March of this year saw the rollout of 100% recyclable plastic-free packaging (on select packaging, excludes seals) for Energizer Holdings’ portfolio of Energizer household batteries. Rather than modifying existing packaging machinery, Energizer decided that a clean-slate approach was called for. Not only did that mean all new packaging materials, it also meant new primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging machines, all designed and built by Aagard. The transition required extensive collaboration between Energizer's marketing, sales, engineering, and procurement teams and Aagard's senior engineers. The key challenges included ensuring the new packaging stood out on store shelves, adjusting to the loss of product visibility with the elimination of plastic, managing material costs, and improving operational flexibility.
Hugh Belgarde, senior director NA battery operations, looks back over the journey that Energizer and Aagard have been on for a year and a half now and sums it up this way. “We’re pleased with where we landed, and we know we made the right call by partnering with Aagard up front as we did. It meant that they got to participate in all of those discussions about machinery and material iterations. That’s what lies at the heart of this project. It really was a uniquely collaborative way of solving an industry challenge, of coming up with a new and effective manufacturing platform.”
