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Our Dixie, as we like to remember him, passed away on 24 July at the age of 86. He was given a fond farewell at his funeral on 9 August, where many were gathered from his family, neighbours and those associated with him during his working life.He was born in Cambridge and grew up in the area. He attained degrees in pharmacology and biochemistry and took on medical duties on a troop ship during the war. His career provided his first insight into packaging at Boots and followed with a number of years at Fisons.It was inevitable that Dixie would become involved with the Institute of Packaging which he joined a few years after its 1947 inauguration. His main interest was education and he created the first East Midlands Diploma course in Nottingham, and soon extended this to 6 other centres in the Midlands.

via Obituary: Desmond ‘Dixie’ Dean, packaging education pioneer | packagingnews.co.uk.

Controversial beer firm BrewDog is using stuffed animals to package what it says is the world’s strongest and most expensive beer.

The Scottish brewer’s The End of History beer has a 55%ABV alcohol content and the 12 330ml bottles that have been made cost £500 each.

The beer bottles are packaged in stuffed animals – seven stoats, four squirrels and one hare – that were hand crafted by a Doncaster-based taxidermist.

via Brewdog packs ‘world’s most expensive beer’ in dead animals | packagingnews.co.uk.

I’d love to hear the views of a PET producer as to whether this is a genuine ‘green’ saving. It sounds convincing – Aluminium is infinitely recyclable, but is it still a benefit when energy is taken into consideration? I hope it is. (Martin).

German retail giant Penny Markt is swapping the company’s ten PET beverage lines for aluminium cans.The company switched to 50cl cans for Bitburger, König Pilsner and its own Adelskronen beer brands, while 33cl cans are used for Pepsi Cola, Pepsi Cola Light and Schwip Schwap carbonated drinks lines.Fanta, Sprite and Coca-Cola are packed in a new slimline can and Red Bull Energy Drink has been returned to its original slim packaging.

via Penny Markt Switches to Aluminium Cans – Packaging Gateway.

Hoorah for East Midlands Packaging Businesses! I chair the East Midlands Packaging Society and we visited Mercury last year. Very interesting too. (Martin)

Mercury Packaging was recently shortlisted for a Food Processing Award. One of five finalists in the Packaging Solutions category, the leading UK flexible packaging specialist was nominated for the variety of high quality, printed film-on-the-reel products supplied to Pointer Petfoods for its newly launched dog biscuits and treats.Utilising the latest flexographic printing and lamination techniques, the film-on-the-reel was specially developed by Mercury Packaging to fulfill the pet food manufacturer’s protective, practical and decorative packaging requirements. The British Retail Consortium BRC approved laminated films use a combination of substrates including orientated and cast polypropylene OPP / CPP and polyester.

via Mercury Packaging is finalists in Food Processing Awards | The Grocery Trader.

Here’s a link to an interesting viewpoint article from the BBC website, that makes the very good point that plastic bags aren’t the demons that people paint them as, and the real problem with plastic bags is litter, not Carbon footprint. I believe I’ve been making the same point for a couple of years now. Plastic bags are strong, light and waterproof. Most single use bags can be used a couple of times. What we do at home is to save the stronger plastic bags that clothes come in and reuse them, often for six months or more. There’s a closed loop tip. Reuse things for the same or similar purpose that they had in the first place and you save resources, but even if you can’t, maybe we should be looking at how we get to the supermarket rather than how we carry our goods home. (Martin)

We’re all told to watch our carbon footprint these days, but some so-called “environmental nasties” are not as bad as you might think – at least from a carbon point of view, says Mike Berners-Lee.

With so much heated debate about the carbon footprint of things, it would be easy to feel guilty about everything or just to give up caring. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is seen as a key way to reduce climate change by a number of experts, but calculating those footprints can be hideously complicated.

However, with a few provisos, we can actually afford to chill out about certain carbon footprints, which aren't as bad as many of us might think. The figures don't need to be too precise before people can start making sensible, carbon-savvy choices. Even quite a basic understanding can lead to surprising conclusions.

via BBC News – A bad reputation.

Big winners include groundbreakers such as Exal’s coil-to-can technology, Coke’s PlantBottle, the compostable SunChips bag, and Entropy Solutions’ Greenbox.DuPont announced the winners of its 22nd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation during a unique, global Webcast on May 25—the DuPont Packaging Exchange—that featured live perspectives from both competition judges and winners. This year, the DuPont Awards focused on the essential elements needed to drive breakthroughs in packaging. Innovative new developments, along with cost/waste reduction and improved sustainability were the criteria.

via DuPont winners show ‘impressive strides’ in improved sustainability | Greener Package.

Question: have exhibitions in our industry had their day? Perhaps that should be: have big, unfocussed exhibitions in our industry had their day? I spent much of Tuesday walking around Total, marvelling at how few people were there. This was the crossover day too with IPEX next door, so you would have thought that anyone interested in print as well as packaging would have been there to go to both shows. That said, some stands were very busy, The Packaging Society in particular seemed to be fully occupied, probably with people looking for alternative ways to meet potential customers!

I’ve always thought that Total was too broadly drawn, and maybe the fact that it now occupies less than one hall proves it. Contrast that with the continuing success of the Easyfairs concept where the shows are very clearly defined and have a solid idea of their target markets. It will be interesting to see what happens in three years time (Martin)

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I’ve just installed the iPhone Wordpress app and this is just checking that it works! Wish I had had it yesterday when I was at Total Processing and Packaging at the NEC. Can’t say it was packed, though the Packaging Society stand was very busy. (Martin)

Any packaging people who want a bit of pomp and ceremony with their packaging should look at this, not only because of the event, which I am sure will be excellent, but also because as a packaging professional you can join the Stationers Livery Company, which leads to being a Freeman of the City of Laondon, leading your geese over the bridge and all that (a myth, disappointingly!) (Martin)

Tesco head of packaging Sonia Raja is to headline the speakers exploring the challenges facing the industry at an exclusive event next month.Raja will join Incpen director Jane Bickerstaffe and Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle at London's Stationers Hall to debate the environmental issues facing both packaging manufacturers and users

via Tesco’s Sonia Raja to headline Stationers’ packaging debate | packagingnews.co.uk.

Now, you see, this is what I think biodegradeable ought to mean! (Martin)

Scientists from the ?zmir Institute of High Technology ?YTE have recently developed flexible packaging materials by incorporating substances such as egg white and corn protein into edible film. The scientists hope to see production of the new product within three to four years.

via Turkish scientists generate flexible edible food packaging.