Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
October 30, 2018 02:00 AM

Legalization leads top global packaging firms to cannabis

Jim Johnson
Senior Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Jim Johnson
    Todd Meussling, senior manager of market development at Presto Products Co., with the company's mini-Slider closure application.

    Chicago — As the stigma of marijuana use —​ both medicinally and recreationally — continues to wane in the United States, more plastics packaging companies are embracing the market.

    That was clearly evident at Pack Expo in Chicago, where companies openly displayed a willingness to jump into the market.

    Companies, both private and public, are typically risk adverse, so the fact that one of the largest plastics processing companies in the world is now openly talking about cannabis packaging signals both a market opportunity and a cultural shift.

    But Berry Global Group Inc. CEO Tom Salmon made one thing perfectly clear: His Fortune 500 firm is only interested in the legal cannabis market.

    "As you see the proliferation of legalization of cannabis, of medical-grade marijuana, there has to be a responsible way to package it. So why not take advantage of those years of expertise, knowledge and know-how to deliver value to those customers that are using it for medical purposes, ​ and in states where it is legal for recreational purposes, in a responsible way?" Salmon said in an interview on the show floor.

    "This is taking advantage of a packaging know-how. If you think about what we are trying to do, we're supporting, in all instances, a legal industry, right? A legal business on a state-by-state basis, region-by-region basis," he said. "We're not, obviously, going to drift beyond those confines."

    Todd Meussling, senior manager of market development at Presto Products Co., remembers his expectations going to a marijuana-themed trade show.

    "Quite frankly, I was expecting a bunch of bong salesmen and flower children running around the aisles," he said.

    Instead, he encountered professionals, including those in the medical field, who see value in the changing attitudes toward the subject.

    Berry Global Group

    Berry Global Group's new Embark brand is targeting legal marijuana sales.

    Child safety

    Presto's Child-Guard zipper was originally designed to help keep children out of detergent pod packaging, but the opportunities now go beyond that application, Meussling said.

    Cannabis companies know they need to upgrade their packaging as they become more mainstream.

    "There's a lot of regulations they are faced with. States are trying to figure it out, but they know they want child safety. So that's how they started using our product," he said.

    "As time goes on, we're finding the cannabis market is not just a bunch of people who want to smoke it," Meussling said.

    With a litany of products, the cannabis industry knows it needs help from packaging firms, he said.

    The sandwich bag just isn't going to work anymore.

    "They need our expertise," Meussling said. Presto is a unit of Reynolds Consumer Products.

    But that doesn't mean it comes easy for package designers and packaging processors. Companies have been making effective cookie packaging for a long, long time, Meussling said, but that packaging never had to be child-safe.

    Now the firms are faced with making child-resistant packaging for a wide variety of products that contain cannabis.

    Zip-Pak, a division of Illinois Tool Works Inc., introduced its own child-resistant slider called Safety-Lok at Pack Expo.

    The slider requires more than one action — in this case both squeezing and sliding — to open the package. Young children find it difficult to figure that out.

    Carrie Strieter, Zip-Pak's director of marketing and innovation, said Safety-Lok has multiple applications, including chemicals, laundry pods and pharmaceuticals, but the company also pointed out its potential use for medical marijuana packaging.

    "We find ourselves having more and more conversations in this burgeoning market of marijuana," Strieter said. "It's a new market, and it's humongous. Who among us that's looking for business and to grow our business doesn't want a piece of that, right?" she said.

    She expects plastics packaging manufacturers will continue to become more aware of the opportunities.

    But Zip-Pak is cautious about how to approach the opportunity.

    "We're careful about what we do and how we do it. When it's a question of legalization, it is what it is. And you treat it in a medical sense. It's not underground," she said.

    As the idea of marijuana use becomes more legitimate, she said, "there's a bit more of a comfort level."

    "It is an evolution," Strieter said.

    Presto's Meussling expects the market will continue to evolve as more people accept marijuana use.

    "I'm thinking a lot of it is desensitization. We're hearing it. We're seeing it in the newspaper. It was so taboo in the beginning," he said.

    Berry, unlike Presto and Zip-Pak, is concentrating its efforts on rigid packaging. Berry's Blue Clover Studios designed a new line of child-resistant packaging under the Embark name for both cannabis flower and edible products.

    "Listen, we're going to abide always. Legal, ethical, credible in everything we do. If we have the ability to provide discreteness, tamper evidence, child protection, we should do that. I think we're uniquely capable of doing that," Salmon said.

    "The narrative changed, no doubt about it. No doubt about it," he said. "The narrative around legalization, especially medical uses of marijuana, continues to grow. And if we can fulfill a need in helping people managing those products responsibly, we think we're very well-suited."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Clean Vision to spend $50M on West Virginia pyrolysis plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    PP resin prices saw a big drop in May
    2
    Orion steps up production at South Carolina compounding plant
    3
    EPA standing pat on pyrolysis regulations for now
    4
    Germany's Stratec buys medical molder Natech to boost US presence
    5
    Sustainable materials a focus of Primex expansion
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified