The Canmaker Summit - 2008 Report
Show your metal
The Canmaker Summit was an invigorating reminder of the qualities of metal packaging, and a rallying call to communicate its leading role in a sustainable world. Mónica Higuera reports from Warsaw.
Focus on the positives, and you’ll start to see challenges as opportunities: that was the message from The Canmaker Summit held in Poland at the end of September.
Despite the doom and gloom of volatile markets, and rising energy and raw material costs, cans remain a competitive packaging solution thanks to their advantages through the supply chain, said experts from the aluminium, steel, coatings, canmaking and lobbying sectors.
They provided ample evidence. Metal is sustainability in action, not just words. In today’s debates on carbon footprinting, resource and energy management, and emissions reductions, the can is well placed for the future, as long as the metal packaging industry takes responsibility for communicating its advantages and truly exploits the recycling card.
But the threat of ill-conceived regulations and perceptions exists and more resources and commitment are needed to counteract misleading campaigns by competing packaging materials.
The Canmaker Summit was a powerful reflection of the impact these fast-changing times are having on the world’s metal packaging companies, which in order to grow in the midst of financial crisis must either reinvent themselves, develop true innovations, or move into emerging markets.
Participants at the canmaking sector’s annual conference heard directly from those who had succeeded in doing so and shared with delegates their experiences and lessons learnt, and they all highlighted the crucial role of communication, staff training, and understanding of processes.
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