Board Converting News, September 21, 2020

Samotis Discusses BW Papersystems, HP Partnership At SCE Tech Talk The partnership between HP and BW Papersystems could have implications for the board converting industry. Ted Samotis, Director of Go-To-Market for HP PageWide In- dustrial Corrugated, presented a brief overview during the SuperCorrExpo Tech Talks: What’s New Virtual Sessions. The plan is to combine the HP C500 single pass digital press with a BW Papersystems rotary die-cutter. The solu- tion will enable corrugated packaging providers to deliver digital capabilities, ideal for displays, personalization, and e-commerce. “Our intent is to deliver on a low-cost value stream that can compete in markets that you may or may not be in today, specifically litho laminating, litho labeling and smaller quantity post-print,” Samotis said. During the Zoom teleconference, Samotis showed a schematic of the line which included a standalone sheet fed digital press coupled with conveyors and a load turner feeding into a rotary die-cutter. The line is optimized for a limited number of structures and many graphics. “That’s where the sweet spot is for this value stream,” he said. There are no installations currently, however, the com- panies are in conversation with customers interested in the new digital solution, according to Samotis. Both HP and DW Papersystems will be at ConneXion virtual expo, which goes live in November.

Ontario’s Blue Box (CONT’D FROM PAGE 41 )

what subdued, they totalled some $43.7 million in 2018 or 51 percent of total Blue Box revenues. What’s Being Collected Through Blue Box? Most of this recovered paper is supplied to Ontario packaging mills that use it to produce new, 100 percent recycled content, boxes and cartons. Ontario thus already has a home-grown circular economy where used paper is recycled over and over again. It is in nobody’s interests to destabilise this situation by penalising the local paper industry, even inadvertently. The materials that are not doing very well in Ontario’s Blue Box system are widely known (mostly plastics) and are the target of much of the bad press about the Blue Box. But we have to be very careful when coming up with solutions to the plastics’ problem that we don’t imperil the Blue Box itself. One solution is for companies to get out of plastics entirely. Another is to launch re-use programs. A third is to introduce deposit-refund schemes that have far higher material recovery rates than Ontario’s current broader-based multi-material approach. Then there are return-to-retail options, landfill bans and surcharges, min- imum recycled content requirements, diversion targets, and EPR fees. But these options, my friends, deserve a whole new blog by itself. Stay tuned. John Mullinder is the Executive Director of the Paper and Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC).

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September 21, 2020

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