EasyFairs 2010: Innovation and the Environment

February 03, 2010

Packaging Today


The co-located shows – easyFairs Packaging Innovations and easyFairs Ecopack – will run at the NEC, Birmingham on 24-25 February. Mike Taylor previews some of the new products to be exhibited.

 

EasyFairs Packaging Innovations, which showcases primary packaging, and Ecopack, the event for environmentally responsible packaging, will be co-located with Packtech, focusing on packaging technology and machinery, and the Contract Pack outsourcing event. Our sister magazine Packaging Today previewed Packtech in the January issue, and ContractPacking provides a taste of Contract Pack, in its latest issue.

 

A new pillow-shaped hotmelt is the latest form of adhesive from Beardow Adams (stand 584). An addition to the company’s EcoBlock range of easy to handle film wrapped hotmelts, it has been specifically developed for end-of-line labellers. The advantage of the EcoBlock format is that it can be put straight into a hotmelt tank, the thin outer film melting with the adhesive.

 

‘Glass is the natural choice for anyone serious about packaging that is environmentally friendly,’ states Beatson Clark (stand 512). ‘As one of the only materials that is infinitely recyclable, it can be used repeatedly without degenerating, which is important when we are all facing the risks of man-made climate change’.

 

Working with Foundation ‘t Konings Loo, The Box (stand 661) developed a tin that represents the main building of the Het Loo palace, in The Netherlands. The tin is suitable as a gift and for the packing of tea or biscuits.

 

Burgopak (stand 653) and design agency GR/DD have created a novel pop-up package for a promotional version of Sony’s new EyePet reality PS3 game. Resembling a house-shaped pet carrier, it features a pop-up mechanism where the EyePet character jumps up as the carrier opens from a hinged ‘roof’. The package expands entirely, presenting the contents – the game’s software, literature and hardware – ‘in an enjoyable and organised manner’.

 

Burgopak’s structural design team developed a simple linkage and friction lock that allows the internal surfaces to move through 90 degrees and lock to form a flat table where the contents are securely held.

 

To read the rest of this article, go to Packaging Today.