The European Label Forum organized by Finat was held recently on the shores of Lake Maggiore. The last conference was held in Copenhagen three years ago. The main purpose of the gathering of many speakers and 260 participants was to talk about the future of the European label industry. The future is bright for now even if after two years of very strong growth (especially in a complicated economic moment) the sector is slowing down. Paper-based adhesive labels grew by 7.8% in 2021 after expanding by 2.8% in 2020. Despite plastic-bashing, plastic-based labels have grown by 5.3% (vs 9.1% in 2020). The sector has more than doubled over the past 20 years. In 2021, 8.5 billion sqm of all kinds of adhesive labels were produced.

There is no longer a printing industry that isn’t concerned with the environmental aspect of the business and that’s a good thing as we need to preserve the planet. Even more so given the difficult times were are living in (post Covid and the war in Ukraine). The large format is no exception to the rule and the recent Fespa conference held highlighted this topic.  There was a lot of discussion about paper in a highly plastic industry. We have yet to see covers made from paper, but we know that cellulose-based materials that could replace certain films are being studied. We will be following up at next year 2023’s Munich conference.

The theme of ‘Les Entretiens de Honfleur,’ which will take place from Thursday June 23rd – Friday, June 24th, is how to make the industry more attractive for hiring.  The event, organized by the editor of Pap'Argus, will gather professionals from both the packaging and the retail industries (POS, store decoration, visual communication). The four axes that will attract people to the printing professions (and more broadly the industrial professions) are 1) to relaunch recruitment: training, of course, to succeed in adapted hiring, but also 2) personal development and workforce management (to retain employees), 3) technology, and of course 4) communication. There will be among speakers, coaches, trainers, and recruiters along with trade associations (Popai, ATF-Flexo, UNFEA, e-visions, Fespa France...) and other professionals.  You see, we are not going to Honfleur just for the very enjoyable evening dinner on the Old Port!

The President of the International Bureau of Recycling, Tom Bird, and his entire team should be proud of the event they organized that met all the expectations of industry players who were very happy to get together. 

Mickaël Lion (Everwell Resources Ltd) and Mark Sellier (Global Metals Network Ltd) and Murat Bayram (European Metal Recycling Ltd), animated a dynamic roundtable. There was also an important talk from the International Environment Council, where many discussions and in-depth analysis took place. The highlight for Pap'Argus was the Paper Division presentation. President Francisco Donoso (DOLAF Servicios Verdes) spoke about the paper recycling market backed up by statistics. He reminded us that in 2020 the world production of paper and board reached 340 million tons (including 184 million from Asia). The new European regulations on international transactions of recovered paper were addressed by the recently appointed Divisional General Delegate, Manuel Dominguez (REPACAR).  You can read more about these talks in Pap'Argus' June issue (French version).  Please note that the next BIR convention will take place in Dubai from October 16th - 18th, 2022.

The Studio Marianne Guély recently exhibiting, a new and original work in Venice, thanks to the Homo Faber event. The work is called "ABCD'M” and the production was an ode to calligraphy. Each letter or sign was made into a paper sculpture. The screen printer Lorenz Boegli created this immersive work thanks to a partnership between the Studio and the Maison Montblanc. It kicked off a partnership inspired by writing, since a masterpiece, in the same vein as this imaginary alphabet, will be presented at the Montblanc Haus in Hamburg from May 10th, 2022 onwards

We are pretty excited as tradeshow events and conference start to fill up our calendars. One of the next on the list is Paris Packaging Week which will be held on June 29th & 30th, 2022 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Paris Packaging Week’s 2022’s edition will bring together ADF&PCD and PLD Paris. The world’s leading beauty, luxury beverage and PGC brands will have access to the packaging, materials and ideas that will determine the future of their projects. The 2022 Innovation Awards, which celebrates and rewards the most outstanding packages of the year in the international market, will be presented at the ceremonies. They will also be presented at the Pentawards Gallery, the first international design competition in packaging.

Every year the Prime Minister has a different cause, this year it is reading that has caught his eye. The good news is that the Paris Book Festival will take place this year. In fact, the 2022 Paris Book Festival shows that the event is still important even 41 years after it was created. It will now be under SNE management, chaired by Vincent Montagne and it will no longer be held in the Porte de Versailles. While the event will be mainly held at the “Grand Palais éphémère”, it will also take over other Parisian venues such as the Petit Palais, the Maison de la Poésie, the Sorbonne, the Panthéon, the Military School, the Académie du Climat and the Guimet Museum. It has also become a free event. However, you will need to book a ticket online, as no more than 5,500 visitors will be allowed.

This contest celebrates the best in eco-friendly packaging design. The awards, organized by Pro Carton and the European Association of Carton Manufacturers (ECMA), challenges actors on all levels of the supply chain to present their most innovative carton packaging designs and their most environmentally friendly packaging substrate. The awards cover four categories: General Packaging – Virgin Fibres, General Packaging – Recycled Fibres, Food and Beverage Packaging – Virgin Fibres and Food and Beverage Packaging – Recycled Fibres, as well as two special innovation awards, Sustainability (formerly the Save the Planet Award) and the coveted Carton Board of the Year. Finally, the public will have the opportunity to vote for their preferred packaging for the People’s Choice Award, while a number of Platinum and Gold winners will also be selected. Last year the coveted Carton Board Award of the Year went to Durero Packaging (Structural Designer) and Holmen Iggesund (Carton Maker) for their Bodegas Balsamic packaging.

It is going to be a busy spring as tradesows are back! It kicks off with the CFIA, an important event  for the agri-food industry suppliers, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in Rennes from March 8th- 10th, 2022.  Already postposed, the Angoulême Festival will take place from March 17th- 20th, 2022 in Angoulême; The Paris Book Festival will take place from April 22nd- 24th at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris; Le C!Print, a visual communication and graphic industries tradeshow, will be held in May 2022 in Lyon and finally, the 4th edition  of All for Content, an event dedicated to brand content, will be held on May 17th & 18th in Paris. The calendar is getting full even if we have just been told that the Labelexpo Show in Brussels is postponed until september 2023.

The annual Flexible Packaging Conference organized by the magazine Etiq&Pack at the Hôtel de l'Industrie in Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Paris 6e) was be held on Wednesday, January 26 th 2022. There was an impressive line-up of speakers such as Sébastien Jacques (Elipso) who gave an overview of the flexible packaging industry. Orianne Broussard (Citeo) talked about the collection and recycling of films following the progressive extension of sorting availability. Other talks covered proposed solutions to make flexible packaging more eco-responsible, including the development of new materials (paper, coated paper, recyclable plastics, compostable, etc.) with Bettina Bastien (Koehler Paper), Stefan Kirstetter (Malengé Packaging), Jean-Pierre Rakoutz (Tipa), Arnaud Jouvance (Paptic). Catherine Kerninon (Eurosac) started the afternoon with an overview of the sack industry. A round table followed discssing how eco-responsibility starts in the packaging processing workshop (with flexo, helio and finishers) and the day ended with another round table “Flexible 5.0” held by three entrepreneurs leading eco-responsible initiatives: Jonathan Schmitt (E-Pac Flexibles), Nicolas Soubelet (La bonne Etoile) and Bruno Garnier (Moultipass Agency)). Look forward to the next edition in January 2023