Meeting PackThe leading event for barrier materials and packaging trends held its seventh edition on April 21 and 22 at the Museu de Les Ciències in Valencia. Organized by AINIA and AIMPLASThis event brought together key players in the packaging value chain and was attended by over 200 professionals. There was also an exhibitors' area where attendees could see the latest innovations from some of the companies present.
The event began with the presentation “Feeding the future: sustainable packaging for a responsible industry”, by Mauricio García de Quevedo, general director of FIAB.
The first session, dedicated to “Innovative materials and processes for the production of sustainable packaging”, was moderated by Eduardo Gómez of SM Resinas and featured presentations by: Clelia Cazzola of ITP – TPL, Fabio Barca of Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Pere Becerra of COMEXI.
The second session, moderated by Antoni Segovia of Morchem, focused on “Sustainability in Flexible Barrier Packaging.” Participants included: Marta Lara of the Advanced Packaging Association (APA), Marta García Blasco of Fakolith, Sami Zakarya of Leygatech, Ana García of Quimóvil, and Santiago Olivares of Rotor Print by SPG.
Some innovations and reflections from this session:
-Solvent-free recyclable adhesives for monoPE and monoPP laminates, and solvent-based adhesives for monoPP laminates from Morchem, presented by Antoni Segovia of Morchem.
“Polyamide is recognized as recyclable according to the D4R guidelines and verified through independent protocols,” stated Marta Lara of the Advanced Packaging Association (APA). “Films containing polyamide offer the perfect balance between recyclability and functionality,” she added.
“There is no 100% bio-based varnish due to technical or bioavailability limitations,” explained Marta García of Fakolith, but, thanks to Fakolith’s bio-based technology, they have developed bio-based paints and varnishes suitable for direct contact with food and, between 2023-2026, coatings designed to reduce exposure to and contamination by endocrine disruptors (Safe Ed Coatings).
The challenges of IML barrier labels include the static charge generated by the material, the difficulty of controlling flatness, and ensuring complete coverage of the container. Sami Zakarya of Leygatech spoke about Leygatech's PP/EVOH/PP Cast Oxygen Barrier IML, which "maintains the freshness and scent of cosmetic products for longer."
-“There are four challenges in the formulation and printing of barrier coatings: material, barrier coating, printing method and conversion… Collaboration from the entire value chain is needed,” said Ana García of Quimovil.
“There are many challenges, but also opportunities,” said Santiago Olivares of Rotorprint. One of these challenges is recyclability: a preference for recycling streams of plastic from post-consumer polyolefin-based flexible packaging. We need to find solutions and step outside our comfort zone. For example, “excessive protection unnecessarily increases the cost of packaging,” he added.
Third session: sustainability in rigid barrier packaging
Moderated by Jaime García, from Guztec Polymers, it featured: Jenifer Mitja from Total Energies Corbion, Lorena Rodríguez from Graphic Packaging International, Laura Catalá and Javier Martínez from Lecta.
Important:
– Jaime García from Guztec Polymers explained challenges achieved in waste, recyclability and recycled content, such as, for example, containers where the label has been eliminated (Actimel), tubes for cosmetics in which the number of materials has been reduced (Sabic PE Polymer), as well as in a counterweighted cap of a perfume (Avient).
-Luminy's new development, HMS, designed for the extrusion foaming process, "which withstands very high temperatures, does not need additives and achieves very low densities," explained Jenifer Mitja of Total Energies Corbion.
-Lorena Rodríguez from Graphic Packaging International spoke about the advantages of PaperSeal, a wood fiber compound that allows for the reduction of plastic and materials, is recyclable (designed for easy separation of the cardboard lining) and allows for printing on the entire tray.
-EraCup Natural Pure is one of Lecta's new products, with a solid liquid barrier, for the production of single-use paper cups, as explained by Laura Català of Lecta.
-Another new product from Lecta in flexible packaging is Metalvac Seal Oxygen Barrier, “a paper whose key lies in the vacuum metallized layer, combined with the optimized coating formulation, which provides an efficient functional barrier,” said Javier Martínez of Lecta.
Roundtable
Following this session, there was a round table discussion on “Product packaging strategies to meet the 2030 goals”, moderated by Jesús Pérez, from the Packaging Innovation Cluster, a cluster that already brings together 111 active partners from across the packaging value chain.
Participants included: Joan Alcaraz from Platos Tradicionales, Cinta Bosch from AECOC, Tinixara Moreno from Ecoembes, Francisco Almeida from Brasmar and Sandrá Palacín from Mahou San Miguel.
At the meeting, it was emphasized that one of the challenges is achieving the recyclability and reuse targets: “Recyclability keeps me up at night,” stated Joan Alcaraz. The importance of establishing synergies was also highlighted; in this regard, Cinta Bosch affirmed that “collaboration among all stakeholders in the supply chain is essential,” and Sandara Palacín pointed out that “balance is achieved when regulation, technology, and industry go hand in hand.” Tinixara Moreno stressed the importance of “anticipating everything we can” and of remaining calm, a sentiment echoed by Francisco Almeida: “A cross-cutting strategy, calmness, and functionality,” he summarized.
Finally, Ozan Kilic presented the Topas COC polymer, chemically similar to PE and PP, but with different properties, which can be used in combination with these resins to achieve performance that would otherwise only be possible with incompatible plastics.
MeetingPack Awards
During the official dinner of the congress and after a vote by all attendees, the winners of these awards, promoted by Ainia and Aimplas, were revealed.
In the Rigid Packaging Category, Grupo Lantero and its single-material proposal ReKeepEat won the award, after previous finalists such as Faerch Group with its innovative RecycleDuo™ system for dairy products and Leygatech for its PP LMG Cleanloop barrier film.
In the Flexible Packaging Category, it won Sealed Air Corporation for its Cryovac solutions for professional catering, which beat two other finalists: ITP with its Triflex T-LID lid film and Read and its high barrier recyclable Metalvac paper.
Second day
The second day featured the fifth session, dedicated to “Innovative Materials for Sustainable Packaging Production.” Moderated by Gerrit Nienhausen and Petr Groh of Mondi, the speakers included Federico Faiella of Novamont, Véronique Guillou-Yermia and Marcin Lapaj of TPL, Lawrence Theunissen of Avantium, and Jose Angel Prieto Esteban of Repsol Material.
The sixth session focused on “Recyclability”. Moderated by Pere Coll of Enplater, it featured Jeferson Anzanello of FCO Group – GDM, Lara Gonçalves of Sovena Group, and Jordi Monfort of UBE.
The last session, on “Recyclability and reuse”, was moderated by Tinixara Moreno from Ecoembes, with: Juan Tomás from Aimplas, Leonor Pascual from Ainia, Óscar Rico from Germaine de Capuccini, Oksana Horodytska from Fych Technologies and Carolane Gerbehaye from RecyClass.
Juan Tomás, a packaging researcher at Aimplas, addressed new business models based on the reuse of plastic packaging as a way to respond to legislation affecting the sector, such as PPWR or Digital Product Passport, and presented the research being carried out within the framework of the Reloop and BuddiePack projects as an example of solutions geared towards circularity and regulatory compliance.
For her part, Leonor Pascual, Project Manager in Packaging Technologies at Ainia, presented, together with Óscar Rico, Director of Quality Assurance and Sustainability at Germaine de Capuccini, An example of a successful collaborative innovation case, a project made up of 15% of the company's own packaging waste to incorporate it back into the manufacturing process, thus demonstrating its safety for the consumer and its functionality.
Finally, Carmen Redondo, Institutional Relations at HISPACOOP, was responsible for the closing presentation, entitled "Consumer involvement in new trends regarding the use of packaging."
MeetingPack consolidates its position as a key event on packaging and material trends, closing its 2026 edition with a great success in attendance.
