Berry Global Unveils New Circular Stretch Film Innovation and Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma
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The opening of Berry Global's 'Circular Innovation and Training Center' represents a significant step towards sustainability within the packaging industry. The focus on developing sustainable, flexible packaging solutions aligns with the growing consumer and regulatory demand for environmentally friendly products. The use of recycled content and material downgauging in the production of stretch films can lead to a reduction in resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which is crucial given the packaging industry's impact on waste and pollution.
From a sustainability perspective, such innovation centers are vital for the transition to a circular economy, where products are designed to be reused, remanufactured, or recycled back into new products. This not only helps in minimizing the environmental footprint but also potentially reduces costs associated with raw material procurement and waste management for businesses.
Berry Global's investment in the new innovation center could be a strategic move to strengthen its market position in the flexible packaging sector. The center's role in product development and hands-on training suggests a commitment to innovation and customer education, which are key differentiators in a competitive market. By offering advanced training sessions on topics like 'Stretch Film 101' and 'Wrapping Dynamics and Optimization', Berry is not only promoting its products but also empowering distributors with knowledge, potentially leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.
The emphasis on ultra-high-performance films that meet sustainability criteria may also open up new market opportunities and attract clients looking for greener packaging options. This can have a positive impact on Berry's revenue streams and stock performance as investors and consumers alike are increasingly valuing sustainability in their investment and purchase decisions.
The development of highly innovative products at Berry Global's new center is rooted in materials science and engineering. The center's focus on film characterization and performance testing is critical for advancing the properties of stretch films. These properties, such as tensile strength and puncture resistance, are essential for ensuring that the films can maintain load integrity while using less material. Downgauging, or reducing the thickness of the film without compromising performance, is a complex challenge that requires a deep understanding of polymer behavior and processing techniques.
Moreover, the ability to incorporate recycled content into new film products without degrading their quality is an important aspect of sustainable materials development. The center's state-of-the-art equipment for measuring film properties will be instrumental in achieving these innovations while maintaining the high standards required for packaging applications.
Center will support testing and development of sustainable, flexible packaging solutions and hands-on training
“Now more than ever, the ability to access premium films with tailored performance and circularity benefits is crucial for our distributors, as they strive to meet the evolving sustainability demands of consumers and the market at large,” said Phil Stolz, EVP & General Manager for Flexibles. “This new center represents a significant investment in education, technology, and sustainability to help our customers unpack complexities and understand what’s possible for the flexible packaging market.”
Stretch films are made with thin, light-weight, extruded plastic and wrapped around a product to achieve load integrity. This promotes sustainability by eliminating or reducing breakage, damage, and loss of products during shipment. Showcasing a range of state-of-the-art pallet wrapping machines and film evaluation equipment, Berry’s new center will spur the development of new Bmore Circular Solutions across ultra-high-performance films that support a circular economy through the use of recycled content, material downgauging, and more. Lighter weight stretch films require less raw materials and energy to produce, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plastic waste.
Utilizing state-of-the-art film characterization and performance testing technology, the new site will measure the variable properties and behaviors of stretch films, including:
- Film characterization and quality measurement to quickly analyze fundamental film properties, like thickness, width, length, weight, density, modulus, elongation, tensile strength, puncture resistance, tear resistance, and cling force.
- Performance testing to accurately assess how film properties will perform in the field, including pre-stretch ratio, force-to-load ratio, neck-down ratio, roping ratio, film memory, film relaxation, load deformation, load shifting, and load failure.
The center will also create a space for distributors to broaden their knowledge of Berry’s stretch film products and applications through a range of educational and immersive training sessions led by internal subject matter experts. To cater to the unique interests of distributors, these training courses will cover a variety of topics, including Stretch Film 101, Wrapping Dynamics and Optimization, the Benefits of Berry’s Ultra and Premium Circular Films, Partnership Building, and more.
To learn more about Berry’s Stretch Film Innovation and Training Center or schedule a training session for your distribution team, please contact stretchfilms@berryglobal.com.
About Berry
At Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE: BERY), we create innovative packaging solutions that we believe make life better for people and the planet. We do this every day by leveraging our unmatched global capabilities, sustainability leadership, and deep innovation expertise to serve customers of all sizes around the world. Harnessing the strength in our diversity and industry-leading talent of over 40,000 global employees across more than 250 locations, we partner with customers to develop, design, and manufacture innovative products with an eye toward the circular economy. The challenges we solve and the innovations we pioneer benefit our customers at every stage of their journey. For more information, visit our website, or connect with us on LinkedIn or X. (BERY-E)
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Anna Raben
+1 812.492.1387
mediarelations@berryglobal.com
Source: Berry Global Group, Inc.
