December Issue 159 – Comment

ANOTHER YEAR OVER. ANOTHER TO COME

2017: yet another year jammed packed with events and challenges for the industry.

Throughout the year we’ve covered global issues such as aluminium stockpiling, sustainability growth, and the circular economy, we’ve reported on closures, expansions and acquisitions; partnerships and collaborations; innovations and awards.

We’ve looked at Gen Y: The Millennials and how this plugged-in generational cohort, like all their predecessors to be fair, has forced a change in marketing and, aligned to this, we’ve had a lot to say about the rapidly growing beverage packaging sector and the explosion of craft beer in cans, where some of the most exciting and creative designs are to be found. By the way, there’s a new bunch of young consumers on the horizon – but more about them in 2018!

We’ve recognised how the industry has stepped up to aid those caught up in some of the most fearsome natural disasters as well as to help those in parts of the world where unspeakable poverty is rife.

In early May we were at Metpack in Essen and, later that month, at the IMDA Conference in Illinois.

In July we looked back at 30 years of APEAL and its past and future contributions to metal packaging.

We reported on sustainability and recycling. “If recyclability is hot stuff,” we said, “then innovation is sizzling and there’s plenty of that going on in the canmaking industry – seriously, folks, what a bunch of pioneering trailblazers you are. And, of course, we talked about some of the trails being blazed in our World News and News in Brief sections.

We haven’t been totally serious all the time, in August we took you on a virtual cruise and wined and dined you with a canned version of the 11-course menu à la Titanic on its ill-fated night.

Then in September, in anticipation of the ADF&PCD expo we took you on a wander through the mists of time: past, present and future, with our feature on the history of the aerosol can.

October saw the Return of LATAMCAN, and as one of its media partners we trekked out to Sao Paulo, Brazil, (well, someone had to do it!) to cover what proved to be a brilliant and well-organised conference, and our November feature got much appreciated words of praise from Raul Martinez, President of Inter-Tech, C.A and Director of LATAMCAN. ‘Dear Janis’, he wrote, ‘I must say you guys did an outstanding job with the article and the interview. I am extremely happy with both and I think we make a great team. Thank you so much.’

Later in October, we were also at the BAMA Forum 2017 Awards and Dinner at the prestigious Oulton Hall in Leeds, UK, which was also extremely enjoyable and informative – they too were very pleased with our reporting of the event in November’s issue and posted an equally appreciated thank you on Twitter.

Back to December, and this month’s issue…

December, the season of good will and merry making for many, so we thought we’d keep this month’s feature light-hearted and take a short excursion around the festivals celebrated in different religions and cultures, as well as some of the more unusual things folk get up to as they herald in the New Year; from Tin Casting in Finland to wearing red undies in Turkey.

Our other news stories this month include: how Yorkshire based firm, CarnaudMetalbox wins Gold in the UK Skills Show for the third year running, how Glenfiddich, helped by the design team at Crown go for Gold (and Green) for its stylish new limited-edition metal packaging, and much more.

Throughout the year we’ve brought you news about failures and successes in the industry, but mostly successes – and there have been lots of those – as you’d expect in a forward- focused, dynamic industry that keeps developing with the times and technological advances.

REMEMBER:

If you have some great news about your company or your products – let us know at editorial@canmakingnews.com and we’ll shout it from the Canmaking News rooftops.

Janis Osborn
Publisher
janis@canmakingnews.com

Tweet of the Month

At Ball, giving is a part of Who We Are. Last year, Ball and its employees gave $4 million to charitable organizations in our communities, and our employees logged 34,000+ volunteer hours. #GivingTuesday #WhoWeAre https://t.co/I8bj48v9dJ

— Ball Corporation (@BallCorpHQ) November 28, 2017