Category: Packaging

CME to Invest in Packaging Automation

Image: CME Automation Systems
CME Automation Systems, a specialist in automated packing line solutions, has announced ambitious growth plans following significant backing from private equity. The investment enables CME to strengthen its offering to customers internationally in the pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods, cannabis and tobacco sectors.
For 40 years, the CME brand has helped companies to improve efficiency and throughput through the use of automation in product handling for primary and secondary packaging systems. The new investor has identified the potential to build on CME’s expertise and reputation for innovation, especially given the company’s recent success in developing new solutions for growth markets such as cannabis and clinical trials.
The investment comes from a specialist fund for small-sized and medium-sized U.K. enterprises and will be invested in a combination of resources, infrastructure, new product development and channels to market.

In today’s hyper-competitive markets, the use of automation can deliver the competitive edge to balance productivity, profit and growth.
Paul Knight, CEO, CME Automation Systems
“Automation is critical for manufacturers who need to pack products at speed and at scale. In today’s hyper-competitive markets, the use of automation can deliver the competitive edge to balance productivity, profit and growth,” said CME Automation Systems CEO Paul Knight.
“At CME, we provide the tools to help them achieve value through automation. As well as our core markets, we’re seeing significant interest from some of the world’s most rapidly growing sectors. So this investment is well timed to help us realize our business’s potential—and to help even more customers to meet their automation challenges.”
The CME range offers standard and turnkey line solutions to support a variety of packing functions, including tax stamping, wrapping, collating, cartoning, filling and product handling. This is complemented by in-house capability for certain bespoke machinery design and build to help customers with specialist requirements.
“CME has a proven track record but also huge future potential,” said CME Financial Director Scott Cullen. “We’re delighted to have a new investor for this ambitious growth plan, which will help to strengthen the CME brand internationally and grow sales in pharmaceuticals, FMCG, cannabis and tobacco.”
August 22, 2023
Cautious Welcome for U.K. Insert Proposal
Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Smokers’ rights campaigners have given a cautious welcome to a U.K. government proposal to add pack inserts to tobacco products to encourage more smokers to quit.
On August 14, the British government launched a consultation on a proposal the plan, which calls for adding leaflets inside cigarette packs to encourage smokers to quit, telling them they could enhance their life expectance and save lots of money if they abandon smoking.
Tobacco-related harms are estimated to cost British taxpayers an estimated £18 billion every year, including over £1.72 billion in costs to the state-funded National Health Service.
SImon Clark
“If the inserts provide constructive information about quitting there is some merit in the idea,” said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest.
“For example, inserting information about reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches would make a lot of sense.
“Targeting consumers with more anti-smoking messages, which are on the pack already, risks warning fatigue and won’t work.”
While welcoming the proposal in principle, Clark expressed concern about who would bear the expense of adding the inserts. “If the cost is passed on to consumers, who already pay punitive rates of taxation on tobacco, it may be counterproductive because more smokers will switch to illicit tobacco products that won’t have inserts added,” he said.
The pack inserts envisioned by the British government are already used in Canada, Australia and Israel, among other countries.
August 14, 2023
Stick Warnings Take Effect in Canada

Image: Health Canada
A new rule requiring warning labels on individual cigarettes in Canada takes effect today, reports The Canadian Press.
The move, announced earlier this year, makes Canada the first country to take that step to deter smoking.
Under the new law, cigarette manufacturers will be required to print messages in English and French on the paper around the filter, warning smokers about the risk of damage to organs, impotence and leukemia, among other diseases.
Manufacturers have until the end of July 2024 to ensure the warnings are on all king-size cigarettes sold, followed by regular-size cigarettes and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, believes the labels will dissuade teens leaning toward taking up the habit and encourage nicotine-dependent adults to quit.
Dozens of studies in Canada and elsewhere show the effectiveness of printing warnings on each cigarette, he noted.
Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship are banned in Canada, with warnings on cigarette packs dating back to 1972.
In 2001, Canada became the first country to require tobacco companies to print pictorial warnings on the outside of cigarette packages and include inserts with health-promoting messages.
Federal rules ban packaging that includes brand colors or trademarks.
The tobacco industry has warned against unintended consequences. The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, which is funded by Canada’s leading cigarette manufacturers, warned in June that cheaper, colorful black-market packs free of health warnings attract young smokers and funnel more money to organized crime.
While acknowledging that big tax hikes or sales bans would indeed benefit the black market, Cunningham believes that gradual price boosts and more strident messaging can bring down smoking rates.
“The only real reason that they can oppose something is because it’s going to have a reduction in sales— and that is exactly the point,” he said of the manufacturers.
August 1, 2023
ITC Scales Up Sustainable Packaging

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
ITC reaffirmed that it is scaling up its investment in innovative and eco-friendly packaging solutions that can substitute single-use plastics. The company sustained its plastic neutrality status for the second consecutive year by sustainably managing 60,000 MT of plastic waste in fiscal year 2023, which is more than the amount of packaging utilized.
“At ITC, we have put in place comprehensive interventions for waste management with focus on plastics,” said B. Sumant, executive director of ITC. “Our paperboards, paper and packaging businesses continue to pioneer sustainable packaging solutions that can substitute single-use plastics. Many of our brands and businesses have also innovated to reduce the usage of plastics in line with our commitment to create a positive environmental footprint.”
ITC has pioneered sustainable packaging options through extensive research conducted at its Life Sciences and Technology Centre on laminated and molded fiber platforms, among others. It has developed a range of eco-friendly products, including recyclable paperboards named FiloPack and FiloServe as well as two biodegradable paperboards, OmegaBev and OmegaBarr.
June 6, 2023
Individual Stick Warnings Coming

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Canada will soon require that health warnings be printed directly on individual cigarettes—becoming the first country in the world to take this approach, according to the Government of Canada.
The new Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labeling Regulations will be part of the government of Canada’s continued efforts to help adults who smoke to quit, to protect youth and nontobacco users from nicotine addiction and to further reduce the appeal of tobacco. Labeling the tipping paper of individual cigarettes, little cigars, tubes and other tobacco products will make it virtually impossible to avoid health warnings altogether. In addition, the regulations will support Canada’s Tobacco Strategy and its target of reaching less than 5 percent tobacco use by 2035, according to a government press release.
These regulations will come into force on Aug. 1, 2023, and will be implemented through a phased approach that will see most measures on the Canadian market within the year. Retailers will carry tobacco product packages that feature the new health-related messages by the end of April 2024. King-size cigarettes will be the first to feature the individual health warnings and will be sold by retailers in Canada by the end of July 2024 followed by regular size cigarettes, little cigars with tipping paper, and tubes by the end of April 2025.
Other measures include strengthening and updating health-related messages on tobacco product packages; extending the requirement for health-related messaging to all tobacco product packages; and implementing the periodic rotation of message.
The new regulations will be published in the June 7, 2023, edition of the Canada Gazette—Part II. In the interim, copies of the full regulations are available upon request by contacting pregs@hc-sc.gc.ca.
June 1, 2023
Bangladesh Urged Against Interference

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Bangladesh should monitor the tobacco industry’s attempts to influence the formulation and implementation of graphic health warnings, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal’s Tobacco Control, reports United News of Bangladesh.
The study, “Tobacco Industry Interference to Undermine the Development and Implementation of Graphic Health Warnings in Bangladesh,” examines the tobacco industry’s efforts to “delay and weaken” the implementation of graphic health warnings in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers’ Association was the most active industry actor in “interfering” with the process, according to the study, while BAT Bangladesh was most active and the only company that acted alone to thwart graphic health warning implementation.
The study urges the government to adopt the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s Article 5.3 guidelines and make their implementation a policy priority.
May 1, 2023
Incentivizing Innovation

How the EU’s ambition to overhaul its packaging legislation might impact the tobacco industry.
By George Gay
As I understand things, a human body can be composted, in those places where this practice is legal, within about 30 days. On the other hand, my experience is that some starched-based “fully compostable” packaging can take more than 600 days to break down completely. Such a difference in composting times gives pause, I think, and I have long felt that the messaging around compostable packaging could do with some fine-tuning.

So I was encouraged, at least on behalf of those living in the EU and countries that follow EU packaging rules, to see that the EU Commission, as part of its proposed overhaul of its packaging legislation, is seeking to clear up the confusion around bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics.

In an end-of-November press note titled “European Green Deal: Putting an end to wasteful packaging, boosting reuse and recycling,” the commission announced its proposed revision (see https://bit.ly/3F6PRfp) of the EU’s legislation on packaging and packaging waste, saying that while the production and use of bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics had been increasing, a number of conditions had to be met for these plastics to have positive environmental impacts rather than exacerbating plastic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. “The commission’s new framework clarifies in what way these plastics can be part of a sustainable future,” it added.

In my view, it is important that the proposals, which must now be considered by the European Parliament and Council, are successful in their aims. The commission says a circular economy of packaging will help decouple economic development from the use of natural resources, contribute to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and halting biodiversity loss, and reduce the EU economy’s dependency on many materials. Specifically, it estimates that by 2030 its proposed measures would bring greenhouse gas emissions from packaging down to 43 million tons compared to 66 million tons if the legislation is not changed. (Detailed impact assessment documents can be accessed at https://bit.ly/42cYEXd.)
Impacting Industry
These proposals, which are said to be aimed at creating a level playing field of packaging that is not more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfill the environmental objectives, will impact all companies working within the EU and those selling into the region, including those working within the tobacco and nicotine industries, though some exemptions apply to small companies. The use of packaging is universal, and the materials covered by the proposals include aluminium, cardboard, ceramics, glass, metal, paper, plastic, porcelain, stoneware, textiles and wood.
But, just to be certain where the tobacco industry would stand, I wrote to the commission asking if I would be correct in assuming that all the proposals finally accepted by the parliament and council would apply to the tobacco industry, in respect of both its leaf tobacco and its product (including new-generation products) packaging.
Interestingly, the commission chose to answer a different but related question by saying, “The tobacco industry would certainly [my emphasis] not be exempt from these rules according to our proposals.” I thought this answer, apart from being a little sniffy, was interesting because it seemed to assume that, despite a history of disadvantages being heaped on tobacco industry packaging, I had been wondering whether the industry could, suddenly and miraculously, expect to be advantaged by being exempted from some of the proposed rules.
In fact, my thoughts had been going in another direction. I had been wondering whether the tobacco industry and its much put-upon consumers might be well served by being treated equally with other industries for once. As I understand it, the commission proposals, in part, are about incentivizing innovation, something the industry might want to examine.
Buying in Bulk
If the proposals applied across the board, the tobacco products industry might, for instance, be encouraged to participate in refillable initiatives, which are mentioned in the proposals as a way of reducing the use of packaging materials. It could be imagined that, under such a scheme, cigarette consumers might buy from their local store cigarettes obtained from bulk packs and taken away in reusable containers. Clearly, with the exception of the bulk packs, which would be seen only by a limited number of people, possibly mainly nonsmokers, this would put paid to the grotesque health warnings that smokers, unlike alcohol drinkers, have to endure.
I cannot imagine the tobacco industry being allowed to apply such a system given that it has in the past been dissuaded, both by external or, rather more shockingly, internal forces, from introducing environmental incentives into its packaging because of the idea that, in the mind of consumers, environmental claims equal health claims. This idea, I suspect, would be impossible to defend, but it persists.
But why should the industry not be allowed to apply such a system? Where is the moral line to be drawn here? Is it right for the commission, despite what it says, to apply exemptions to the tobacco industry? Is it defensible for the commission to hang onto these health warnings, which have dubious moral or practical underpinnings, in an attempt to dissuade smokers from continuing with their habit? Remember, to disallow such a tobacco industry initiative would, in the commission’s view, discourage the use of more environmentally friendly packaging and thereby make the world a riskier place for everybody.
Certainly, if it does decide to disadvantage the tobacco industry, it should do the same with any number of other industries, such as the automotive industry, which destroys lives in much the same way (and other ways) as the tobacco industry is said to destroy lives. Sections of the automotive industry, too, have been deceptive about the risks caused by the use of their products and, in their case, about the extent to which such use endangers the public at large rather than just the users of their products.
Action Needed
Having said that, while I do not work in packaging and cannot speak for the practicality or efficaciousness of individual proposals, it is clear to me that action needs to be taken in respect of the three stated objectives of the proposed revisions. Firstly, to prevent the generation of packaging waste by reducing it in quantity, restricting unnecessary packaging and promoting reusable and refillable packaging.
Secondly, to boost high-quality (“closed loop”) recycling by making all packaging on the EU market recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. And thirdly, to reduce the need for primary natural resources by creating a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials and increasing the use of recycled plastics in packaging through mandatory targets.
I like the emphasis on preventing wherever possible the generation of packaging, though it is important to note the commission makes clear that packaging plays a vital role in protecting and preserving products.
I also like the commission’s emphasis on having clear and consistent labeling on every piece of packaging to indicate what it is made of and to what waste stream it should go. This is not the case currently. The commission, in its proposals, makes the point that regulatory approaches differ from one member state to another, which means that, for instance, labeling requirements differ.
One concern has to be whether the new rules can be made to work, because previous rules haven’t, at least not satisfactorily. The commission says that its directive on packaging and packaging waste (94/62/EC – PPWD), which, under the latest proposals, is due to be repealed, was a regulatory failure that cannot be remedied simply by better enforcement of the current rules. Moreover, the commission added, the available data hinted that neither measures undertaken by the member states based on the current PPWD nor those based on the ORD [2020 Own Resource Decision] or SUPD [2019 Single-Use Plastic Directive], both of which would be amended under the proposals, were sufficient to ensure that they met all the specific targets for the recycling rates set out in the PPWD.
In trying to make the proposed rules more effective, the commission is aiming for them to be bound up in a regulation rather than in a directive, which seems to be a step in the right direction. Regulations are binding legal acts that must be applied in their entirety throughout every member state whereas directives are legislative acts that set goals that all states must achieve but that allow room for individual states to devise their own laws for achieving those goals.
Finally, the press note included a couple of comments, and in part, Virginijus Sinkevicius, the EU commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, made the point that we had all at one time or another received products that, ordered online, had arrived in excessively large boxes. I’m sure there is a lesson to be learned from this claim, but I hope that such knowledge does not lead only to the examination of packaging, which is merely a symptom of a social problem. Tracking back to the cause will show, I think, that we need to examine, too, our buying habits. For those of us lucky enough to be able to do so, we should surely try to buy less stuff and only from shops to which we can walk or cycle carrying reusable containers—including elegant cigarette cases.
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

May 1, 2023
Oman Adopts Plain Packaging

Photo: Chris
The government of Oman will require tobacco companies to sell their products in generic packaging, reports Muscat Daily
The Sultanate has become the second country in the region, after Saudi Arabia, to adopt the measure.
The World Health Organization office for the Eastern Mediterranean welcomed Oman’s action, describing it as “significant and pioneering.”
According to the health body, the step is consistent with the obligations of the states that are party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The move is also in line with the sultanate’s plans to achieve a 30 percent reduction in tobacco consumption by 2025.
Under the new rules, health warnings must cover at least 65 percent of tobacco packaging, while the brand name must be printed in a standardized font and color.
March 13, 2023
FDA Appeals Rejection of Graphic Warnings

Image: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has appealed a court ruling that found the agency’s graphic health warning rule unconstitutional, reports CSP.
On Dec. 7, a federal judge in Texas blocked the FDA from enforcing a rule requiring tobacco companies to print graphic health warnings on their products, saying they violated free speech protections under the First Amendment.
The graphic cigarette health warning rule required manufacturers and retailers who sell cigarettes to rotate 11 health warnings on cigarette packs, which consisted of textual statements and color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of cigarette smoking.
The Texas court said the graphic cigarette health warnings would have compelled manufacturers and retailers to speak by displaying cigarette packages on store shelves and advertising cigarettes when, if given the choice, manufacturers and retailers would choose not to do so. The court also said the warnings were not purely factual and were open to interpretation by consumers and more extensive than necessary.
The FDA appealed that decision on Feb. 1 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, according to court documents.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 instructs the FDA to create visual health warnings, but the D.C. Circuit in 2012 blocked the agency’s first attempt, saying that regulators had not convincingly demonstrated that the warnings would actually reduce smoking.
In March 2020, the FDA released the final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes that feature some of the lesser known but still serious health risks of smoking, such as diabetes, on the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of the area on the top of cigarette advertisements.
Several tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., filed a First Amendment challenge in April 2020. The rule was set to take effect in November 2023 after the deadline was repeatedly pushed back by court.
According to health groups, the U.S. has fallen behind other countries with its tobacco control policies. Prior to 2009, when Congress passed the Tobacco Control Act, only 18 countries required graphic warnings for tobacco products, they pointed out. Today, more than 120 countries require them.
February 24, 2023
Parkside Appoints New Business Manager
Ian Dewar
Parkside Flexibles has appointed Ian Dewar as business unit manager for its Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, operation.
Dewar’s substantial knowledge of materials, additives and coating formulations will provide Parkside customers with the expertise to develop packaging that balances plastic reduction with barrier performance, all while complying with relevant legislation.
“We are delighted to welcome Ian to our growing team in the region. This is an exciting time for our business as we strive to meet the evolving needs of APAC [Asia-Pacific] customers and consumers, and we expect Ian, with the extensive experience he has gathered throughout his career, will play a big part in that aim,” said Paula Birch, managing director of Parkside Asia.
“2022 has been a big year for flexible packaging in the region following key carbon commitments from the Chinese government, the Indian government’s single-use plastic ban, and many more legislative changes. Ian’s experience puts Parkside in the strongest position for APAC customers seeking to improve their sustainable packaging portfolio with high-performance flexible packaging solutions.”
“There are many challenges to overcome and opportunities to make the most of in the APAC region, and I’m ready to roll my sleeves up and deliver for our customers in 2023,” said Dewar.
With sites in the U.K. and Malaysia, Parkside employs almost 200 staff worldwide.
January 11, 2023