At the third annual Women in Packaging (WIP) event, held at Pack Expo Chicago 2024, the event brought together a record number of women from across various fields within the packaging industry. From sales, operations, and technical specialists the diversity was inspiring, strengthening, and empowering. This diversity was highlighted by the speakers at the event.
Valentina Aureli and Tyng-Wu (Photo: AETNA GROUP Spa)
The event commenced with a keynote speech by Valentina Aureli, CEO of Aetna Group. She provided her outlook of the company’s achievements, her vision of the female role within the company, and the future she envisions for women within the industry. Highlighting the importance of key themes for the modern industry, such as flexibility of thought, openness to dialogue, and the principle of collaboration, Valentina Aureli concluded by stating, “Approaching success with value and knowing how to recognize priorities are key elements for staying dynamic and growing together, both as women and as a Group.”
The event also highlighted three very diverse guest speakers. These speakers were selected among their peers not only due to their achievements, but also because they exemplify strong women within the packaging industry. Each woman is an example of how she was inspired, how she was strengthened, and how she was empowered to become the success she is today.
Carla D, Regional Territory Manager at Paragon Films, shared her infectious energetic perspective on how knowledge is power. She emphasized the importance of becoming an expert in a specific field, passionately choosing the right product to focus on, and making the most of one’s abilities. Carla also encouraged the women to push outside of their comfort zone and to be more hands on.
Kelly Beerman, Equipment & Packaging Specialist at Midland Packaging, shared her remarkable success as the “Robot Queen,” having reached the milestone of 600 robots sold in the past years. Her keys to success are based on deeply understanding the customers’ needs, improving efficiencies through understanding workflow processes, and ensuring that the solutions provided were the most impactful. By expanding on her technical knowledge, she has been able to offer more value to her customers as well as set herself apart.
Flor Del Rio, Packaging Sales Partner at Associated Packaging, was the final speaker at the event. Flor shared how her father inspired her to become the strong woman she is today. Flor shared how she is not only a woman that sells the machine, but she shared how she is also the woman that puts the machine together. She accents the importance of not being afraid to ask questions and how collaboration amongst colleagues and suppliers is critical to success.
Tyng Wu (Robopac USA Regional Sales Manager) who inspired the WIP initiative from the beginning affirms “The conceptualisation and initiation of the WIP program is based on three key components: networking, where we inspire; mentorship, where we strengthen; and education, where we empower. The combination of these three key components makes the Robopac USA WIP program unique within the industry. This uniqueness sets us apart from other machinery manufacturers.”
The annual event not only highlighted diversity among the group, but it also brought together the three key components of the WIP program. “Our commitment is to support those who strive for excellence, fostering an environment where synergy among people is encouraged,” concluded Valentina Aureli.
WIP events and initiatives such as the WIP sales training program reaffirms, Aetna Group’s commitment to pushing women to the forefront. It’s not only a commitment to being the leader in innovation, but it’s also to being the leader in helping women make an impact within the industry. The time is now, the moment is here.
The environmental benefits of SIGNATURE PACK from SIG have been confirmed by a critically reviewed ISO-conformant lifecycle assessment (LCA) – the world’s first for a mass balance product.
The SIGNATURE PACK from SIG is the world’s first aseptic carton pack linked to 100 % plant-based renewable materials. The LCA showed significant reductions in environmental impacts across all 10 categories as a result of the substitution of fossil-based polymers with mass balance plant-based polymers made from tall oil (a by-product of paper manufacturing).
The carbon footprint of SIGNATURE PACK is – on average across Europe – 66 % lower than the carbon footprint of a standard SIG 1-litre carton pack of the same format across its lifecycle, based on the Europe-wide LCA.
World’s first ISO-conformant LCA for a mass balance product
The polymers in SIGNATURE PACK are 100 % linked to plant-based material via a mass balance system, whereby plant-based raw materials are mixed in with conventional fossil raw materials to produce the polymers. The amount of plant-based material included in the mix is equivalent to the amount needed for the polymers used in SIGNATURE PACK and the totals are balanced through recognised and audited certification schemes to ensure strict traceability and accountability.
The SIGNATURE PACK LCA is the first ISO-conformant LCA to take into account the inclusion of materials via a mass balance system. LCAs are traditionally based on the physical contents of a product and the environmental impacts associated with each stage of its production.
The independent, critically reviewed LCA of SIGNATURE PACK was conducted in accordance with recognised international standards, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 by the Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung (IFEU/Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) in Germany.
IFEU agreed to conduct the LCA when it became clear how valuable SIG’s mass balance approach could be in making mainstream polymer production more sustainable.
Driving more sustainable plastics
SIG chose a mass balance approach because it supports a wider transition from fossil to bio-based raw materials within the conventional and highly efficient polymer industry, instead of using niche small scale producers with a limited number of plastic grades.
The polymers are supplied by plastic producers, Sabic and BASF, using plant-based renewable material from European wood sources. Tall oil was selected as the feedstock because, as a by-product of paper production, it is a waste material rather than an agricultural crop that requires land and resources to grow.
As the government contemplates a ban on the sale of energy drinks to children in England, Jonathan Davison, Beverage Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, gives his view on the news: “Considering a ban on energy drinks sales in the UK defined by age might seem premature given the already pervasive impact of the recently introduced sugar tax. A handful of energy drinks brands have reformulated their products and the *22 % volume sales increase of low calorie energy drinks in the UK in 2017 v 2016 would suggest the industry is making progress.
“Such action from the government would of course have an effect, but if reducing caffeine and sugar intake is the goal another approach could simply be to look at capping energy drink pack sizes instead. Larger energy drink pack formats have fast become the norm in the UK, particularly 50cl which has more than doubled in volume over the last 10 years to dominate the category. Limiting energy drink pack sizes to 25cl and below, and potentially the quantity that can be purchased, could go some way to addressing the current concerns without the need for an outright ban.”
