Crazy About Packaging: Conversations with the C.A.P. Pack

♻️ In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — dig into what food grade PCR polypropylene actually does on a line. ICPG ran 30% and 50% post consumer recycled formulations through a full trial, from pellet through extrusion to a formed 16 ounce cup, against a virgin control. Most of the recycled content conversation still sits on the commitment side, and the processing questions stay open until someone runs the material. Article 7 of the PPWR sets 10% recycled content by 2030, so that work is already inside the qualification window.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why PPWR Article 7 turned recycled content from a nice to have into a deadline
• What ran unchanged on the extruder, and what needed 46 degrees Celsius more heat on the thermoformer
• How cycle speed and wall thickness held across the control and both PCR formulations
• Why the yellowish tint of PCR sheet points toward opaque or colored applications
• The next question for ICPG: how PCR content fits into an XPP structure

🎯 If you’re carrying a recycled content target into lines that already run well, this episode gives you processing data to work from.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🤖 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — look at what AI is actually doing on the front end of packaging development, long before a package reaches a consumer. Material screening, cost modeling, shelf life prediction and form fill seal troubleshooting all come up, along with the harder question underneath them: who is qualified to check the work? One pattern shows up early and holds throughout. AI narrows a big pile of options down to a short list, and people still decide what on that list is worth pursuing.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why AI is good at getting 50 material options down to 5, and why people still pick the 5

• What happens when a model is never told what “recyclable” has to mean in practice

• How a well organized cost model changes what AI can do with it

• Why two identical form fill seal machines never behave identically

• Where lightweighting models stop and physical testing has to start

🎯 If you’re screening materials or planning a transition, this episode shows where AI speeds the work up and where it can point you toward something you can’t actually buy.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

📦 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — kick off Season 4 with a big question: will the packaging material you choose today still make sense five or ten years from now?

From changing regulations and recycling infrastructure to plant closures and material supply, packaging teams have more to consider than ever. This episode looks at how companies can plan ahead, spot signs of change, and make material decisions that work today without limiting their options tomorrow.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why packaging material planning has become more complex than performance, availability, and cost
• How supply changes, regulations, and recycling infrastructure can signal a material’s long-term viability
• Why flexible equipment and production options can reduce supply chain risk
• How sustainability and cost have become part of the same packaging conversation
• Why packaging teams should be thinking in 12-month, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year plans

🎯 If you’re evaluating packaging materials, preparing for new regulations, or wondering whether your current structure is built for the long term, this episode will help you identify the factors worth planning for now.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🥫 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — break down what high barrier food packaging actually does and why the right structure looks different for every product.

From yogurt and coffee pods to ground beef and salsa, every food has its own needs for oxygen, moisture, light, sealing, and shelf life. This episode looks at how packaging teams balance those needs with cost and recyclability — without losing sight of the package’s most important job: protecting the product.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• What “barrier” actually means in food packaging and what it protects against

• Why barrier needs can vary so much between different foods and filling processes

• How materials like polypropylene, PET, polystyrene, and polyethylene handle oxygen and moisture

• Why barrier and shelf life aren’t the same thing — and how testing helps determine the right structure

• How added barrier layers can affect recyclability and why simpler isn’t always better

🎯 If you're working toward longer shelf life, fewer materials, or more recyclable food packaging, this episode shows why those goals have to start with the product and its specific needs.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

💰 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — take a closer look at one of the biggest questions in packaging: what does a package actually cost?

Material price is often where the conversation starts, but it’s far from the whole story. From yield and lightweighting to freight, processing efficiency, and line performance, this episode explores the factors that have the biggest impact on total packaging cost.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why price per pound is only one piece of the packaging cost equation

• How material yield can lower costs without changing the price tag

• When lightweighting creates savings — and when it creates new problems

• Why processing efficiency can have a bigger impact than material cost alone

• The hidden costs and opportunities that come with changing packaging materials

🎯 If you're evaluating a new packaging material or trying to balance cost, performance, and sustainability, this episode will help you look beyond the numbers and see the full picture.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🛒 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack explores a question that influences nearly every purchase decision: what makes packaging feel sustainable?

From glass jars and aluminum bottles to paper wraps and earthy colors, consumers make quick judgments about packaging every day. But do those first impressions actually match the environmental impact of the package? This episode takes a closer look at the psychology behind sustainable packaging and the gap between perception and reality.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why consumers often view certain materials as more sustainable before reading a single label

• The visual cues that influence purchasing decisions, from colors and textures to package design

• How packaging can appear more sustainable without improving environmental performance

• Why life cycle impacts are often overlooked in favor of familiar sustainability signals

• The challenge of communicating complex sustainability data in a few square inches of packaging space

🎯 If you've ever wondered why consumers gravitate toward one package over another — or how brands can balance sustainability, performance, and perception — this episode offers a fascinating look at what drives packaging decisions.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🤖 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — are joined by Joe Castagneri, Director of Software at AMP, to break down how AI is changing the way recycling systems work.

From computer vision to robotic sortation, this episode looks at what actually happens inside a recycling facility and how smarter systems can recover more material without relying on perfect consumer behavior.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• How AI-powered sortation identifies and separates materials in real time

• Why recycling is not just a system, it’s a business with real constraints

• The difference between AI used for recycling and the tools most people know today

• How better sorting improves bale quality and makes materials more valuable

• What happens when AI is used to recover recyclables before they reach landfills

🎯 If you’ve ever questioned whether recycling really works (or what it takes to make it work better) this episode gives you a clear look inside the system.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

♻️ In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — are joined by Tamsin Ettefagh, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP of Industry at PureCycle, to talk about one of the biggest questions in packaging today: how do we scale high-quality recycled material, especially for food applications?

From advanced recycling to polypropylene supply challenges, this episode breaks down what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change to make recycled content goals realistic.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• What “advanced recycling” actually means (and how it differs from traditional methods)

• Why polypropylene’s versatility makes it both valuable and difficult to recycle

• How thermoformed packaging could help improve PP recycling rates

• The gap between PCR goals and real-world supply chains

• What it takes to create clean, consistent recycled material for food packaging

🎯 If you’re working with recycled content, setting sustainability goals, or trying to understand where advanced recycling fits, this episode gives you a clear look at the full system.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and reach out at [email protected] with your questions. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🎙️ In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the C.A.P. Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — take a step back and revisit some of the packaging challenges that keep showing up again and again.

From material swaps to recycling confusion to the realities of running high-speed packaging lines, these are the conversations that come up in almost every packaging project. Instead of chasing the latest trend, this episode pulls together some of our favorite moments from past episodes to highlight the themes that keep shaping real-world packaging decisions.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why packaging must protect the product first — and why ignoring that rule leads to failed projects

• How small material changes can create big challenges on form fill seal lines

• The moment ICPG realized XPP could solve a long-standing problem in FFS packaging

• Why recycling systems depend on simple consumer guidance, not complicated rules

• The tradeoffs every team faces when balancing performance, sustainability, and cost

🎯 If you're working through a packaging change, chances are you've already run into at least one of these challenges. This episode connects the dots between past conversations and the real decisions packaging teams face every day.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and send us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next — we’ll see you in the next episode!

🧪 In this episode of Crazy About Packaging, the CAP Pack — Natalie, Mike, and Jonathan — unpack a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough airtime: food safety in packaging.

Before a package hits a production line, let alone store shelves, it has to pass a series of tests, audits, and validations to make sure it’s safe. This episode breaks down what that process actually looks like, and why switching materials is never just plug-and-play.

🔍 Tune in to explore:

• Why regulatory reviews, migration testing, and seal integrity are non-negotiable for food-safe packaging
• What happens when packaging materials interact with food (and why it’s not as simple as checking a box)
• How packaging that “works” in theory can fall apart in transit or fail in real-world use
• The step-by-step process teams go through when changing packaging materials

🎯 If you’ve ever wondered why packaging changes take months or what really goes into validating a new structure, this episode lays it out.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our website. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and email us your questions at [email protected]. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next!