Only one week to go until the winners of the Sustainability Awards 2021 are unveiled at Fachpack! In our series of finalist interviews, today we find out about ACMA’s Ecoshell, a solution that sets out to support the industry in the plastic to paper transition.
Congratulations on being selected by the international judging panel as a Sustainability Awards 2021 finalist! Could you please introduce your successful entry and what’s innovative about it?
Ecoshell is a new package that aims to support the consumer goods industry in the plastic to paper transition. The power of Ecoshell lies also in the attractive shape and originality of the package. Compared to traditional cardboard solutions, it represents a different shape that allows brands to differentiate themselves on the shelf. Moreover, it is scalable in size and proportions to suit the needs of different industries and for different commercial purposes. It is a registered design and can therefore satisfy the need for exclusivity.
The successful key factor is the player from which this innovation is coming from: ACMA! We are a packaging machinery company, which means that the selling proposition here is not only the package itself, but the entire ecosystem of innovative packaging forming and filling technology. It’s all engineered to be efficient, cost effective and of course sustainable across the entire supply chain.
What are the environmental challenges in packaging that your entry addresses, and what impact do you hope it will make?
People are getting more and more sensitive to environmental issues. In the most developed economies, when consumers open a new plastic container, they immediately reconnect to the impact that it will have on the environment. ACMA has pushed on this, designing and patenting a new pack type and filling system which is meant to be sustainable, stepping the engineering exercise up to the next level and taking in consideration the wide picture and the full supply chain.
Furthermore, the box is created from flat cardboard, which allows a reduction in logistics costs in terms of transport and storage compared to plastic containers due to lighter weight and lower volume. The presence of a lid locking system facilitates the re-closability of the package, making the joint safe and increasing the life of the product.
I’d like to ask you about the broader picture beyond your successful entry. ‘Sustainability’ in packaging is multi-dimensional – both in terms of objectives and challenges. Could you comment on the most important roadblocks you identify from your position in the value chain, and the kinds of solutions you would like to see addressing them (e.g. areas of technological innovation, collaboration, regulation)?
In our industry usually customers interact with two different players, machinery suppliers and packaging suppliers. In this case, ACMA has changed the game, designing “in the name of efficiency and sustainability” a whole concept which starts from the packaging and entails the machine.
In this way, the customer can assure a unique technology that guarantees efficiency and sustainability from the package design to the forming and filling systems. In terms of material supplier, it is really up to the customers’ preferences. This new vision challenges the traditional packaging process of FMCG manufacturers by suggesting a different perspective which starts with sustainable packaging design and addresses the whole system. ACMA targets to take the packaging industry to the next level!
