The ANZ region showed its strength in innovation once again at WorldStar 2023, receiving the second highest number of wins in the world, just behind Japan. Caps & Closures won four awards for three products.

In a global first for KitKat, Australia's number one chocolate bar will trial a paper packaging wrapper on the KitKat four-finger 45g variant. An on-pack QR code allows consumers to voice their views on the pack.

Amcor is investing in one of Australia’s first plastic advanced recycling facilities, with the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Licella Holdings.

Licella, via Advanced Recycling Victoria, has had its development licence approved, giving it the green light to construct its advanced commercial recycling plant in Altona, Victoria.

Duni Group has sold 25 per cent of the BioPak Group to Australian private equity fund Five V Capital, for $65.8m, in a move which it says will accelerate the BioPak growth trajectory.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has pressed go on the most advanced canning line in its network in the Australasian region, a project that was two years in the making and delivered in partnership with key technology suppliers including KHS, GPI and Matthews Australasia.

Amcor and ExxonMobil have signed a five-year deal to secure thousands of tons of high-performance, certified-circular material from ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling plant.

PKN’s final issue for 2022 reviews the year that was in packaging in our Headline Makers feature, covers local and global industry events, and highlights the latest on innovation, investment and advancement in the realms of Food Packaging and the Circular Economy.

QLM Label Makers is creating a new division, qlmflexibles, with innovative print businesses Luminar and Read Labels & Packaging, and will target both the digital and FMCG flexible packaging markets under the new brand.

A new process for decontaminating post-consumer polyolefin films has gained global recognition and the US$3m Alliance Prize for Circular Solutions in Flexibles, boosting its ability to upscale.

Mars Wrigley's move to paper-based packaging for its chocolate bars marks a world-first for the manufacturer and is on trend with the shift away from single-use plastics to kerbside-recyclable materials.

Soft plastics collection program REDcycle has welcomed the ACCC’s conditional authorisation for the major supermarkets to collaborate in a Soft Plastics Taskforce.

The ACCC has given conditional authorisation to Aldi, Coles and Woolworths to collaborate on a soft plastics taskforce to explore solutions to address the impact of REDcycle’s suspension.

The intense media scrutiny surrounding the pausing of the REDcycle collection scheme has shone the spotlight on a system in urgent need of overhaul and served as catalyst for high level discussions with stakeholders across the value chain. PKN caught up with APCO CEO Chris Foley for an update.

Amcor has released its 2022 Sustainability Report showing its progress against key metrics along with an enhanced target to achieve 30% recycled content across its portfolio by the end of the decade.

Packaging machinery OEM HMPS has purchased the IP of Andrew Donald Design Engineering (ADDE) as the automation systems designer shuts up shop after nearly three decades in business .