Choose Packaging is a packaging development company that has developed a zero-plastic paper bottle.
HP Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California, says it has acquired Choose Packaging, a packaging development company and inventor of what HP describes as the only commercially available zero-plastic paper bottle. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Choose’s patented technology provides an alternative to plastic bottles and can hold a wide variety of liquid products. The paper-based bottles, which can be made from virgin or recycled pulp, depending on what the package demands, “pave the way for a new standard for bottling solutions globally,” according to HP.
“This acquisition is a great example of how we continue to strengthen our capabilities in attractive verticals like sustainable packaging while also driving progress against HP’s broader sustainability goals,” says Savi Baveja, chief strategy and incubation officer, HP Inc. “Choose has built a truly differentiated technology and we are excited to welcome this talented team to the HP family.”
Other companies have introduced paper bottles recently, including Ecologic, Manteca, California, and U.K.-based Pulpex. However, the Ecologic bottle also contains recycled plastic, while the Pulpex bottle is made from sustainably sourced wood pulp.
HP says it is well-positioned to disrupt the $10 billion fiber-based sustainable packaging market. The company introduced its 3D printing-enabled Molded Fiber Tooling Solution designed to bring customizable, fiber-based products to market faster and more affordably.
With the integration of Choose into its Personalization & 3D Printing business, HP says it will focus on scaling its technology and customer footprint to expand the addressable market, noting that more than 150 million tons of single-use plastics are produced each year.
“As a plastic-free packaging development company, we’ve successfully created technology that can provide a viable alternative to plastic bottles to help eliminate single-use PET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging,” says James Longcroft, founder and managing director, Choose Packaging, headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. “HP’s world-class capabilities and expertise can help scale our impact at a global level. We are thrilled to join the HP team and couldn’t have chosen a better match in terms of our shared goals for business, technology, sustainability and a values-oriented culture.”
Choose works with many large global companies, including Accolade Wines, one of the biggest wine companies in the world with more than 50 brands available in more than 130 countries; Henkel, one of the world’s largest consumer and industrial goods companies; Malibu Rum, one of the strategic international brands in Pernod Ricard’s global portfolio; and many more.
“At Accolade Wines, we put innovation and sustainability at the heart of everything we do in our mission to be the world’s most innovative wine company,” Sandy Mayo, chief marketing officer, Accolade Wines, says. “We are excited to see Choose join a recognized leader like HP who puts these topics at the top of its agenda. Consumers are demanding more sustainable alternatives, and we look forward to continuing our work together to be the first wine company globally to deliver 100 -percent-biodegradable packaging across some of our leading brands including Banrock Station and Hardys.”
“Henkel drives active progress towards a circular economy by creating smarter packaging for the benefit of people and the planet,” adds Berthold Schreck, R&D vice president of laundry care, Henkel. “Choose and HP bring together a game-changing combination of packaging technologies, and we are excited to collaborate to develop new sustainable packaging solutions and reduce plastics in our consumer goods products.”
Company’s reverse vending machines now being deployed in Baltic nation.
A new deposit-return system (DRS) for beverage container recycling started Feb. 1 in Latvia. Last year, that nation’s government appointed a business unit of Norway-based Tomra Group as the reverse vending machine (RVM) technology provider for the initiative.
Plans made by Latvia and Tomra call for more than 1,000 RVMs to be installed in the Eastern European nation on the Baltic Sea. Latvian consumers will pay an extra 10 cents when purchasing a beverage covered by the DRS. That amount will be refunded to them when they return the empty bottle or can for recycling.
Latvia aims is to achieve a return rate of more than 90 percent for eligible containers, says Tomra, which it calls in line with targets in the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive set for 2029.
The country’s new deposit system accepts non-refillable and refillable glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Latvia’s DRS launch follows other EU DRS activity in 2021, with Slovakia unveiling its DRS system at the start of last year. Also at the start of 2021, Germany expanded its program to include more types of beverages and containers.
Tomra estimates its RVM investment in Latvia at around €20 million ($22.6 million), including the construction and installation of some 1,046 RVMs and 186 custom outdoor kiosks. Return locations in Latvia are at grocery stores.
Comments Eero Nõgene, CEO of Tomra Collection Latvia SIA, “As well as our great spirit of cooperation, the experience gained from Lithuania’s deposit return system launch six years ago helped us a lot to make Latvia’s roll-out a success. The system in Lithuania still works following the same high technical standards, values and quality as originally promised to the customer. Our job in the coming months is to get the system up and running as smoothly as possible to provide consumers with a convenient return service.”
Shredding systems provider says its engineers can provide custom shredding plant configurations.
Houston-based Industrial Service Solutions (ISS) says it offers patented designs and proprietary processes that deliver cost-effective solutions that “last up to five times longer than standard market options for total control system packages and moto/variable frequency drive (VFD) packages” for metal shredding plant operators.
ISS, which says it designs, engineers, manufacturers and services “high-performance power and control systems for high-demand applications in the recycling industry,” says its resources include “a fully equipped 200,000-square-foot facility with custom manufacturing capabilities.”
States ISS, “Whether it is AC or DC with drives from 1,000 horsepower (hp) up to 10,000 hp, ISS is positioned to power any automobile shredder.”
The company describes itself as unique in its ability to manufacture both the motors and the drives in the same facility at its AmeriMex plant in Houston.
That facility and others operated by ISS are ISO 9001:2008 certified, Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA)-accredited, and UL 508A panel shop-certified, says the firm. “Process logic controller (PLC) programs and the graphical human-machine interface (HMI) designs are standardized and user-friendly, allowing operators to safely navigate between different machines and find information quickly,” states ISS of its systems.
ISS says its Spectare monitoring system provides early notice “for better-timed service and coordinated parts delivery, reducing unscheduled maintenance and overall operational downtime while at the same time linking critical production data to the overall financial performance of the system.”
Brussels-based European Aluminum organization includes “maximizing recycling” as one of three decarbonization priorities.
The Brussels-based industry association known as European Aluminium has listed a boost in aluminum recycling activity on that continent as a leading factor in progress made toward its 10-year sustainability road map goals.
According to the group, 51 percent of the aluminum being produced in Europe is now made from recycled content. It is one of three highlights spelled out by the group in a mid-term progress report on the road map, which was released in 2015 and set goals to be reached by 2025.
The group says, “At European Aluminium, we understand sustainable aluminum as aluminum that is produced with rigorous processes that respect high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards considering all steps of the aluminum value chain, from sourcing raw materials to managing end-of-life products."
The association calls aluminum “the base metal for Europe’s transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy, helping realize the ambitions of the European Green Deal. The endless recyclability of our metal further contributes to decarbonization and the circular economy.”
Regarding decarbonization, European Aluminium includes “reducing direct emissions with breakthrough technologies” and “electricity decarbonization” as strategies joining “maximizing aluminum recycling” that can help the industry sector reach that goal.
The organization calls the 2015-2025 time frame its “decade of action,” adding “the European aluminum industry is committed to continuously evolving our sustainability objectives to deliver on our ambitions and mission.”
The goals for 2025 lead to a further ambition toward “a new aim of climate-neutrality by 2050,” writes European Aluminium. “We are poised to work with energy operators, policymakers and other stakeholders to develop an enabling legislative and funding framework that will help us reach our aim.”
As with the 2025 goals, those for its Vision 2050 plan involve recycling. “In parallel, we are developing concrete pathways for our industry to decarbonize,” states the group. “For example, by increasing the share of aluminum recycling, we can reduce 39 million metric tons of CO2 per year by 2050.”
Several initiatives and investments in aluminum recycling in Europe have been announced in the past several months. This January, a France-based firm called Nova Met has signed an agreement with a port agency in that nation to set up a 2,500-metric-tons per month secondary aluminum production site in Rogerville, France, near Le Havre.
France-based Constellium also has indicated it plans to increase its use of scrap materials in its aluminum production processes, citing supply security as an additional reason.
In Europe, primary aluminum supplies have been affected this winter by rising energy costs, which have caused some primary producers to scale back output.
Tying into the secondary melt shop investments, several scrap recycling firms in Europe have invested in systems to harvest more and cleaner aluminum scrap, including Sweden-based Stena Recycling at a plant in Denmark and Konstantinidis Bros. SA in Greece.
The two-page European Aluminium mid-term review can be found on this web page.
The "2022 Roadmap for Automotive Aluminum" identifies pathways and prioritizes opportunities for collaboration among aluminum suppliers, recyclers, automakers, policymakers, nongovernmental organizations and other industry stakeholders.
The Aluminum Association, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has released its short-, mid- and long-term research and development priorities in support of its automotive customers.
The “2022 Roadmap for Automotive Aluminum” identifies pathways and prioritizes opportunities for collaboration among aluminum suppliers, recyclers, automakers, policymakers, nongovernmental organizations and other industry stakeholders to drive innovation throughout the next decade, the association says.
“From electric vehicles and connected cars to autonomous technology and supplier sustainability, the automotive industry is experiencing tectonic shifts in design, propulsion, materials and manufacturability,” Mike Keown, Aluminum Transportation Group chair and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Rolled Products, says. “To meet the moment, the aluminum industry is gearing up to bring to market the most advanced automotive alloys and product designs ever produced. This technology roadmap details where we are today, where we are headed and specific pathways and priorities that will accelerate technical advances to support automakers as they envision cars and trucks far superior to anything on the road today to meet consumer demands in the next decade and beyond.”
The Aluminum Association says it brought industry stakeholders together in March 2021 to define and address challenges, agree on goals and identify technology pathways to achieve those goals within five key areas:
“'The Roadmap for Automotive Aluminum' lays out the value-driven steps needed to make large-scale closed-loop aluminum recycling a reality,” says Charles Johnson, president and CEO of The Aluminum Association. “As aluminum use continues to grow, more efficient ways to separate, recover and reuse aluminum scrap in automotive components is of utmost importance, particularly in support of aggressive net-zero goals put forth by automotive customers.”