Blog: Interesting things we saw at London Packaging Week 2024

Got myself wrapped up in the world of packaging last week, when I attended London Packaging Week at Excel.

Organiser Easyfairs has hailed the event as a “real success,” with 190+ exhibitors and thousands of visitors, as well as interesting speaker line-up. Time was of the essence for me so I used my two hours there checking out some of the most sustainable packaging ideas rather than attending the conference sessions.

Had some good chats with several companies – a few I already knew, and some I hadn’t stumbled across before. I’ve tried to summarise five of the most interesting from a sustainability perspective, below, and explain what it is they are trying to achieve within the retail space.

Allpack

I swung by Allpack’s stand which was showcasing a wide range of boxes, wrap, tape, and much more.

Allpack says it continues to invest in research and development “to create innovative packaging solutions that minimise environmental impact without compromising on quality or performance”.

It’s Allpack’s 30th anniversary in 2024, and the company has upped the sustainability messaging with the unveiling this summer of ‘Sustainable Sam’ – a character being used in its marketing to emphasise the organisation’s environmental welfare efforts.

Through Sustainable Sam, Allpack says it wants to engage consumers, employees, and stakeholders in conversations about sustainability and inspire meaningful action toward a more sustainable future.

Allpack also provides a Sustainable Packaging Guide for its customers and potential customers.

CarbonQuota

I really enjoyed my chats with the CarbonQuota team at the London Packaging Week event.

The business helps other organisations, including FMCG conglomerate P&G and premium drinks provider Belvoir Farm, to accurately calculate, analyse, reduce, and track carbon emissions across their products, supply chains and operations.

It works with small to medium-sized businesses and large organisations alike.

And earlier this year, CarbonQuota announced the appointment of John Edmunds as its new CEO. The new boss recently served as managing director at Carbon Intelligence, overseeing the development and launch of a carbon accounting platform which helped attract the interest of Accenture, which acquired the organisation in August 2022.

Re-Zip

With Ocado recently launching reusable packaging in its online grocery deliveries, it felt timely to stumble across Re-Zip on the show floor. It’s a company that touts its “circular packaging” offering as “the future of e-commerce”.

Online customers shopping with a Re-Zip partner can choose circular packaging at checkout. And after delivery, they can collapse the packaging and drop it back at a dedicated collection point before being rewarded for keeping the packaging in circulation.

Looking forward to hearing about a big client win of theirs very soon – you’ll read about it on these pages as soon as I know about it.

Micro-Pak

Micro-Pak offers a range of packaging solutions, but what caught my eye was its range of package desiccants – something it started selling to the market in 2018.

The company wanted to create the most sustainable desiccant on the market in terms of ingredient, production, and packaging, without compromising on efficacy – and the result is its Dri Clay Kraft which contains 100% natural and chemical-free bentonite clay manufactured using what the company describes as “a low impact production process”.

Micro-Pak says it ensures partner-owned mines are restored and re-cultivated to an equal or better state than when their operations began, and it says it has eliminated plastic from the product. Dri Clay Kraft is now packaged in biodegradable, plastic-free, Forest Stewardship Council-certified Kraft paper and is an alternative to the widely used silica gel sachets.

Meadow

Last, but by no means least is Swedish technology start-up, Meadow, which has brought to market its Daisy Top Refill System – and was awarded London Packaging Week’s Innovation Gallery accolade.

I didn’t see the product myself, but Easyfairs said it was selected ahead of all exhibitors and voted “Best Product” for what was described as “its revolutionary approach to more sustainable packaging in the beauty and personal care market”.

The concept is to take the aluminium beverage can and evolve it into an intuitive, scalable, and infinitely recyclable refill solution for the personal care market, allowing brands to transition from plastic to an alternative designed with sustainability in mind, while leveraging established recycling infrastructures around the globe. Aluminium cans have a high recycling rate compared to other packaging options.

Victor Ljungberg, CEO of Meadow, commented: “Sustainability must be easy and fun to engage people and drive real impact.

“With great user experience comes great engagement, which results in higher conversions and real impact. That’s why focusing on UX was key to us during development.”

He added: “We believe our refill system not only promotes circularity but also allows brands to differentiate themselves globally. Our solution provides packaging circularity today while offering brands a unique opportunity to strengthen their identity.”

The Daisy product eliminates the need for traditional pull tabs too, reducing the weight of the packaging.

All in all, it was an eye-opening visit to the London Packaging Week for me. There’s a lot going on in this space, and it’s encouraging to see much of it is being conducted with environmental welfare in mind.

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Ben Sillitoe, editor, Green Retail World?(@bsillitoe)