| IAPRI membership continues to expand The range of new members joining IAPRI over the last few months is further evidence of the association’s continued value not just to research and university institutes but also to manufacturers of finished goods – and across continents. On the finished-goods side, Belgian-based Puratos is a supplier of bakery, patisserie and chocolate-making ingredients, supplying to artisanal, industrial, foodservice and, in some cases, retail customers. Its packaging development team is based at the company headquarters in Groot-Bijgaarden, on the outskirts of Brussels. The new corporate member has 9,000 employees, operates subsidiaries in 71 countries and runs 64 production units spread across 46 countries worldwide. Staying in Benelux, the Lifecycle Assessment Centre (LCA Centre) is based in Beuningen, near Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Many members will have the LCA Centre’s packaging sustainability and regulatory advisor Agnieszka van Batavia deliver her well-informed keynote address at IAPRI’s University of Twente Symposium last summer. The company carries out LCA studies in accordance with ISO standards. Other services include training, research, innovation and wider consultancy in areas relating to packaging and sustainability, including in the formulation of environmental claims. Flex Institute of Technology (FIT) is a not-for-profit organization operating under the auspices of Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Its principal site is in Sorocaba in the Sao Paulo region, established in 2003. Since then a further three sites have been developed. FIT employs over 260 professionals of all types and undertakes over 60 research projects every year. Broad technology themes at FIT include sustainability/the circular economy, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT). Indonesian membership organization First Packaging Asia, located in Lippo Cikarang just outside Jakarta, says its aim is to provide a platform for education and training in the packaging industry. Beyond this, objectives include the promotion of networking and the exchange of ideas. Among the benefits of individual or company membership, First Packaging offers monthly seminars covering flexible packaging, labels, cartons and corrugated board. Training covers print and packaging. Published: 11/29/19 |