Anhui Biopin IOT Group

AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings recently organized an exclusive webinar, bringing together key stakeholders from the metal packaging industry to explore how brand owners, canmakers, and coatings suppliers can build more compliant, resilient, and competitive supply chains amid Europe’s rapidly changing regulatory environment. The webinar was hosted by Tessa Slagter, Sustainable Innovation Manager at AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings, and featured insights from experts spanning public affairs, consumer brands, and packaging coatings sectors.   Hans van Bochove, Head of EU Affairs at The Heineken Company, shared a brand owner’s perspective. He detailed how the leading beverage firm is preparing for upcoming changes under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), and how these regulations are shaping its packaging strategies. He also outlined Heineken’s efforts to meet consumer sustainability expectations while balancing cost-effectiveness and brand distinctiveness.   Diane Watson, Director at Rud Pedersen Public Affairs, delivered a detailed overview of upcoming EU regulations. She emphasized the importance of a proactive approach to anticipate these changes, ensuring product portfolios remain future-proof. Watson highlighted key policy areas to monitor, including reforms to the EU’s chemical regulatory framework, the Circular Economy Act, and updates to food contact materials legislation.   Representing AkzoNobel, Chris Bradford, Market Director of Coil & Packaging Coatings at AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings, noted that after 50 years of stability, the regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly—with growing autonomy of different regulatory regions leading to a fragmented patchwork of laws. Despite these regional differences, he stressed a common global trend: increased focus on bisphenols. As such, future-ready coatings innovations are critical for manufacturers to achieve proactive compliance, minimizing risks and costs associated with frequent product adjustments. Bradford added that anticipating regulations and adopting robust, future-proof technologies ahead of time helps companies avoid ill-advised substitutions and unpreparedness.   Bradford commented: “This session highlighted the need for closer collaboration between regulators, brand owners, manufacturers, and coatings suppliers. The complexity and speed of regulatory changes mean no part of the value chain can afford to operate in isolation. Our goal with this webinar was to foster dialogue, share insights, and help prepare the industry for the future—Shaping Change Together.”

The UK Government has released its long-awaited Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy, outlining a national commitment to fortify resilient supply chains, speed up industrial decarbonization, and enhance domestic capabilities in materials vital to economic and national security. The new strategy recognizes the urgent global competition for such resources, fueled by trends like electrification, low-carbon infrastructure development, defense systems, aerospace, and digital technology advancement.   Notably, this is the first time aluminium has been officially designated as both a critical and strategic growth material for the UK economy. This acknowledgment aligns with the sector’s long-standing understanding: aluminium serves as the backbone of modern manufacturing, a key enabler of net-zero technologies, and a globally contested resource. The announcement solidifies aluminium’s status beyond a mere industrial metal—it is now a material of national significance.   Implications for the UK Aluminium Sector   The strategy pledges to boost the share of critical materials sourced domestically, through both new supply channels and recycling initiatives. It sets long-term goals for the UK to meet more of its industrial needs via domestic processing, circular material flows, and technological innovation. Importantly, it prioritizes investment and policy support for mid-stream processing, recycling, and advanced manufacturing—areas where the UK aluminium sector already boasts strengths.   This direction strikes a chord with the aluminium industry. Unlike many critical minerals where the UK lacks natural reserves, aluminium’s value lies not in extraction but in the country’s ability to recycle, refine, upgrade, and reuse it to high standards—building sovereign capabilities and industrial resilience. The policy’s clear focus on circularity and domestic production underscores the growing strategic importance of the UK’s aluminium remelting, scrap utilization, and downstream manufacturing sectors.   The Role of the UK Aluminium Alliance   The government’s strategy closely aligns with the work of the UK Aluminium Alliance, which unites industry leaders to compile evidence, data, and policy influence around domestic capabilities. This includes mapping skills, scrap flows, processing capacity, trade vulnerabilities, infrastructure gaps, and opportunities for strategic investment. The Alliance’s core mission mirrors the national strategy’s goals: unlocking the full value of UK aluminium and preventing high-quality scrap and secondary materials from being wasted through export or underutilization.   The Alliance is highlighting why aluminium should be viewed not just as tradable waste, but as a strategic national asset. Enabling UK manufacturers to secure a supply of low-carbon aluminium is not only an environmental objective—it is also crucial for maintaining competitiveness.   Looking Ahead   Aluminium’s inclusion in the UK Critical Minerals Strategy marks a pivotal moment. As the government focuses on secure supply chains, carbon performance, and resilient domestic capabilities, the aluminium sector has a unique opportunity to shape industrial strategy direction. The UK already excels in remelting, recycling, and advanced processing; with proper support, these strengths can anchor secure supply chains and deliver competitive advantages across multiple strategic industries.   However, this recognition is just a first step, not an end goal. The real test will be how this status translates into practical policies, investments, and regulatory decisions in the coming years. Through the UK Aluminium Alliance, ALFED will continue to provide evidence, engage with the government, and collaborate with members to ensure aluminium’s newly designated strategic status is matched by meaningful support for domestic production, recycling, and downstream manufacturing.

Packaging firm Trivium Packaging has announced that its net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This confirmation means Trivium’s long-term emissions reduction goals align with a 1.5°C global warming pathway and the 2050 net-zero objective.   Michael Mapes, Trivium’s CEO, noted: “SBTi’s approval reinforces our decarbonization commitment for our teams and partners. We’ll keep focusing on sustainable sourcing, scaling renewable electricity use, prioritizing eco-friendly design, cutting energy use while boosting efficiency—and we’ll share annual progress updates openly.”   Approved Net-Zero Commitments (2050, base year 2020):   Cut absolute Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 90%   Reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions by 90% across the value chain   To hit these targets, Trivium will lean on key actions: sustainable sourcing, more renewable power, ecodesign, energy conservation, and efficiency improvements.   As of December 2024, the company has already made progress: 31% cuts to Scope 1 & 2 emissions (vs. 2020), plus 19% fewer Scope 3 emissions. It also holds EcoVadis Platinum and CDP A List status, strengthening its climate credentials.   Trivium will report yearly on its progress, with third-party verification in its annual sustainability report.   The SBTi (backed by groups like CDP, UN Global Compact, and WWF) helps companies set science-aligned GHG reduction targets.