PACKAGING I
f I asked you the percentage of recycled content in your flexible packaging right now, would you know without checking? Or would you, like many brands we work with, need to dive into spec sheets and supplier documentation?
It’s a simple question that reveals a complex
truth about our industry: while sustainability packaging, the practical reality of delivering it in a high-pressure market often remains daunting. This has been the same for a number of years as the market expands and new regulations arrive, but the transformation we’re experiencing now feels different; more fundamental, more permanent. Forces are reshaping our industry: evolving
consumer behaviours, mounting environmental pressures and truly game-changing innovations in materials science. But what does this really
THE SUSTAINABILITY IMPERATIVE Let’s cut through the noise and marketing jargon: sustainability isn’t just another trend, it’s fundamentally restructuring how we approach packaging design and manufacturing. With consumer studies showing that almost 75 per cent of consumers are willing to pay more for demonstrably sustainable packaging, it’s now directly tied to business performance. This is just one of the reasons we’ve put such a strong focus in this area, with the mantra ‘reengineered to be recyclable’, guiding our product development. But here’s the question we should be
asking: are we as an industry truly delivering This distinction matters more than ever
as new legislation like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes emerge, pulling packaging waste costs upstream to suppliers and manufacturers. The real challenge doesn’t lie in meeting these requirements, it’s in exceeding them, while maintaining the packaging, typically mixed material designs, so material designs, while effective, have long been a challenge for brand owners, as they’re not easily recycled, so almost exclusively go into linear waste streams. What’s increasingly clear is that the brands we work with at Clifton aren’t just looking for
BUSTING BEYOND THE BUZZWORDS: CHARTING THE REAL FUTURE OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING
By Shane D’Souza, CEO, Clifton Packaging Group
solutions that enhance their sustainability credentials while delivering superior product protection, preservation and shelf appeal, all while ensuring commercial viability and meeting mass-scale production demands.
INNOVATION IN MATERIALS The evolution of mono-material structures much attention has focused on recyclability,
10 JULY/AUGUST 2025 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
we’re seeing exciting developments in bio-based content that deserve more attention. Take, for instance, the emergence of bio-based ‘green’ polyethylene: offering similar performance characteristics as traditional PE but with a avoidance of fossil fuels in their production. At Clifton, we’re already putting this into
practice with our green PE offering, which, by virtue of its lifecycle, absorbs CO2 and produces O2 and enables us to produce packaging with up to 30 per cent bio-based content. In fact,
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