2024 saw us celebrate our platinum anniversary after 70 years of packaging excellence – and we want to thank every customer, partner, supplier, and team member who played their part.
It was a year full of new product launches, innovation, and awards success – and we’re bringing that same energy into 2025. This is important for our customers, because 2025 is set to be one of the most pivotal years for packaging in recent history. 2025 will see the industry preparing for the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) – set to be enforced from mid-2026 – and the UK’s implementation of EPR fees. In addition, brands and retailers who set sustainability targets for 2025 will face a ticking clock – and those who have set targets for 2030 will not be far behind.
With the stakes for 2025 so high, you might be looking for inspiration to enhance your packaging portfolio next year. If so, you’re in luck – keep reading to join us for a look back at some of the highlights of the last twelve months below.
Kick-starting the flexible recycling revolution with Recoflex™
After years of development, our groundbreaking Recoflex™ range of recyclable flexible packaging materials made its debut in 2024. Available in a range of configurations in both paper-based and monopolymer options, Recoflex can be tailored to meet the requirements of almost any product, meaning it is suitable for many food and non-food applications.
Choose from:
- Metallised paper
- Freezerproof paper
- Translucent paper
- Flow wrap paper
- High barrier performance paper
- PP laminate
- PE laminate
All of the above options are fully recyclable within existing recycling infrastructure, complying with upcoming regulations on recyclable packaging.
Lifting the lid on Popflex™
Popflex™ is a game-changing lidding film, made possible using our patented Parkscribe™ laser scoring technology. This market-leading scoring technology can cut through individual layers of plastic material with micron-level precision, which enables us to score easy-open micro-perforations into lidding film to create a consumer-friendly accessible opening. When weld-sealed to a tray made of the same material (PET), this film stays attached to the pack throughout the recycling process, making it suitable for recycling as a whole unit.
This offers all the benefits of inclusive, functional packaging without the need to include zippers, sticky labels, or other opening mechanisms that can impair recyclability.
Making a difference
We’re proud to have spent the year doing our bit for good causes and giving back wherever we can. We loved partnering with Beavertown Brewery, SMUG Crisps, and CALM to develop a compostable crisp packet for the #OpenUp mental health awareness campaign. This novel application of both-sides print saw us printing the inside of each crisp packet with a series of mental health icebreakers, meant to encourage consumers to start a conversation about their mental health. The packs were given away free at participating pubs across the country, helping to reduce waste – and fight the stigma attached to mental health.
And we once again paid a visit to The Addy, a local children’s charity that is close to our hearts, with Easter and Christmas donations. An annual tradition for the team here at Parkside, these donations help provide a little joy to children living in our local area.
Another year of award-winning innovation
Everything we do, we do for our customers – but receiving recognition from our industry colleagues is
always a nice bonus! We were delighted to see our fully compostable coffee pouch, developed in collaboration with Dark Woods Coffee, take home a World Coffee Innovation Award for Packaging Innovation.
The pouch itself was made using certified home compostable Park2Nature™ material, and featured a hard CO2 valve that was certified industrially compostable. It was the centrepiece of Dark Woods’ closed loop waste management strategy, which sees it collecting compostable waste for processing at its own composter at its roastery. The resulting compost was used to fertilise the market gardens at Dark Woods, the produce from which is used by the local community.
Opening our doors to a circular future
2024 saw us mark Recycle Week with an insight-packed open day, featuring guest speakers from across the packaging industry discussing the latest trends shaping the future of packaging.
Speakers included Dr Thomas Baker, Plastics Specialist at WRAP, who hosted an insightful presentation on the journey to film circularity – one of the most pressing issues in today’s packaging sector. Meanwhile, Olga Munroe of the Retail Institute spoke about how to achieve systemic change to benefit the future of packaging, and Paul Jenkins of PackHub gave an overview of the latest packaging trends. The speaker lineup was completed by Ian Bates of Two Sides, who delivered an excellent presentation on the future of flexible paper packaging. We also delivered a tour of our Normanton facility, giving visitors insight into our leading technical capabilities and NPD process.
This event proved to be such a success, we’re doing it again next year! Click the link below to learn more and stay tuned for more information on 2025’s open day.
Be part of our next chapter
The only thing more exciting than our 2024 is what’s coming up in 2025. And we’d love for you to be a part of our story next year. Just contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve your packaging goals in 2025.
