El Packaging Cluster held the Annual Assembly and the Packaging Talks at the Azure Hotel in Lloret de Mar on June 13 and 14, with more than 100 attendees.
The event was welcomed by the president of the cluster, Mrs. Martina Fountain, corporate and innovation director of Font Packaging Group, and the Cluster Manager, Alex Brossa, who inaugurated the assembly session of this year 2023.
The Extraordinary General Assembly had a ratification of the modification of the Internal Regulations and the renewal of the members of the Board of Directors with the involvement of two new members, Patricia Berga de Alzamora Group y Nuria Betriu de pastisart.
Among the outstanding data during the Assembly, last year 59 events who have had more than 700 Subscribers and the current management of 38 projects collaborative innovation march with more than 40 companies and entities involved, which receive public funding from aid packages from the European Commission, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Government of Spain or the Agency for Business Competitiveness (ACTION).
The session closed with the start of the Packaging Talks, a series of presentations on innovation and trends, to delve into issues that concern the sector and that will be key to drawing the future of packaging and packaging, such as overcoming challenges; innovation in the family business; recycling; New Materials; leadership and talent management; or sustainability.
Borja Iglesias, director of Kaizen Institute Western Europe, explained the Digitization Barometer in the packaging sector and concluded with the main challenge for companies regarding the ability to adapt and take advantage of digital trends will be key to maintaining competitiveness in a constantly evolving market. The day ended with a lecture by Laura Portell, PhD Student in Mobility Optimization, to present the challenges and opportunities regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on the company, followed by a networking dinner and a networking activity for the attendees.
On June 14, the Packaging Cluster continued to celebrate the Packaging Talks with an institutional welcome by by Isaac Peraire, Director of the Waste Agency of Catalonia, Xavier Pascual, Business Unit Director of Packaging, Printing & Retail of Fira de Barcelona and Martina Font.
Then Nuria Picas, elite athlete, world champion in mountain ultras, motivated the attendees with her experience and her speech “Una vida. Persevere, overcome obstacles and not give up in the face of adversity. Núria represents the true passion for sport, for enjoying the outdoors and for not letting herself be defeated by adversity. Benedikt Brenken, director of R-Cycle initiative, began his presentation With Transparent Packaging to Circular Economy – Transforming the packaging value chain to explain what the digital product passport is and how it will work. “It is a new tool that will undoubtedly revolutionize trade in Europe. The circular economy is not possible if we do not have information on how to recycle or reuse products. This means that we need to know early in the manufacturing phase how this product will end up,” Benedikt said.
Later they appeared Albert Costa, Sales Director at Rotor Print, Y Ferran Berga, Project Manager of Alzamora Group, to explain how to innovate in the world of packaging: advanced strategies to transform the sector.
Also during the day robert thompson, scientific director of materfad, with his presentation 'Beyond conventional materials: research opportunities with new materials', praised the role of some materials that can replace others and the role of the research carried out at the Center for Materials in Barcelona. Another of the sessions' presentations was dedicated to company culture. 'Organizational keys to promote good leadership and talent development' by Oriol Montanya, professor UPF Barcelona School of Management. He is also a columnist in La Vanguardia made the attendees reflect on the different models of business leadership and how to work on it.
To close the event, sustainability was the protagonist with the round table "Towards a sustainable future: how client companies are adapting to changes" with the experience of companies that use packaging: Mireia Vilalta, R&I Packaging Sustainability Leader Europe in Danone, Victor Canadas, Sustainability consultant at ferrer, Laura Batlle, Senior sustainability manager of Heura Foods, Cristina Canton, Dept. Packaging of Idyllic Foods, and was moderated by Peter Coll, director of R+D+I of Plater and member of the entity's Board of Directors. During the round table, each company revealed their sustainability goals and the solutions they have already adopted, such as changing some packaging materials.
