Renata Smataviciene, quality director of RETAL, explores challenges of defining "quality" in manufacturing and how a plastic packaging company achieves consistent quality across vast production lines.
There is no legal definition of the word ‘quality’; it gets used easily even though it’s hard to achieve. For manufacturing businesses, producing products of quality doesn’t happen by accident. It can only happen when the importance of quality is embedded into the culture.
But how can quality be embedded into the culture when there is no legal definition of what quality means? Who decides what a good quality product actually is, and how can ‘quality’ be defined across a large company with myriad departments, all contributing to a finished product?
The short answer is, with great difficulty! The longer answer, according to experienced quality director Renata Smataviciene, is somewhat more involved. Smataviciene explains how repeatedly achieving quality is a long-term, layered approach that requires clarity, tenacity and great attention to detail, as well as the careful recruitment, training and supervision of skilled people. She said: “Working in global production means that quality must underpin everything we do. It’s not a ‘one and done’ situation; we never take quality for granted and appreciate that it’s a constant process of checking, testing and learning.”
Smataviciene is the quality director for multinational plastic packaging producer RETAL in the EU and US and has responsibility for the quality of over 800 SKUs produced on over 170 state-of-the-art production lines, producing 13.41 billion preforms operated by more than 1600 skilled workers in 2023. That’s a lot of ducks to get in a row.
“We produce preforms and closures for many of the world’s leading food and beverage brands,” added Smataviciene, “so quality must come first. Our customers have very high expectations, and we have to meet those expectations every single time. This is where the definition of quality comes in, as it is crucial that we know exactly what those high expectations are. Our teams take time to clarify precisely what each customer needs; nothing is left to chance. We ask the right questions to get the information needed, then it is up to me and my team to guarantee that the quality expected is delivered.”
To achieve this, Smataviciene and her team have a sophisticated system of quality control, supported by a range of technological tools, with each RETAL location achieving the same quality assurance. She continued: “Our customers are global, so our products must meet the same quality standards for each different market; standardised quality allows for brand owners to be reassured. Our quality control is the same at each facility thanks to our detailed verification process. The fulfilment can be different depending on the product and the specific equipment, but each step is verified according to the quality and process performance required.”
The elements that can vary include the materials used, the volume of recycled material, additives, and the required weight of the preform. Smataviciene is clear that the role of sustainability in quality control is increasingly important, particularly when working with global brands that are driven to offer consumers the most responsible packaging possible. “Recycled material usage is so important now, we’re continually working with our customers and our designers to understand how best to implement progressive sustainable solutions. Sustainability must always be the focus, but through the lens of quality. Our quality never reduces, even when our weights reduce and our volumes of rPET increase. Tethered closures also bring with them new testing, new production challenges, but ultimately these are our problems to solve, which we always do. We bring solutions.”
This commitment to bringing solutions is where the culture of quality is most evident. Only with detailed and repeated feedback can a culture of quality be embedded, especially when the team is located across factories, countries and time zones. Smataviciene concluded: “A culture that expects quality has to be supportive and transparent. Sharing best practice is expected. Training is intense and visits are regular. We have to learn quickly from any non-conformities. It’s about checking and checking again, every process and every product. It’s about lists and more lists! Nothing happens by accident. We audit everything and we’re always learning.”
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Insight Focus
The goalposts are constantly shifting for plastic producers as new legislations and designs come into play. It is vital that producers and recyclers keep up with new and exciting developments.
Go to any packaging industry or plastics trade show and the hot topic will be the circular economy.
It may be that major players are talking about recycling, or lightweighting, or rPET usage, or that they’re lamenting the lack of recycled material available on the market. They may even be discussing the challenges of implementing tethered closures on their production lines before the fast-approaching deadline. But all the questions and issues come back to the unquestionable need to support the circular economy.
So, how can PET play a meaningful role in the Circular Economy? And how can PET industry leaders be sure that their contribution is not just hot air?
Design for Recycling (DfR) is a non-legal (yet!) set of guidelines that offers practical and technical insight into the compatibility of different packaging elements, including caps and closures, labels or adhesives, according to the various recycling streams.
The idea is that these Design for Recycling guidelines support the packaging industry on how to improve overall recyclability of plastic products and provide clear suggestions on what to do. These include the types of materials used, the ways in which material use can be reduced and the design behaviours that make recycling harder and don’t actually offer any consumer benefit.
The EU Commission is also promoting the increased use of recycled plastic materials for food contact, stating that 100% of plastic packaging must be recyclable by 2029. There is a 77% plastic bottle collection target by 2025, which rises to 90% by 2030. Furthermore, PET packaging must contain 25% post-consumer recycled plastic content from 2025.
While converters and brand owners are keen to meet this legislation, there is an issue of availability for rPET, so there are interesting solutions available such as NEOPET Cycle from Lithuania-based PET producer NEO Group. This is a PET resin that includes up to 30% of rPET integrated directly into the virgin PET, so converters can use one product instead of two, while still meeting legislative requirements.
The objective of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is to support sustainable choices in sourcing, product design and manufacturing, so the most progressive decisions can be made for each application.
Often, brand owners that are looking to assess their suppliers though a tangible sustainability lens will ask for a clear LCA on each element of their potential procurement, making it easier to compare tenders and make more environmentally efficient decisions.
The European Union’s Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) involves an increase in collection and recycling of used plastic packaging and includes the obligation to use tethered caps for any single use plastic beverage container of up to 3 litres.
Tethered closures or caps means that the lid of the single use plastic beverage bottle stays attached to the bottle after opening. There are clear rules around how this should perform, including the number of opening and closing cycles, the audible or tangible ‘click’ to show the consumer the cap is sufficiently opened, and how it must be comfortable for the consumer to be able to drink from.
The purpose of this legislation is so that the bottles and their lids are not separated in the recycling collections, making it easier to keep the materials of the closures in the recycling stream and to avoid them being discarded into the environment.
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RETAL is proud to sponsor the Lituanica VLR youth robotics team, who recently brought home the ‘Growing FIRST’ award from the global FIRST Robotics competition, held in Houston, Texas, in April 2024.
Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST Robotics is a global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18. With the pinnacle of its annual events the international competition, the FIRST Robotics program is suitable for schools or structured after-school activities and is supported by a network of volunteers and sponsors including over 200 Fortune 500 companies.
RETAL Purchase Director Arturas Scerbakovas, an active supporter of Lituanica VLR (Vilnius Lyceum Robotics), says, “FIRST Robotics is a fast-growing global robotics community that is focused RETAL robotics imageon helping to prepare young people in careers in STEM. It’s great fun and very high energy; it’s a brilliant way for young people to develop their technical skills in a fast environment. My daughter is in the team; she loves engineering and plans to study it at university, so I’m happy to do whatever I can to support her.”
With the Lituanica VLR team earning the ‘Growing FIRST’ award in recognition of its impressive progress, RETAL is a proud sponsor of this inspirational team that is motivating the next generation of skilled engineers.
For further information contact Maria Jarrar at media@retalgroup.com
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The Financial Times has placed RETAL as the highest ranked packaging producer on its 2024 Climate Leaders Europe list.
The independent list is a collaboration between the Financial Times and Statista, with the recognition gained thanks to RETAL’s constant effort in managing climate change impact since 2018, including its A score from CDP, Science Based Targets validated by SBTi (including its Scope 1 target already reached ahead of schedule), a 33% total renewable energy usage across the business, and a climate change risk assessment according to TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures).
Now in its fourth edition, the list focuses on businesses that have made the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with factors such as value chain transparency, collaboration with sustainability assessors used to produce an overall total for each company https://www.ft.com/climate-leaders-europe-2024
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Sustainability is a major driving force in the global packaging industry, with brands across the FMCG sector keen to respond to consumer demand for more responsible packaging solutions. Legislation is a dramatic influencer too, as while the consumers vote with their feet, the law uses a sharper tool, although both have a considerable financial impact.
Brands want to be sustainable anyway, so this is not an empty trend driven only by legislation. Companies need to appeal to environmentally educated young people to continue to grow, and existing employees want to protect their careers and work in a business they are proud to be part of.
For the plastic packaging industry that serves the enormous food and beverage industries, choosing sustainable packaging is increasingly less about choice and more about survival, whether that squeeze is coming from consumers choosing sustainable alternatives or from regulatory changes that push towards more responsible solutions.
So, what quick wins can brands choose to help move their packaging options in the right direction, without having to introduce costly or impractical answers that tick the regulatory box but not the commercial sense box.
Emmanuel Duffaut, Chief Sustainability Officer at plastic packaging producer RETAL, is a vocal advocate for the circular economy, believing that when plastic packaging is done right, it is the most sustainable choice for much of the food and beverage industry.
“An easy, quick decision is to make sure nothing in your packaging hinders recycling. So mono packaging materials rather than multi-layer, as these are far harder to recycle, unless the packaging specifically has been developed to be recycled,” says Duffaut. “For PET bottles, this means that whatever virgin PET or recycled PET that was used in the production of the preforms can be effectively collected and easily segregated for recycling after use.”
Another way to support easy recycling within the current infrastructure is for brands to reduce and ideally refuse use of additives or colourants in their PET packaging, which is the most popular type of packaging for the FMCG market.
By encouraging transparent or just barely coloured plastic packaging, companies can create far more value in the recycling stream. This is because the additives and colourants can alter the recycled content and either discolour it (at best) or reduce its properties (at worst), making the collected used PET unusable and therefor a wasted virgin resource.
We see this move away from additives and colourants on our supermarket shelves as global beverage brands want to highlight their sustainability credentials and show to an increasingly environmentally conscious consumer base that they can have the products they want without costing the earth.
“Choosing recyclable packaging is an easy decision as large plastic packaging producers like RETAL are able to guarantee a reliable supply of recyclable PET and/or up to 100% rPET (recycled PET) preforms,” Duffaut says. “We mustn’t forget that PET packaging is lightweight, easy to transport, practically unbreakable, reusable, takes far fewer resources to recycle that other packaging materials, and is easy to form into eye-catching shapes and designs.
“Plastic can look after us if we look after plastic.”
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The future of tray-to-tray recycling is promoted by the RETAL Baltic Films team at this year’s Fachpack, the European trade fair for packaging, technology, and processes.
RETAL Baltic Films will be in Nuremberg, Germany, from 24th to 26th September, presenting its wide range of rigid APET films and flexible printed packaging solutions in Hall 4, Stand 250.
The portfolio of rigid APET films will share alignment with the Tray Circularity Evaluation Protocol (TCEP), developed by PETcore - ‘the voice of the European PET industry’ - to enhance the value and sustainable growth of the complete PET value chain in Europe. The RETAL team will be on hand to show how monoPET should be the first choice for sustainable packaging wherever possible.
Head of Marketing & Innovation at RETAL Baltic Films Irena Vitkauskiene says, “We’re a part of the Petcore Europe Thermoforming Working Group and our developments and our products support the guidance for recycling. We have a range of complete packaging solutions for rigid bottom trays and flexible printed top liddings based on monomaterials like monoPET, monoRPET and monoBOPET, monoPE and monoPP and many others. We offer solutions that ensure circularity, plus we provide whatever packaging our customers’ demand; we understand the balance of functional packaging that keeps products safe, fresh and consumers’ happy, while respecting sustainability.”
With various samples available on the RETAL Baltic Films stand, everyone is welcome to visit to discuss how to minimise the impact of PET packaging trays on environment, decrease packaging waste and ensure proper post consumed trays feedstock for the tray-to-tray recycling stream.
Irena adds, “We’re pleased to make it easy for customers to go for monoPET. Come to our stand to discuss implementation of PPWR, obligations for recycled content and recyclability grades of plastic packaging. We’re here to help you make good choices for all your PET trays packaging requirements.”
For a free entry to this year’s Fachpack from RETAL Baltic Films, please use this link Code: A519230
For further information, please contact Irena Vitkauskiene irena.vitkauskiene@retalfilms.com
Head of RETAL Service Vladislav Medvedovskiy presented at the AMI Plastic Closures Innovations (PCI) Conference on 6 June 2023.
With a technical and engaging presentation entitled “Implementation Insights: Solving Tethered Closure Challenges”, Vladislav took his turn on the stage in front of many packaging industry leaders.
Held at the World Trade Centre in Barcelona from 4-6 June, the event is widely considered to be an important date in the plastic industry calendar, and billed as ‘bringing together leaders, innovators and experts to explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in plastic closures’.
Vladislav explains, “I welcomed the chance to share my technical insight on the implementation challenges of tethered closures and how RETAL Service supports our customers in quickly and effectively solving those challenges. I shared how we made over 180 visits to customers in 2023 alone, and how we’ve seen all the possible issues with implementing tethered closures! I really enjoyed the event, especially having the chance to meet with so many fellow professionals and listen to other interesting presentations.”
The RETAL team are keen participants in plastic packaging industry conferences and events, supported by the communications team. For further information contact Maria Jarrar at media@retalgroup.com
RETAL is proud to sponsor the Lituanica VLR youth robotics team, who recently brought home the ‘Growing FIRST’ award from the global FIRST Robotics competition, held in Houston, Texas, in April 2024.
Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST Robotics is a global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18. With the pinnacle of its annual events the international competition, the FIRST Robotics program is suitable for schools or structured after-school activities and is supported by a network of volunteers and sponsors including over 200 Fortune 500 companies.
RETAL Purchase Director Arturas Scerbakovas, an active supporter of Lituanica VLR (Vilnius Lyceum Robotics), says, “FIRST Robotics is a fast-growing global robotics community that is focused on helping to prepare young people in careers in STEM. It’s great fun and very high energy; it’s a brilliant way for young people to develop their technical skills in a fast environment. My daughter is in the team; she loves engineering and plans to study it at university, so I’m happy to do whatever I can to support her.”
With the Lituanica VLR team earning the ‘Growing FIRST’ award in recognition of its impressive progress, RETAL is a proud sponsor of this inspirational team that is motivating the next generation of skilled engineers.
For further information contact Maria Jarrar at media@retalgroup.com
The Financial Times has placed RETAL as the highest ranked packaging producer on its 2024 Climate Leaders Europe list.
The independent list is a collaboration between the Financial Times and Statista, with the recognition gained thanks to RETAL’s constant effort in managing climate change impact since 2018, including its A score from CDP, Science Based Targets validated by SBTi (including its Scope 1 target already reached ahead of schedule), a 33% total renewable energy usage across the business, and a climate change risk assessment according to TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures).
Now in its fourth edition, the list focuses on businesses that have made the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with factors such as value chain transparency, collaboration with sustainability assessors used to produce an overall total for each company. https://www.ft.com/climate-leaders-europe-2024
RETAL Chief Sustainability Officer Emmanuel Duffaut says, “We are very proud to be recognized by the Financial Times and Statista and are already looking forward to making the list next year as we yet again improve our management and further mitigate our GHG emissions. I would be delighted to talk to any of our customers or potential customers about how we’ve achieved this independent recognition. We are all on this journey together, so understanding how we can continue to encourage positive actions is good for us all.”
For further information click here https://www.retalgroup.com/csr-at-retal/
Contact Maria Jarrar at media@retalgroup.com
Multinational plastic packaging producer RETAL has earned its first A- score from the globally-recognised CDP, rewarding the company’s improved management of climate change after getting a B score during 4 years in a row.
As ‘the gold standard of climate change management evaluation, CDP represents the reference for investors, to assess companies, cities, state and regions performance in this area but is also becoming the mainstream tool for private companies to evaluate their suppliers.
Emmanuel Duffaut, Chief Sustainability Officer at RETAL, is clear that an A- score from CDP illustrates how the company puts climate change management at the forefront of its CSR action. “Our A- score is a great achievement and it sends a strong message to our people, our customers and all our stakeholders regarding our commitment to sustainability and it is very positive for our business. This rating ascertains RETAL’s leadership (top 18% of companies in our sector reporting to CDP) in terms of climate change management and gives all our partners the confidence to know that our products are manufactured in a sustainable way.”
RETAL’s A- CDP score has been achieved through our continuous effort to embed climate change into our long-term strategy, management and operations, materialized recently by setting science-based targets validated by SBTi, performing a risk assessment following the TCFD guidelines and reducing our GHG emissions. Read more about RETAL’s actions in its latest Sustainability Report here.
For further information contact Maria Jarrar at media@retalgroup.com