The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is pleased to advise that it is working with Connect APAC to help you advertise roles within your business and to help you find employment if needed.  Connect APAC are uniquely placed to help AIP Members as they understand this industry. We encourage you to reach out to Connect APAC at any time and let them know that you are a part of the AIP community. Please also let your Human Resources Department know that the AIP has a Job Board on our website and anyone can place a Job Advertisement in our Newsletter and we are here to help.

For Businesses
Connect APAC was formed out of a desire to highlight and attract the highest quality talent to our partners within the Packaging and Consumer Product industries.  The Packaging talent market is at a turning point where organisations that value talent acquisition as a key pillar of organisational strategy must rely on industry and functional recruitment specialists in order to efficiently fulfil their recruitment requirements, whilst effectively representing their brand.

“Nothing your company does is more important than hiring and developing top talent,”
In association with the AIP, the aim of the partnership is to represent AIP Members in the market and assist partner organisations with attracting the best and brightest talent, giving a competitive edge in enticing those key industry players into AIP partner organisations. Connect APAC will offer a complete revamp of your employer value proposition, a fully transparent market map showing you where the top talent is, what they think of you & how to attract them and a full retention program to help you retain your top talent, all backed up by an above industry standard extended guarantee.

For Members
Connect APAC was born with a specific focus solely on recruiting within a clearly defined industries, Consumer Products and Packaging, where their long-term experience and entrenched networks across the APAC region enable them to add significant value to their candidates and AIP Members within this space – from entry level through to senior management.

The differential for successful recruitment is and always has been experience, skill and long-term dedication to building a trusted personal brand within the market. Connect APAC are specialist Recruiters with sustained levels of success and networks across our industries and can provide a personalised service in presenting new career opportunities to AIP Members.  Their small agile team takes a consultative approach to working with candidates, utilising their long-term relationships and trust of their respective industries to market potential candidates, together securing a successful, sustainable future together.

Contact Connect APAC today to find out how they can help you.

Through the tour, participants gained a better understanding of the entire manufacturing process for flexo-print, large-format packaging, and viewed the important aspects of production, which ensures the best outcomes for packaging made in Australia.

The facility highlighted in the tour is the company’s only local manufacturing and converting site for flexographic printing, laminating, bag making, slitting and pouch making.

Participants were taken on a detailed walkthrough of the flexographic central-impression printer and colour management services that are available on-site, as well as both solvent-free lamination and film slitting machinery.

As for the printer used, OF Pack incorporates a flexographic printer machine, which is a 6-colour, central impression machine, meaning each printing station is mounted onto one central drum, compared to the old conventional style of stacked pressing.

“When you look at the converting process for flexo packaging, it is not an easy process where you just have to press a button, and there are some processes that we have to follow in order to produce a finished pouch or bag,” says Joe Foster, co-founder and managing director, OF Packaging.

“There is quite a number of steps involved in the process, and each one of these steps requires a high level of expertise and knowledge to ensure the best outcomes for each individual job.

“We have to start with the artwork process, then the film is blown before going through the printing process, which we then have to inspect, before sending it off for lamination. From here we go on to slitting then to the finishing section where we make the product.”

Read more…..

Courtesy of PKN Packaging News
www.packagingnews.com.au

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is pleased to advise that it has partnered with sister-association the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) to bring their annual salary survey to the Australasian Region.

The IoPP continues to be the authoritative force in reporting salary and employment information within the packaging industry in the United States, and the partnership with the AIP will expand the reach of the survey into new regions.

The survey results for the Australasian Region will be developed from data derived from questions pertaining to our region that have been added to the IoPP Salary Survey in North America.

The AIP is seeking input from packaging professionals like you to ensure that we can develop a definitive resource for our industry for the region, as IoPP has done.

Given COVID-19’s impact on the world, there has never been a more important time to respond to the Salary Survey. This year’s Salary Survey – the only survey dedicated exclusively to benchmarking salaries and employment trends within the packaging industry – will provide a clear look into how the pandemic has affected the salaries of packaging professionals.

With just a few minutes of your time, your thoughtful responses to the survey’s open-ended questions, will contribute to this important industry staple: IoPP’s Annual Salary Survey Report. The report created from this survey does more than report your salary; it touches on your current employment status, educational factors, future career prospects and more.

Those who complete the confidential survey will receive the final 2021 report from the AIP for free.

The deadline to complete this survey is Wednesday, March 24, 2021

START SURVEY

Thank you in advance for your valuable input and we look forward to the results. Please extend this invitation to all of your colleagues across the region.

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is pleased to announce that 10x Australian and New Zealand companies have been internationally recognised with 13x awards across 7x categories in the prestigious WorldStar Packaging Awards, which are run by the World Packaging Organisation. Winners from Australia and New Zealand combined, received the fourth highest amount of WorldStar Packaging Awards in the world behind Japan, China and USA which is an incredible feat for the ANZ region. The ANZ winners are winners from the annual Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards program which is the exclusive feeder program for the two countries into the WorldStar Packaging Awards.

The categories where ANZ designs were recognised include Food, Beverage, Labelling & Decoration, Health & Personal Care, Household, Packaging Materials & Components and Transit. Planet Protector Packaging was recognised in three categories and NCI Packaging/Birdstone Collective in two categories. (NB: The WorldStar Special Awards, of which there are a number of ANZ entries, will not be announced until the 2021 virtual WorldStar Awards ceremony)

The 2021 WorldStar Packaging Award winners for Australia and New Zealand are:

WorldStar Packaging Awards Food Category:

• Planet Protector Packaging for the Lobster Protector
• Disruptive Packaging for Uniqcor for cold chain environments
• Platypus Print Packaging for the Youfoodz Meal Kit
• Sealed Air Brand Protective Packaging for the TempGuard kerbside recyclable packaging for pre-packaged, temperature sensitive goods

WorldStar Packaging Awards Beverage Category:

• Coca-Cola Amatil for 100% recyclable rPET bottles
• Ecolean for the Bannister Downs Dairy WA chilled pasteurised range
• Brownes Dairy for Australia’s first renewable gable top milk carton

WorldStar Packaging Awards Labelling & Decoration Category:

• NCI Packaging & DuluxGroup for the Porter’s Paints superior crafted paint can range

WorldStar Packaging Awards Household Category:

• Pact Group for New Zealand’s Earthwise brand of PCR 75% rHDPE household cleaning range
• Birdstone Collective & NCI Packaging for the DuluxGroup Cabot’s Ready Bucket

WorldStar Packaging Awards Packaging Materials & Components Category:

•  Planet Protector Packaging for the Lobster Protector

WorldStar Packaging Awards Health & Personal Care Category:

• Pact Group for the New Zealand Earthwise Glow Labs brand of PCR 100% rPET bottle range

WorldStar Packaging Awards Transit Category:

• Planet Protector Packaging for the Lobster Protector

Applications are now Open for the 2021 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Awards Deadline: 5 March 2021. To download the entry forms and criteria visit http://aipack.com.au/2021-pida-awards/ or email pida@aipack.com.au for further information

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) is extremely proud to advise that AIP Education Coordinator, Ralph Moyle FAIP, CPP, has been recognised as the only international Lifetime Achievement in Packaging Awardee for the 2021 WorldStar Packaging Awards.

The judges, from all over the world elected Ralph Moyle as the sole 2021 WPO Lifetime Achievement in Packaging Awardee.

According to Prof. Pierre Pienaar FAIP, CPP, President, World Packaging Organisation (WPO), “The WPO ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, in the field of packaging, was established with the aim of recognising practitioners, from all packaging disciplines, who have made a significant national or international contribution in packaging over a prolonged and sustained period”, says Pierre Pienaar, WPO President. In so doing, the WPO acknowledges and rewards excellence in all aspects of packaging science, technology, design and application across the globe.

“It is these people who have consistently pushed the boundaries in advancing packaging to serve the needs of an ever more demanding consumer base. These prestigious awards will celebrate and preserve, in perpetuity, the collective achievements of these innovators.” Prof Pienaar said.

Still taking in the news this morning Ralph Moyle wanted everyone to know that he is ‘humbled and honoured to be recognised on a global scale by the World Packaging Organisation.’

“Being recognised with a WPO Lifetime Achievement Award is such an honour for me. I have been very fortunate to have been able to share my expertise with others and expand training into various parts of Australasia. We have been able to take our knowledge and expertise in Sustainable Packaging Design to Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and New Zealand and I hope to continue this work in a post COVID World. These programs have brought together people from all professions within the packaging industry for a common goal of knowledge sharing and learning,” Mr Moyle said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the AIP education team for their fantastic support for all of the training, seminars and workshops that I run across Australasia. In this role I have met thousands of peoples over the years and I learn as much from them as they do from me,”

“I am very lucky that I enjoy what I do. To see students grow into remarkable packaging professionals makes it all worthwhile.” Mr Moyle said.

Nerida Kelton, Executive Director, AIP, added that “Ralph Moyle FAIP, CPP is a stalwart of the packaging industry in Australasia and has contributed significantly for over 40 years.”

“Ralph Moyle has been expanding packaging knowledge for over 40 years and has been a mentor, trainer and educator for most of this time. He is an instrumental educator within the Australian Institute of Packaging and runs numerous training courses, lecturing sessions, is a lecture within the Master of Food & Packaging Innovation Degree, is the AIP education Coordinator and is responsible for ensuring that all of the students are taken care of for the Diploma in Packaging Technology and Certificate in Packaging degrees that the AIP offer. Ralph has single-handedly trained more people in Australia and New Zealand than anyone else. Ralph was instrumental in training over 1000 people in the last 12 months in Sustainable Packaging and Design, 2025 National Packaging Targets, implementing the PREP tool and Australasian Recycling Label across Australia and New Zealand. The hours of education and training that he is responsible for are immeasurable. He has been a key driver and motivator for thousands of people over the years,” Mrs Kelton said.

“Ralph is a born leader and his extensive years in the industry have seen him lead many teams across Food and Beverage. He continues to put his hand up to help the industry, to mentor students, to mentor team members and is always there to help. In his spare time Ralph is the Education Coordinator for the Diploma in Packaging technology and Certificate in Packaging courses and is responsible for over 30 students at any one time. In his role he is there to help guide the students, work with them before their exams and ensure they all graduate. Since Ralph took over this role the student graduation rate is significantly higher. Since COVID-19 he has also moved his mentoring of the students on-line and this has become a successful initiative.”

“Ralph is a past President, past Regional Chairperson and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP). In May 2020 he was awarded the AIP Founder’s Award being only the 5th recipient in the 56 years of the organisation for his significant contribution to the industry and dedication. He is also a qualified Certified Packaging Professional (CPP). The level of training courses that are run by Ralph and his availability to always help people learn is remarkable and outstanding.” she said.

Ralph Moyle will be recognised alongside 11 other Australia and New Zealand companies during the WorldStar Packaging Awards Virtual Ceremony in the middle of 2021. Winners from ANZ received the fourth highest amount of WorldStar Packaging Awards in total in the world behind Japan and China.

Also, the future of Australia’s packaging industry is in the hands of the emerging new leaders. As part of the 60 of the Best list, PKN profiles 10 rising stars who have demonstrated outstanding application in their roles, high academic achievement, and recognition from industry peers and peak bodies.

Courtesy of PKN Packaging News
www.packagingnews.com.au

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To optimise circular and sustainable design packaging technologists need to look at the potential environmental impacts of the product across its lifetime.

Environmental impact categories can include carbon/greenhouse gas emissions, water depletion, mineral consumption, land transformation, eutrophication, toxicity, and many more and can be undertaken through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

This assessment can look holistically at environmental impacts of products, and associated packaging, from raw materials, to production, through to household, and then at end-of-life.

Now more than ever science-driven information, that is derived from LCA, is such an important step in ensuring that your product and packaging have the lowest environmental impact wherever possible across the entire value chain.

When used in the packaging industry LCA can provide accurate data that can guide a business in the choice of materials, pack shapes and sizes, but also when looking to move to a ‘more sustainable’ material or pack. The recyclability of the packaging, the ability to re-use and refill the packaging and meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets must also be considered and can be checked as a design choice with LCA.

Using LCA within this decision-making process ensures that the business has all available datasets in front of them to make informed choices. LCA can eliminate second-guessing and assumptions about ‘Sustainable Packaging’ choices and can provide concrete information that crosses all areas of the supply chain.

Start with a Life Cycle Map

Before you undertake a LCA establish a cross-departmental and cross-supply chain team to create a Life Cycle Map of your product and packaging.

The Life Cycle Map needs to provide a clear and concise representation of the steps required to source and produce the product-packaging system, the distribution system, as well as its use, disposal and recovery. Determining inputs and outputs to life cycle stages on the map, such as energy, materials and emissions should then start to reveal blind spots and impact categories or priority areas to focus on. The map will also help to identify areas of improvement, challenges and unexpected consequences of possible product or packaging choices.

Streamlined LCA or Full LCA

Once you have established your Life Cycle Map the next step is to decide whether you would like to undertake a Streamlined LCA or a Full LCA on the product. To do this you need to define the Goal and Scope of the LCA. You need to determine the purpose of the study i.e., internal improvement or public claims, the system boundaries to be set, the inventory to be collected, the impact assessment to be applied, and the interpretation method that will enable the business to arrive at conclusions and recommendations.

Streamlined LCA is ideally suited when a business is looking to better understand the blind spots and any major areas of focus within the life cycle of a product, or to make internal decisions about something to change in the life cycle. Streamlined LCA can produce results quickly, are ideal for SME’s and can invaluably assist to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets. They are also a great way to determine if a full LCA is required thereafter.

Full Life Cycle Assessments are comprehensive reports that meet international ISO 14040/14044 standards for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The data is permitted to be used for internal assessment purposes and within the public domain when undertaking either a standalone assessment or when comparing more than one product or packaging system. If publicly disseminating a study, the ISO standards suggest peer review, which is often conducted for companies going down this road by an external panel or party. An example of a full LCA is a comparative study called ‘Beverage and Food Packaging in Australia and New Zealand’ that was recently commissioned by Tetra Pak Oceania.

Benefits of Life Cycle Assessment

There are so many benefits of embedding LCA into all areas of the business including lowering environmental impacts, optimising packaging material choices, improving the sustainability of a product and its whole-of-life and improving your triple bottom line. Life Cycle Assessment can also contribute to making more informed decisions when it comes to sustainability and carbon foot printing. These decisions are made easier when a packaging technologist embeds Life Cycle Assessment into packaging design.

When embarking on the use of LCA it is important to note that the process is not a silver bullet. LCA should be seen as an investigative and comparative process that can identify areas of improvement within the whole-of-life of your product and packaging. LCA is quite simply an additional tool in the tool belt to ensure that decisions are well-informed, and science driven.

As Dr Karli Verghese FAIP said in her book ‘Packaging for Sustainability’, “Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can produce convincing evidence that intuition is no longer enough.”

Nerida Kelton MAIP
Executive Director – Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP)
Vice President (Sustainability & Save Food) – World Packaging Organisation (WPO)

Life Member Richard Mason MAIP was the man who greeted you at every AIP conference and on every AIP exhibition stand around the country for close to three decades.

He and his wonderful wife Jayne would volunteer to help with the setting up of every conference, awards ceremony, technical forum, or exhibition stand that was held around the country.

Richard has been responsible for packing hundreds and hundreds of delegate bags and handing out name badges for the AIP and grading Members for so long that we will not know what to do without him.

He was also famous for driving to other states to help the AIP at many of our major events; as that was the type of volunteer he was.

Richard was dedicated to Central Region and to the AIP as a whole and his kindness and pure heart was a joy to be around. He truly was the epitome of the finest gentleman.

He will be sadly missed by many and we ask everyone to raise a glass for Richard Mason during the holiday season.

The AIP cannot THANK YOU enough for being such an invaluable member of our family.

I joined the AIP because I wanted to give back and start to showcase how rewarding the packaging industry is. I believe that it is time for me to give back some of my experience to an industry which kicked off my career many years ago.
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Being a member of the AIP also enables me to build on my networking in the industry and provide mentoring & education to those who may need some guidance.
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I would like to help AIP Members build customer service, convert consumer preferences into solutions and drive & receive value.
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Of course I also believe that the AIP can offer the ability to socialise and network with like-minded packaging professionals in the region.

2. How long have you been in the industry? What are your areas of expertise?

I have been working in the beverage industry for 17 years and I also have a PhD in Biotechnology at the University Berlin in Germany – thesis in Beverage Packaging.
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I started my career in the Research & Teaching Institute (VLB) as the Head of Engineering & Packaging co-funded by the German Brewing Association. From there I joined Coca-Cola as their Packaging Manager and took my first steps in optimising packaging: introducing PCO1881 &  preform self-manufacturing to name some.
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After relocating to Australia I spent 10 years with Coca-Cola Amatil in various Supply Chain functions. My packaging highlights were: CC&Dry on tap, Easy Crush Bottle, Aseptic fill of Barista Bros, shift from hotfill to warmfill of Powerade & self-manufacturing of preforms/ closures.

3. What is your current job role and what are your responsibilities?

In January 2021 I am starting consulting work mainly in the packaging & beverage manufacturing industry.
My first two focus areas are in the Circular Economy Network and a 5 Year Packaging Strategy for a global manufacturer.

Where the Institute needed to ‘pivot’ was moving the Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards on-line and creating a virtual ceremony that was the first-of-its-kind in this industry, re-writing and adapting our 5 hour training courses to a virtual program, and building a unique platform to offer a 4 day, 20 session, 28 hour biennial conference.  The conference was also a first-of-its-kind for the industry and something that we are very proud of. In 2020 the AIP has offered its Members and the wider industry over 25 webinars, 7 training courses, a 4 day conference, a 2-day awards ceremony; and a site tour all virtually.

2020 The year that the AIP goes VIRTUAL