topping the state in the number of Golds achieved, and winning the most Golds by any single packaging or label printer.

The Boomerang Alliance has called on all state jurisdictions to introduce bans on certain single-use plastic takeaway items before the end of 2021 to help combat plastic pollution.

APCO has announced a schedule of priority projects for the coming financial year. The list was developed to drive targeted progress towards the 2025 National Packaging Targets.

Packaging automation integrator Foodmach has appointed Chris Yule as national sales manager. He now leads a team of six sales and technical support engineers.