Call to ditch plastic food and drink packaging for ‘One Plastic Free Day’

Flint Group Packaging Inks, a global leader in the supply of print consumables and services to the packaging industry, has signed up to the HolyGrail 2.0 project that seeks to solve the complexities surrounding the recycling of post-consumer plastic packaging. Project HolyGrail was established in 2017 to speed up the transition to a global circular economy for plastics by improving recycling rates through more effective, high quality sorting of materials. In 2020, the second phase of the project, HolyGrail 2.0, was launched to open it up as a cross-value chain initiative with greater scale and scope. Partners involved in the project are exploring the viability of tagging packaging with unique, machine-readable codes to improve automated detection and sorting within current recycling systems. One technique being considered is to apply an optical code utilising digital watermarking technology. The watermark would be applied directly within the packaging artwork and printed onto the expanse of the printed package, usually in a repeatedly tiled manner. Paul Winstanley, Senior Director – Technology & Innovation at Flint Group Packaging Inks, commented: “HolyGrail 2.0 aligns perfectly with our vision to support the packaging industry achieve a circular economy by developing responsibly-built products and sustainable solutions. It made absolute sense to commit ourselves to working with the European Brand Association (‘AIM’), which is spearheading the project, and other HolyGrail partners, to further develop this technology that will significantly increase the recycling of plastic packaging. “Flint Group Packaging Inks can bring some unique capabilities and expertise to the project to drive the development of digital watermarking and coding. This includes our Global Innovation Centre where we can design supporting ink and coating technology and test full scale simulations of any proposed solutions.” One of the biggest hurdles to achieving high volumes of quality recycled plastics lies in the complexity…

Raleigh, N.C., has become a pioneer of true sustainability. The city implemented a three-pronged strategy the focuses on: Environmental Stewardship, Social Equity and Economic Strength.  So the city is not just installing plug-in stations for hybrid and electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gases, it’s making buildings more efficient, reclaiming and recycling materials and resources, creating green jobs and improving infrastructure, transportation, storm water management and parks and recreation. In fact, Raleigh was named the #2 Fasted-Growing Clean (Green) Economy Job Growth among 100 Largest Metros by The Brookings Institution.  It’s a three-level plan that’s made Raleigh the first LED City on the planet and given us a chance at a higher quality of life. And meeting planners can also benefit from these practices by their events and attendees utilizing these green infrastructures and features around Raleigh.

Pondering the pandemic with 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients…  Amid the return of in-person interactions at Caltech’s 2021 Reunion Weekend, one event brought together three of the four 2021 winners of the Distinguished Alumni Award: NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, PhD (MS ’93, PhD ’97); Barbara Burger, PhD (PhD ’87), president of technology ventures and vice president of innovation at Chevron; and Laurie Leshin, PhD (MS ’89, PhD ’95), president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (DAA winner Charles Elachi, PhD [MS ’69, PhD ’71], Caltech professor emeritus of electrical engineering and planetary science and former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was unable to attend.)