Latest Stories

Features for the Flexible Packaging Industry

Find in-depth stories about all the most relevant issues facing flexible packaging today. Digital-expanded and digital-exclusive features offer a deeper look at some of these topics to give you an even fuller view.
Digital Exclusive
Food Waste Solutions Sought

Food Waste Solutions Sought

Glenroy Offers Advances in Packaging Protection for Some Foods

March 7, 2022

While most people abhor when food is wasted, that doesn’t stop food waste from being one of the biggest contributors to environmental concerns.  The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 31% of food is lost at the retail and consumer levels. And food waste is one of the largest contributors to the materials that […]

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Digital Exclusive
Polyethylene Plant Brings Jobs, Careers

Polyethylene Plant Brings Jobs, Careers

Pennsylvania Factory Planned Long Ago

March 7, 2022

When drillers began tapping into the Marcellus Shale in 2008, they sparked an economic boom that continues to echo in rural Pennsylvania. One of the biggest follow-on developments is the Shell petrochemicals plant slated to open next year in Beaver County.

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Mergers Accelerate

Mergers Accelerate

Deals Remain Robust for Flexible Packaging Industry

March/April 2022

Like so much else in the economy, corporate deal-making roared back to life in 2021 as COVID-19 vaccines blunted the worst effects of the pandemic and companies adapted to the risks that remained.

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Plastics on Tap

Plastics on Tap

Shell Plant in Pennsylvania Going on Line

March/April 2022

This year, flexible packaging companies will have a new source of polyethylene: A major petrochemical plant erected by Shell along the banks of the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania—about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The plant is expected to produce 1.6 million tons of polyethylene per year.

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Packaging Challenges Plague Women’s Bakery

Packaging Challenges Plague Women’s Bakery

African Company Seeks Help with Solutions

March/April 2022

The Women’s Bakery in Rwanda, Africa, represents a microcosm of the packaging industry’s drive for continuous innovation in sustainability and the universal challenge of keeping pace with recycling mandates.

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Digital Exclusive
3D Testing Could Save Time, Money

3D Testing Could Save Time, Money

February 21, 2022

The search for packaging alternatives can include cumbersome methods of designing and testing materials under various distribution scenarios. However, a new virtual testing method is looking to change that while saving time and money.

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Digital Exclusive
Meet the FPA Staff

Meet the FPA Staff

A Conversation With Dani Diehlmann, Vice President, Communications, FPA

February 7, 2022

Continuing the Meet the FPA Staff series, FlexPack VOICE® catches up with Dani Diehlmann, FPA’s vice president of communications.

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Filling the Gaps

Filling the Gaps

Employers Use Creative Measures to Fill Jobs

Jan/Feb 2022

To fill job gaps, manufacturers are seeking employees from nontraditional or largely untapped fields. Veterans, women, re-entrants, and refugees constitute a rich supply of motivated, reliable workers.

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Vaccine Mandates Stir Debate

Vaccine Mandates Stir Debate

Business Group Expresses Concern About Long-Term Precedents

Jan/Feb 2022

As the pandemic entered its 18th month in September, the federal government prepared new rules that would require businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure workers were vaccinated. For some observers, the process underway indicated an overreach that raised flags about whether precedents were being set that would undermine the autonomy of businesses for years.

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From Acceptance to Ownership

From Acceptance to Ownership

Peter Sheahan: Transforming Your Company Starts at the Top

Jan/Feb 2022

Executives in the flexible packaging industry grasp the challenges in front of them. The hard work lies in moving from understanding to action—or, as Peter Sheahan puts it, from acceptance to ownership.

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Digital Exclusive

Sheahan: “Brutal Honesty” Needed to Transform Your Company

CEO of Karrikins Group Discusses Path to His Transformation

January 3, 2022

Peter Sheahan spends a lot of time advising other executives on how to manage corporate transformation. The recipe includes what he describes as a dose of “brutal honesty.” It sounds painful. But it’s something that Sheahan has experienced during his own growth as a company leader. The experience also helped cement his belief that corporate change […]

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Digital Exclusive

Flexible Packaging Company Finds Workers Through Second Chance Program

January 3, 2022

As companies struggle to find workers, many of them turned to alternative programs that can offer a pool of available workers. In the January/February edition of FlexPack VOICE®, we explore some of those ideas, which include hiring former prison inmates. (The digital version of the magazine also can be found online). Here is a closer […]

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Digital Exclusive
‘Shopportunities’ Abound for E-Commerce

‘Shopportunities’ Abound for E-Commerce

Flexible Packaging Provides Best Options, Expert Says

December 20, 2021

The pandemic brought disruptions, but with them came what John Wilson, director of marketing and sustainability for Amcor, calls “shopportunities.”

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Digital Exclusive

Milestones: A Glimpse at Loyal FPA Members

28 Companies Celebrate Anniversaries with FPA in 2021

November 5, 2021

Each year, FPA recognizes members who are celebrating anniversaries with the organization in five-year increments. In 2021, 28 companies reached one of those milestones. Some of the companies recently responded to surveys that give a glimpse at what they do in the flexible packaging industry. 5 Years: 2016 CleanPlanet Chemical, Inc.: CleanPlanet was formed in […]

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Digital Exclusive

Seminars Touch on Circularity Worldwide

Different Countries Face Similar Issues Reaching Goals

November 5, 2021

As companies and elected officials in the United States continue to debate plastic waste and a circular economy, they often look toward other nations that are farther ahead in their planning and designs. That focus was behind part of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s SPC Engage online forum held July 20–21, where experts from the European […]

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