Thessaloniki, 8&9 June 2023
On 8&9 June 2023 A.HATZOPOULOS S.A. hosted the 3rd “Packaging & Converting School” focused on the key theme of Packaging Sustainability. This was the third edition of the successful seminar series organized by our company in Thessaloniki, which brings together packaging professionals from all across Europe. 10 distinguished speakers from the entire spectrum of the supply chain and over 100 participants from 16 countries shared ideas, know-how, information and solutions, related to the key challenges that the industry is faced with, as it evolves towards the circular economy.
Day 1 | Thursday, 8 June
On Thursday, 8 June, the seminar opened Mr. Akis Naziris, Deputy General Manager of A.HATZOPOULOS S.A. who welcomed all participants on behalf of the company and also undertook the role of Moderator for the entire event. Mr. Jean-Paul Duquet, Sustainability Director of FPE – Flexible Packaging Europe, started the conference sessions with a presentation dedicated to the role of flexible packaging in the circular economy, including Life-Cycle Assessments, presentation of advanced technologies and key notes on the new PPWR EU Regulation, followed by Dr. Lefteris Tourasanidis, who explained our R&D team’s process when designing flexible packaging for recycling and provided many successful redesign projects. Mrs. Regina Horstmann, Head of Commercial Development of Jindal Films Europe focused on recyclable high-barrier BOPP and BOPE monomaterial solutions for various packaging applications and Mr. Georgios Mavridis, Senior Category Manager, Flexible Packaging at Intersnack gave a thorough description of the Group’s packaging sustainability vision, perspective and roadmap. The first day of the seminar ended with Mr. Julian Thielen, Head of “Made for Recycling” from Interseroh+, who provided useful insights of the packaging recyclability certifications and marks.
Day 2 | Friday, 9 June
Day 2 started in the morning of Friday, 9 June, with a very interesting case study presented by Mr. Michael Slagboom, Global R&D Packaging Specialist at JDE who focused on changing pack lines to run recyclable materials and the case of Senseo packaging film’s trial runs and validation. Next, Dr. Carolin Hauser, Professor at Nuremberg Tech University of Applied Sciences, shared data and knowledge on consumers‘ attitudes and expectations on sustainability, followed by Mrs. Dana Mosora, CEFLEX Consultant who presented to the participants all latest updates and upcoming developments with regard to the projects undertaken by CEFLEX initiative so as to ensure a circular economy for flexible packaging. Mr. Ingo Hamel, Head of Innovation and R&D at ROVEMA provided the packaging machine manufacturers’ point of view to the topic of packaging sustainability and ROVEMA’s approach, showcasing solutions to process sustainable packaging materials. The seminar ended with the Investment and Energy Manager of our company, Mr. Ovi Serb, who vividly presented the concept of sustainability in plant management.
The morning conference sessions were followed by afternoon guided tours of our production sites. This way, the attendees had also the opportunity to get a thorough understanding of the flexible packaging manufacturing process, both for rotogravure and for flexo printed films.
A.HATZOPOULOS S.A. would like to thank all participants, speakers and media partners for their support and their contribution to the event’s success!
We appreciate your very positive feedback and we look forward to welcoming you again at the next edition!