Kickstart: Investing in paper packaging when customers turn away from plastics

Pregis, a top maker of film for packaging in the U.S., has been honored for its innovations. The bad news from a plastics perspective is that the award is for innovations in adding more paper production capabilities as its customers de-select plastics.

"Twenty-five percent of the growth in the business is replacing plastic with paper. Five or six years ago, we were 90 percent plastic," Tom Wetsch, chief innovation officer for Chicago-based Pregis, told our sister paper Crain's Chicago Business. "Now it's 60 percent plastic and 40 percent paper."

Pregis was No. 8 in Crain's Chicago's Most Innovative Companies list, revealed on Oct. 24. It ranks at No. 14 among North American film and sheet makers, according to Plastics News' data, with an estimated $700 million in sales for the region.

The Most Innovative Companies list tracks firms based on the quality of patents granted. Pregis had 15 patents last year related to packaging equipment, such as machines that can fold paper to fill the voids in boxes shipped to individual customers.

Riddell, the top maker of football helmets and other protective equipment, was No. 2 on the innovation list. The Des Plaines, Ill.-based company was noted for its technology in improving helmet safety and integrating sensors into the injection molded helmet to help gauge how hard of a hit a player takes.

Film maker Mid South Extrusion and injection maker Noble Plastics have received recognition from the state of Louisiana. Both were named Manufacturer of the Year. Mid South, based in Monroe, La., won for a large company, while Noble, in Grand Coteau, won the small company division.

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry will host all the 2023 Free Enterprise Award winners at a Nov. 9 event.

Mid South ranks at No. 65 in PN's ranking of film and sheet makers, with $125 million in sales. It makes agricultural film, food and e-commerce packaging and film for shipping mattresses and other furniture.

Noble is a custom molder supplying the defense, oil and gas, and consumer products end markets. It has $10.5 million in annual sales, according to PN data.

Like a lot of college students, cousins Griffin and Harris Duininck spent their summer vacation on a road trip. Unlike others, however, they spent their time touring sites using plastic pipes and containment systems in massive water management systems. And their trip is being shared via a podcast, YouTube and social media posts.

PN's Bridget Janis writes that Harris is the son of Jamie Duininck, the CEO of Willmar, Minn.-based Prinsco Inc., an extruder of high density polyethylene pipes. The cousins' videos are supported by the Prinsco Education Initiative.

The project is all about "getting people really interested in [the] plastics industry, the drainage industry, in a new way that's not just technical," said Betsy Bonnema, marketing director at Prinsco.

Six videos have been posted on YouTube so far, with a total of 13 episodes planned.