Amcor won one of four technology excellence awards given out on September 12 during PACK EXPO Las Vegas, taking the top prize in the sustainability category.
The 2023 Technology Excellence Awards were presented by expo producer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. The contest involved 80 entries narrowed down to 12 finalists, with PACK EXPO attendees voting on-site for the winners at the three-day event, PMMI said.
Amcor, a member of the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), won for its HealthCare Recycle Ready Sachet in the sustainability category. It was a finalist in the following categories:
- Personal care/pharma category for its Child Resistant Reclosable High Barrier Pouch–Pill Bottle Replacement product, and
- General packaging and processing category for its DairySeal™ Featuring ClearCor™ Technology.
In the first-place win for the recycle ready sachet, Amcor noted in its entry that the pharmaceutical space presents unique challenges when designing packaging for recyclability, including the use of foil lamination.
“Standard foil laminations combine multiple materials with the properties needed for successful filling and protection of pharmaceutical products throughout their shelf life,” the company said in its statement about the entry. “Amcor has developed a metallized-polyolefin material to be used in a lamination to provide barrier properties competitive with the current multi-material foil laminations while designing for recyclability.”
More details about the sachet can be found here.
The other contest winners were:
- Aneko Emsys won in the food/beverage category. The company’s robot is designed for the beverage industry “to empty in a simple, quick, and effortless manner all kind of concentrated liquids, contained in drums, barrels, or jerricans. Its completely sanitary construction and simple operation make it an ideal equipment to integrate in the syrup preparation rooms,” according to the entry.
- Harpack-ULMA Packaging won in the general packaging and processing category. Its artificial intelligence (AI) enabled augmented reality for transforming packaging operations “utilizes AI to help businesses identify patterns, predict outcomes, and optimize decision-making processes,” the entry says.
- Catalyx won in the personal care/pharma category. “Catalyx Digital Line Clearance Assistant™ uses a network of fixed position cameras that are deployed across the entire line, covering the risky and hard-to-reach areas of the line,” the entry says. “The product inspects the entire line in seconds and highlights areas where rogue components are detected.”
Visit here for more information about the awards.
Other Awards Take a Center Stage in North Hall
The contest was just one way the event organizers put a focus on packaging innovations. Student robotic challenges were on display as well as award-winning products throughout the packaging industry.
In the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, an exhibit called “The Showcase of Packaging Innovations” included award-winning packaging from recent contests held by the packaging industry.
For example, one display included the winning entries for the 67th Annual Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards competition produced by FPA in 2023.
Editor’s note: The submitted feature photo shows Amcor’s first-place entry in the sustainability category of the 2023 Technology Excellence Awards at PACK EXPO in September in Las Vegas.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor of FlexPack VOICE®.