Every day, large quantities of milk and juice are consumed in schools across the country, so it’s a natural fit for schools to develop and implement school-based carton recycling programs. Recognizing the fast-growing pace of carton recycling, this year Keep America Beautiful created a special category for carton recycling in its popular annual competition called Recycle-Bowl.

It was not that long ago that the idea of buying water in a bottle seemed outrageously quirky to most people, but over the past few decades the demand for packaged water has rocketed exponentially. Just ten years ago world consumption stood at one hundred billion liters. Since then, and despite the global downturn, volumes have actually doubled. Perhaps even more amazing is that, according to Canadean’s latest calculations, packaged water will actually overtake carbonates as the leading soft drinks category in just two years. This anticipated result is being bolstered by its healthy image, plus actual necessity in those areas of the world lacking alternative, safe, water supplies.

The insatiable curiosity surrounding the Millennial generation (current age 18-35) is certainly not a new topic – but the importance of this complex demographic is growing, especially for grocery retailers. An apparent trend has surfaced, leading fickle (but abundant) Millennial dollars away from traditional grocery stores and into the hands of farmer’s markets, online and specialty retailers. A combination of factors, including health, status, convenience, freshness and ethics – all play an important role in these consumers’ purchase decisions.

Waitrose announces a target to cut its packaging in half by 2016. The retailer has announced three major changes to its product ranges that will help achieve this target, together saving nearly 100 metric tons of packaging each year.

One of the nation’s top brewers, MillerCoors, has recently joined the Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC).

Five leading packaging companies in North America and Europe announced they intend to combine in order to operate as one global leader under the banner of Exopack Holdings Sarl, a new Luxembourg company. The combined business will have 63 plants, 8,650 employees and aggregate revenues of more than US$2.5B, making it the sixth-largest plastics packaging company in the world.

In 2012, total U.S. bottled water consumption increased to 9.67 billion gallons, up from 9.1 billion gallons in 2011. In fact, 2012’s consumption growth was the strongest it has been in five years. In addition, per-capita consumption is up 5.3% in 2012, with every person in America drinking an average of 30.8 gallons of bottled water last year. Bottled water increased in absolute volume more than any other beverage category in the U.S.

At the forthcoming edition of Packology, IMA Industries will present new solutions for packaging tea, coffee, food and cosmetic products. IMA Industries will present at the Packology event and via live webinars. IMA Industries will be located at Stan 073 – Hall A3.

The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Squadron 09 won the inaugural Great American Can Roundup contest by recycling a total of 4,166 beverage cans. Sponsored by the Can Manufacturers Institute, the GACR creates awareness of the environmental benefits of recycling cans.

World Packaging Organization announced that the entries for WorldStar Packaging Awards 2014 are open and will close on September 27, 2013. Considered the most important global packaging award, the WorldStar is based on the judges’ consensus that a pack is superior in its own right and better in its class, in execution, or innovation by comparison. The judges consider the following criteria: protection and preservation of contents; ease of handling, filling, opening and closing; adequacy of information; sales appeal; graphic design; quality of production; economy of material and cost reduction; environment; ingenuity of construction; and adaption to local conditions (production, materials, market etc).