https://www.packworld.com/trends/logistics-supply-chain/article/22971379/walmart-fsma-204-compliance-should-be-the-floor-not-the-ceilingPackaging Worlden2026-07-29T14:20:00.000ZWalmart: FSMA 204 Compliance as the Floor, Not the Ceilinghttps://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/1-overview.yqtMNgAeCg.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/2-ecosystem.Fi93T6hHG2.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Bonin's "living ecosystem": growers tune harvest practices to downstream feedback, carriers and DCs gain thermal-compliance and receiving efficiencies, stores cut markdowns, and consumers get transparency, with GS1 standards as the interoperable language connecting every node. Slide courtesy of Walmart.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/3-connected-consumer.cnHOA9VLkn.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70A shopper scans a clamshell of Salinas Valley strawberries and sees where and when it was harvested, a suggested storage temperature, and a pairing idea. In Bonin's framing, the 2D barcode is where the supply chain's operational intelligence finally reaches the person in the aisle.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-28-at-123737-pm.qRkCE4ODkW.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Ed Bonin, director of enterprise traceability and compliance at Walmarthttps://www.packworld.com/sustainable-packaging/recycling/article/22971377/smallformat-packaging-recycling-challenge-solutionsPackaging Worlden2026-07-28T17:06:42.000ZThe Billion-Package Problem: Small-Format Recycling Solutions Emergehttps://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/small-format-3.QxkPhBfN6u.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Estée Lauder has shifted some product samples from small plastic packets to paper-based formats, including this Aveda shampoo packet, to improve compatibility with the paper recycling stream.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/small-format-2.ms82P5J5ma.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The Small Format Packaging Infrastructure Coalition is bringing brands, recyclers, processors, and end markets together to improve small-format package recovery, increase cullet quality, reduce material sent to landfill, and generate data for EPR programs.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/small-format-1.RagAoTzhfE.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Small-format packaging can fall through MRF screens with broken glass and travel to a glass processing facility, where it may be removed and sent to landfill. The diagram identifies possible points for recovering the material before disposal.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/small-format-beauty.Nk0TfMZkcg.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70(from l. to r.) Moderator Matt Reynolds, Packaging World; Sarah Pamplona Santos, Closed Loop Partners; Scott DeFife, Glass Packaging Institute; and Kenneth Laverdure, Estée Lauder Companies.https://www.packworld.com/trends/package-design/article/22971316/thepackhub-heinz-reintroduces-glass-ketchup-bottle-tequila-trombas-largeformat-bottle-and-ecopak-introduces-cubebased-packs-for-producePackaging Worlden2026-07-26T06:00:00.000ZHeinz Reintroduces Glass Ketchup Bottle, Tequila Tromba's Large-format Bottle, and Ecopak Introduces Cube-based Packs for Producehttps://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/heinz.Wewu0pLPkT.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The company is leveraging a historic pack format that remains strongly associated with its brand identity.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/tromba.dH14N2GJ6u.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The format decreases the number of individual bottles entering recycling or waste streams.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/ecopak.DpgG9BrPSA.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Q-Bic's 114 mm (4.5 in) cube arrangement doubles the polystyrene box's capacity from 90 to 180 trays of 125 g (4.4 oz) arils—raising product volume from 11.25 kg (24.8 lb) to 22.5 kg (49.6 lb).https://www.packworld.com/trends/logistics-supply-chain/article/22971183/rfid-supply-chain-pilot-walmart-hanes-achieve-100-trackingPackaging Worlden2026-07-23T21:06:18.000ZPilot from Walmart, Hanes/Gildan Teaches Cartons to Talk via RFID, 2Dhttps://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/img-1164.RvfyvSKY8p.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Auburn University's Soundarya Korlapati (center) and GS1's Jon Gregory demo Project Brilliance live at GS1 Connect 2026, scanning a pilot carton to check its contents against what the brand owner packed.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-32229-pm.2t0tig1D3h.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The concept in one slide: a web address encoded in the logistic unit's tag lets a carton "phone home" to the sender's EPCIS repository at every step, from manufacturer to retail store.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-32454-pm.DwlUCHfRo2.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Verification, not discovery: the reader pulls a carton's expected contents from the tag and checks them off in real time, returning a simple "verified" result without opening the box.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-32713-pm.bsEn5yQSjl.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The pilot captured read events at four stages, brand-owner DC, 3PL cross-dock, retailer RDC (inbound and outbound), and store, with each event posted to a shared EPCIS repository.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-32858-pm.KeAdTXC4gL.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70A single pilot carton, 28 Hanes socks packed March 17, becomes the demo: scanning the SSCC++ tag turns each expected item from yellow to green as the handheld confirms it.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-33048-pm.X7XX6T5ZYG.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The value case cuts both ways: suppliers gain early exception detection and chargeback defense, while retailers gain trusted receiving and better inventory accuracy, with no carton isolation required.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-33204-pm.BSlaEslv9U.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70A perfect packing-validation match to expected GTINs, 100% detection across redundant downstream reads, easy data access across multiple solution providers, and no need to isolate cartons to validate contents.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-33249-pm.EpKgtegEf5.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Walmart reads the cartons again at the 3PL dock door, RDC inbound and outbound, and the store stockroom and sales floor, so a read missed at one stage is caught at the next.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-33214-pm.7yXhsKFiQC.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70An RFID tunnel captures and validates each carton's EPC contents and encodes the SSCC++ label in a single pass, so nothing slows the line. Note the 2D barcode already on the Hanes sock package, and the DSDC pick-and-pack label routed to a specific Walmart store.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-23-at-33229-pm.lOKjeu1jUx.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Cartons are confirmed to their pallet, then confirmed again outbound, with each event posted to the EPCIS repository before the truck leaves the Hanesbrands DC.https://img.packworld.com/mindful/pmmi/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/screenshot-2026-07-24-at-12851-pm.NnMhTgzKEp.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The tag is read at every node and reports back to one shared EPCIS repository, replacing a tangle of bilateral data-sharing deals with open, real-time visibility from manufacturer to store shelf.