AlliedFlex and SmartSolve advance sustainability

AlliedFlex and SmartSolve have partnered to develop and commercialize packaging that combines flexible packaging materials with packaging machinery and automation, helping brand owners move sustainable packaging concepts from development to commercial production.

The collaboration brings together AlliedFlex's expertise in flexible packaging machinery, pouch, sachet, stick pack and stand-up pouch packaging, filling and sealing technologies, and packaging system integration with SmartSolve’s portfolio of water-soluble packaging materials.

Consumer packaged goods companies are under increasing pressure to reduce packaging waste, minimize dependence on conventional materials, and develop packaging formats that support ambitious sustainability objectives.

But introducing new material is only part of the challenge. For sustainable packaging innovation to achieve meaningful commercial adoption, new materials must be capable of running reliably and efficiently on production-scale packaging equipment.

'The packaging industry doesn’t simply need new sustainable materials. It needs sustainable materials that can be successfully commercialized,' said Dennis Calamusa, president and CEO of AlliedFlex. 'Our collaboration with SmartSolve brings material innovation and packaging machinery expertise together so we can help customers move from an exciting concept to a practical, scalable packaging solution.'

Through the collaboration, AlliedFlex and SmartSolve will work together to evaluate packaging applications, material performance, package configurations, filling and sealing requirements and machinery parameters necessary to successfully commercialize SmartSolve materials across targeted applications.

The companies will focus on areas that include water-soluble and environmentally responsible packaging applications, flexible pouch and packet formats, machinery compatibility and material machinability, filling and sealing performance, package design and application development, production-scale testing and validation, packaging automation and system integration, and commercialization support for brand owners and contract packagers.

Johnathan Jakubowski, CEO of SmartSolve, said: 'Innovation becomes meaningful when customers can put it into production. By collaborating with AlliedFlex, we are combining SmartSolve’s material technology with extensive flexible packaging machinery and application expertise to help customers evaluate, validate and ultimately commercialize new packaging possibilities.'

AlliedFlex has long championed flexible packaging as an alternative to traditional rigid packaging formats because of its potential to reduce material consumption, package weight, transportation requirements and overall packaging footprint.

The collaboration with SmartSolve represents another step forward.

'Flexible packaging has already demonstrated that we can accomplish more with less packaging,' Calamusa added. 'SmartSolve challenges us to take that thinking even further. The opportunity is to combine innovative materials with innovative machinery and create packaging solutions that simply weren’t practical before.'

Under the collaboration, AlliedFlex and SmartSolve will work directly with brand owners, product manufacturers and contract packagers to identify suitable applications and conduct packaging trials.

The companies expect the collaboration to provide customers with a more direct development path, from initial package concept and material evaluation through machinery testing, validation and production implementation.