Amcor, has just opened a new Innovation Center in Belgium (Ghent) for Europe (AICE) that will spearhead new material technologies to make packaging more sustainable and efficient, while focusing on designs that stand out in stores and increase ease of use for consumers.
“The opening of the Innovation Center is a significant investment toward more sustainable, circular and innovative packaging.”
says Michael Zacka, president of Amcor Flexibles Europe, Middle East and Africa.
He added: “The center brings together the brightest minds in packaging design and materials science with cutting-edge technology to offer our customers a complete branding solution, from concept to commercial launch.”
The center supports brands from concept to shelf using its Catalyst™ approach. This flexible, collaborative and creative co-development methodology creates packaging solutions that take into account a brand’s market, consumer needs, sustainability and recyclability requirements, and customers’ existing production lines.
The AICE encompasses different areas of the packaging design and production process:
- The Materials Science Center creates innovative packaging materials that can reduce the carbon footprint of packaging; for example, by introducing recyclable mono-material solutions that can match the performance of common mixed-material solutions; or by switching to bio-based and recycled polymer alternatives. The center also supports developments in high-barrier paper packaging and vapor-deposited nano-coatings. In analytical laboratories, new materials are tested using the most advanced techniques.
- The Customer Engagement Center supports collaborative sessions and has an observation room for consumer focus groups. Packaging appeal and usability can be tested in an on-site retail simulation area in addition to kitchen, living room and bathroom environments where consumers and marketers can interact with the packaging. The on-site prototyping lab can quickly create different packaging solutions for test participants to try out.
- The E-Commerce Lab tests and certifies packaging according to ISTA 6 standards to validate packaging for shipment through Amazon and other e-commerce distribution chains.
- The upcoming Packaging and Recycling Test Center will house small-scale packaging lines that will mimic the brands’ own packaging lines for in-house machine testing. The recycling equipment will allow Amcor to evaluate the recyclability of packaging in the real world.
Noemi Bertolino, Vice President of Research and Development, explains that “we want to create packaging that consumers like and that is better for the environment”. It should look attractive and be easy to open, portion and close. It must also be suitable for current and future collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure. At AICE, we can test packaging against these requirements. For example, in our Customer Engagement Center, we can test whether a child-resistant blister pack for pharmaceuticals is easy for an adult with arthritis to open.”
Amcor has set ambitious sustainability targets. It has pledged to develop all its packaging to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025, and to significantly increase its use of recycled materials.
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