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Global packaging research collaboration

The column takes a different direction this month, as it looks at how our packaging research and academic institutions coordinate and collaborate on food and beverage packaging research.

One way that we focus our research is through organizational membership in the International Association of Packaging Research Institutes, or the IAPRI. The association was established in 1971 as an international membership association to promote packaging as a global science. The charter is to support members in providing an authoritative source for the latest information on techniques, technologies, and legislation. The member institutes represent more than 30 countries from all continents of the world. The members include packaging University programs such as Michigan State, Clemson, Rochester Institute of Technology, as well as many from countries around the world.

The conferences alternate annually with a Symposium on Packaging and then a World Conference, and the sites rotate from North America and a world-wide location. The working groups include: Flexible Packaging, Sustainable Packaging, Distribution Packaging, and Product Protection & Anti-Counterfeiting (new in 2009). The 2009 Symposium was important because the working group format evolved to include more of a network by implementing a social networking platform for collaboration and engagement.

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