The following content originally appeared in Beverage Magazine issue 131, which you can subscribe to here.
Beverage Innovation spoke with Rexam’s sector director Europe Iain Percival.
At Beverage Innovation magazine we are very aware of sustainability – what is Rexam’s strength here?
As a manufacturer, sustainable working is a key focus for Rexam. In September 2015, Rexam released its global Sustainability Report, outlining the progress made against our 2020 sustainability commitments. These stretch across our operations, people and products, include targets such as reducing the carbon footprint of each can, and our waste to landfill, by 25%. Since 2010, we have reduced the carbon footprint of each can by 12% and the overall European recycling rate for beverage cans is now over 70%. We are also proud to report that in 2014, eight out of our 20 plants in Europe sent zero waste to landfill and that 13 of our plants had an accident rate of zero.
In the first quarter of 2015, Rexam became the first beverage can manufacturer to produce cans awarded with the ‘Cradle-to-Cradle’ bronze standard following Rexam’s appointment as partners of Carlsberg’s new Group CSR initiative, the Carlsberg Circular Community.
Two further initiatives are: the Aluminium Stewardship initiative, which launched in 2012 to foster greater sustainability and transparency throughout the aluminium industry; and, the Metal Recycles Forever campaign. The logo, endorsed by all members of Metal Packaging Europe, provides a definitive symbol for the metal packaging industry and creates a way for Rexam to encourage recycling at a consumer level. The can for Concrete Cow, a local UK craft brewer, was the first commercial beverage can in the UK to use this logo, and was shown on the stand at Brau.
What are the latest moves in texture and inks?
Beverage cans offer customers and brands a 360-degree canvas for communication, which captures the essence of the brand with bold logos and eye-catching designs.
A key development for Rexam has been the opening and extension of our Graphics and Design Studios in the UK and Russia. By creating a collaborative space where Rexam and our customers can create together, we are best placed to bring to life the passion that goes into developing exciting brand propositions. Our creative teams can offer advice about the best use of our special effect finishes, inks and printing techniques for optimum stand out on shelf and consumer appeal.
A great example of ink combinations and printing techniques from Rexam is our collaboration with Russian brand Feilong to produce a can for its new, traditionally-inspired rice beer. The use of two shades of white re-created a traditional Chinese silk pattern, while the iconic Feilong symbol, a flying dragon, was brought to life by an array of carefully matched colours.
What are the global industry can trends?
We are seeing an increase in the number of beverage cans produced and filled in Europe and globally. As new beverage categories emerge, and with the can taking share from other packaging formats there is plenty of opportunity for further growth. The European market grew by 3.7% in 2014 – that’s an extra 2.2 billion beverage cans added to the market. Can production in Europe has increased by a further 3% during the third quarter of 2015.
With a documented rise in consumer awareness surrounding sustainable production and concerns around waste, we are seeing brands move into beverage cans from other packaging formats. The beverage can is infinitely recyclable. As consumers demand more sustainable packaging of their brands, beverage companies are responding. The recycling rate in Europe is now 73% and Rexam’s ambition is to ensure even more cans are recycled..
What is your best recent example of can innovation?
For us it is how brands have embraced our Editions technology in order to market beverages in a way that engages today’s consumer. This patent pending technology, allows us to produce 8 to 24 designs of the same label simultaneously on a single pallet. This allows our customers to deliver several designs to one single filling line, creating increased marketing opportunities for brands using beverage cans and improving efficiency in the filling process, as designs are already mixed on the same pallet.
We have seen several exciting examples from Rexam customers this year, including Baltika #3 who created 990 different can designs for a limited collection. The design project was completed in just three days and is the largest undertaken by Rexam to date.
This innovative campaign, running until December, promotes Russian patriotism and encourages repeat purchase as consumers collect cans from different cities.
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