Packaging Dive

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. International Paper has agreed to acquire North Pacific Paper Co. from private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners for $360 million. Norpac operations will be rolled into the IP system, a spokesperson said via email. Longview, Washington-based Norpac operates a paper mill that produces about 1 million tons of containerboard and other grades annually. It has approximately 500 employees.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Graphic Packaging International announced layoffs this week as part of a company restructuring, according to sources with knowledge of company operations and dozens of social media posts from former employees. According to the posts from departing employees, layoffs are immediate and occurring in various locations across the country, including in Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Keefe Harrison is stepping down as CEO of The Recycling Partnership after 12 years in the role, according to a Wednesday announcement. Her last full-time day will be July 31, and she’ll remain on board in a consulting capacity through August. TRP has engaged consulting firm Glick Davis & Associates to conduct a nationwide search for the organization’s next CEO.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. The packaging industry is undergoing disruption and a broad reset, especially with views of sustainability, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The group’s new report proposes guidelines for paper and packaging companies to maneuver through the changing landscapeby adapting their strategies. The industry is in flux due to numerous external shocks and is deeply affected by this “pressure-verse,” the report says.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Clearwater Paper announced Thursday it’s restructuring its solid bleached sulfate mill in Cypress Bend, Arkansas. It plans to halve production and reduce the salaried and hourly employee count by about 20%. Of the 320 people who worked at that mill, the downsizing affected about 70: Approximately 50 people were laid off, and 20 open positions will not be filled, a spokesperson said via email. The layoffs were slated for this week.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. When the Oregon community of The Dalles rolled out 5,000 new 96-gallon recycling carts at the end of March, it became the first in the state to pay for that improvement using funding directly from packaging producers under Oregon’s EPR for packaging law. Circular Action Alliance, the state’s producer responsibility organization, projects spending around $123 million for local recycling improvement projects through 2027.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. An affiliate of private equity firm CD&R completed its acquisition of Sealed Air, the company disclosed Thursday. Sealed Air noted in a Thursday securities filing that it paid shareholders approximately $6.3 billion for the deal, which has an overall enterprise value of $10.3 billion. Sealed Air is now a privately held company and has ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. “Hope springs eternal” might become the mantra for those still looking for a corrugated industry turnaround in 2026. While a historic level of production capacity cuts in 2025 spurred optimism that demand could pull up from a yearslong slump, factors such as the war in Iran are reshaping the probability of a comeback.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. More than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated most of the Trump administration's tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, companies are taking a variety of approaches to obtaining refunds for tariffs they paid and hoping for the best.

When the rest of the line is flying, why is wrapping still waiting on a person? Robotic adoption in manufacturing and logistics is no longer a distant ambition — it's a present-tense reality. According to MHI and Deloitte,83% of organizations expect to deploy automation within the next five years — and in many facilities, that transformation is already underway. AMRs are navigating warehouse floors. Automated storage and retrieval systems are moving pallets without human hands.