Converting

The chair of Europe’s metal packaging association, EMPAC, has promised that it will step up its efforts to “defend and promote” the sector.

Francis Labbé (pictured), who is also chief executive of Impress Group, said the sector “has not been growing like other industries have”, with metal packaging volumes for food relatively static.

Speaking exclusively to Packaging News, Labbé said EMPAC aimed to do more to promote metal packaging to customers and the end consumer, particularly over its environmental credentials.

“We don’t have a renewable resource, but we have a renewable material,” he said. “From cans, we can make any other metal product.”

Labbé pointed out that around 60% of metal packaging was recycled in Europe and said packaging was not as big an environmental problem as consumers perceived.

“People see what they put in the bin but don’t see when they are getting rid of a sofa or a desktop computer.

“There are many more issues to focus on before metal packaging but the perception is not that.

“People think it’s a problem, so we work very strongly on that because we believe perception is reality. This is why recycling is so important.”