Kickstart: Is another big deal in packaging on the horizon?

It's only been two weeks since Amcor plc announced its proposed acquisition of Berry Global Group Inc., but apparently the packaging industry is thirsty for more mergers and acqisitions.

Bloomberg writes that Novolex, a film maker and thermoformer, is considering a takeover of Pactiv Evergreen Inc.

Novolex, owned by Apollo Capital Management, is discussing a possible bid, Bloomberg reported, but added that neither company is talking on the record.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Novolex is the larger player in film, ranked at No. 6 in North America according to Plastics News data, with $1.43 billion in sales for the region. Pactiv Evergreen of Lake Forest, Ill., comes in at No. 44 among film makers, with $207 million in sales.

But Pactiv is far bigger when it comes to thermoforming, where it comes in at the top spot in PN rankings with $3.6 billion in sales. Novolex is No. 10 among thermoformers with $685 million in sales.

You may be able to hit the slopes with a bit more sustainability this winter.

Materials maker Envalior says its Durethan Blue nylon — made using 90 percent sustainable feedstock, based on the mass balance approach — is being used for key parts of Union Binding Co.'s Travis Rice Falcor Signature Snowboard Bindings brand.

Envalior, a Düsseldorf, Germany-based company created in 2022 from the combination of the engineering resins business of Lanxess AG and Royal DSM, says the Durethan Blue is used to provide both a stiff and responsive core and a more flexible frame. The material has bio-based and recycled content.

"In addition to being more sustainable than traditional plastics, this material has passed all of Union's in-house quality control tests for strength, durability in cold temperatures and product life cycle," Italy-based Union Binding says on its website.

Amazon's latest target to reduce unnecessary packaging? Stop putting existing packages into new packages.

The "ships-in-product packaging" project is pretty straightforward. If a product comes into an Amazon warehouse within an existing package — whether that's a box or a bag — that's already impact-resistant, then there's no reason to toss it into another box. In a recent update on its sustainability targets, Amazon said 5.5 million packages have been delivered without an additional container since 2019, with Amazon simply adding a new mailing sticker.

But that's still a fairly low number when compared with traditional Amazon shipping. In 2023, ships-in-product packaging made up just 12 percent of its global orders.

Meanwhile, the retail and shipping giant is continuing to reduce its use of plastic packaging. As of October 2024, it had replaced all plastic pillow inflatable packaging at its global warehouses and replaced it with protective paper options. That's up from 95 percent of all global locations as of June.

Since 2015, Amazon says its efforts to cut back have avoided 3 million metric tons of packaging. That includes a reduction of 80,500 tonnes of single-use plastic packaging.