Tri-Star’s Artisan Square Sandwiches
Tri-Star launched a new range of packaging for ‘rustic’ sandwiches – the hand-made, square-cut bloomer-style of sandwich that is currently all the rage in delis and discerning retailers up and down the UK.

The new Artisan range comprises two innovative pack designs – the ‘Bloomer U’ and the ‘Bloomer 2’.  The Artisan Bloomer U is a flat structure with sides that click upwards to form a U-shape.  This next-generation pack can be flow‐wrapped, wrapped with poly-sheet or simply bagged. It protects the product while in transit and on display and ensures it is highly visible at all times.

The design of the Artisan Bloomer U also helps guarantee that the sandwich stays in great shape and that it is easy to pick up and put down, making it ideal for eating at the office desk or grazing in the park.

The Artisan Bloomer 2, meanwhile, is an off-the shelf pack boasting two cavities that are the perfect shape and size for square-cut sandwiches.  The Artisan Bloomer 2 is designed to be bagged but can also be flow‐wrapped.

Created by Anson, a UK packaging manufacturer, the Artisan range will be distributed exclusively by food packaging supplier Tri-Star. The packaging is made of rPET (recycled PET), a sustainable, recyclable material recognised as a BRC food grade material.

Salanova lettuce hits the market in a pot
The Dutch potted plant grower Bunnik Plants has developed a new concept with Salanova lettuce. This concept, Salafresh, was presented at the largest ornamental and flower exhibition in Europe, the IPM Essen in Germany.

The product is sold with a special packaging concept ‘your own salad garden in the kitchen’.
With its numerous, smaller leaves and compact size, Salanova is the perfect lettuce type for this purpose. The consumer has a fun product in the kitchen and it stays fresh for a long time.

The packaging has a QR code that consumers can scan with a smart phone. They will be directed automatically to Lovemysalad.com where they can find and share salad inspiration, recipes and all kinds of other ‘fresh fun’.

The Bazingaa Boxer Hand Bombs
A stylistic package for a pair of boxer shorts used as sport wear or underpants is made from corrugated paper. The package from the God Speed Co. Ltd. from Thailand, is in the form of a rocket capsule depicting on active lifestyle. The capsule can be detached easily from its holder, and the cap removed conveniently to take out the product.

The packaging, 11x6x20 cm, is made from recyclable single wall corrugated board with mono-colour printing.

Baskets and bowls for fruit and vegetables
The carrying baskets and bowls in chip basket design are an own development of the German packaging manufacturer Karl Knauer KG. The challenge was to add moisture protection to the inside, achieve the necessary stability and to meet the requirements for direct contact with food.

The paperboard baskets and bowls for fruit and vegetables are certainly worthy of distinction under the aspect of sustainability. They can replace both plastic containers and woodchip baskets on the fruit and vegetable shelves. They are made of paperboard which has been demonstrably approved for direct contact with food, it also being possible to dispose of it in the recycling loop for waste paper.

Their foldable property reduces the logistical expenditure for the baskets, low-migration inks and the refinements of the inside with a special barrier varnish crown the top quality of the product for everything that is fresh and is to stay that way.
A woven look and surfaces which can easily be printed on, provide manufacturers with all the chances of positioning themselves as a sender of traditionally high-quality original products.

Rice Dumpling Box
The rice dumpling box is a creation to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival, otherwise also known as the Rice Dumpling Festival or the Duanwu Jie falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.
It is shaped just like its content, a rice dumpling, complete with a string. To add to the nostalgia feel, the package is printed on uncoated kraft that brings back memories of the paper bags that were a common sight years ago by simulating the look of the good old brown paper bags.

To instill the value of conserving traditions, the graphics design of the box shows activities relating to the festival such as dragon boat racing and the making of rice dumplings. The box is able to pack six small rice dumplings.
This packaging, designed by Starlite Printers (Far East) Pte Ltd in Singapore, is made with solid unbleached sulphate board. The printing is done on the uncoated kraft surface to give the box a nostalgic look, the colour scheme used is limited with black as the dominating colour to simulate the look of paper bags used commonly in the seventies and eighties. The package is fastened with a string just like a rice dumpling. When the restraining string is drawn, the package closes into its unique shape. The string also serves as a handle. By releasing the string and stretching the side of the packaging, its content can be accessed freely.

As the packaging is not enclosed fully, it allows air exchange which is important to maintain freshness of the rice dumpling. The inner surface of the box is laminated with a layer of OPP film to prevent the seepage of oil from the rice dumpling into the board allowing the packaging to maintain its clean look.

More to come.

Deterioration of vitamins and nutrients
It is generally known, that most vitamins and other nutrients are very sensitive and lose their power the moment they get mixed with a liquid, particularly water. In other words they start deteriorating the moment the bottle leaves the filling line. The longer they stay mixed, the less efficiently vitamins and nutrients work. Vitamin C, for example, loses 80% of its potency after only 30 days.

It is even worse, as beverage companies add flavouring to make their product more attractive to the consumer. Most added flavours are fruit additives, and if they are natural, the beverage degrades if stored at ambient temperatures for a prolonged period of time.
Shelf-life can be broadly defined as the length of time between initial packaging of a product and the point at which consumers notice a decrease in product quality. Thus, shelf-life of a product is determined by the least stable aspect of that product or its package. For moderate to high acid-containing citrus beverages, in other words most fruit additives, the least stable aspect, as well as the cause of greatest flavour degradation, is the extended contact of the favouring extract with water.

Functional Bottle Caps
Various companies marketing energy and vitamin drinks have developed solutions for this problem. In the past I wrote about several of them, the VIZcap, the Activate, the Cedevita and the Delo cap, that keep the vitamins dry and fresh until consumption of the drink. See my article “Innovative dispensing bottle caps for sensitive vitamins“.

But ingenious or not these dispensing caps, or functional caps, as they are sometimes called, have all one problem. Except for the Delo cap, all dispensing caps are proprietary of the drinks company, which limits the possibilities of wider implementation in the market for energy and vitamin drinks.
Developing a functional cap is quite an expensive exercise, leaving many an energy drink no other choice than “slowly deteriorating” in its container.

As said, in the end of the day consumers expecting to drink a healthier product don’t get what they actually paid for.

Tap-The-Cap
That all might change in the near future. Tap The Cap Inc., an innovation company in California, developed the (logically) Tap-The-Cap dispensing cap. The patented development solves the problem of many fortified beverage companies as it can be used by any brand. It is not limited to one brand. Furthermore the cap has the special design that it is universal, in other words it can be used as cap filled with vitamins and sold without the bottle with water, as the cap fits almost any still water bottle in the market.

A huge improvement for all consumers, who like to add “value” to their own preferred water brand!

To use Tap-The-Cap is simple: Remove the (screw) cap of the water bottle, Push the Tap-The-Cap over the neck of the bottle, Tap down on the spout, Shake the bottle, Pull up on the spout and enjoy your drink.

The technique behind the cap of course is a bit more complicated. Let’s have a look at some details.

In its basics the Tap-The-Cap is like any other dispensing cap as it has to dispense a supplement (vitamins, flavours, nutrients) through a bottle neck opening and into the bottle. However one of the most interesting features of the Tap-The-Cap is its configuration to connect to beverage bottle necks of different sizes.
Bottle necks often have screw threads to accommodate the original threaded cap attached to the bottle. The Tap-The-Cap can be put in place on the bottle neck after the original bottle cap has been removed.
As the exploded view shows the dispensing cap system is designed to seal off the mouth of a beverage bottle.
The cap features a number of fingers, while the distal ends of the fingers have inwardly barbs or tabs, which have sloped surfaces. The fingers are thin and have some flexibility. They are made so long so that the tips of the fingers flex outwardly as the cap is pushed onto the neck of the bottle, and the barbs engage under the extending flange of the bottle neck.

With this design the structure of the cap also accommodates non-threaded beverage bottles, by engaging with the bottle flange or collar, as the fingers and the barbs do not have to match the threads of the bottle neck, which varies with different beverage or bottle types. The design even include an extra tooth on the inside of the fingers which engages with the threads on the bottle neck by sliding over some or all the threads as the cap is pushed onto a threaded bottle neck, and locks in place without rotationally being screwed on the bottle.

A seal is located inside the housing to provide a liquid seal against the neck opening and as it is made from an elastomeric material, it will deform according to the size and design of the bottle neck, compensating for any size difference, while the flexibility of the fingers for their part compensate at the outside of the neck for bottle sizes from 26 to 32 mm.

The supplement storage is of a cup-like design, with a cylindrical sidewall and a membrane. The storage chamber defines the volume of the quantity of a supplement in granular, powder or liquid form. According to the company the storage can hold 9.5 grams, representing 9.5 cm3 (.58 cu inch, .33 fluid oz).
A valve sits in the centre of the storage chamber and is attached to the cap, configured for movement between a closed and a dispensing position, in which passage of the supplement is permitted from the storage into the bottle.
A drinking spout is positioned on top of the valve to allow the bottle content to be consumed. The sidewall of the spout has several ports, which permit the beverage to pass through from the bottle when the valve is in an open position.

When you look at this universal dispensing or functional cap, you must agree that the inventors with their more than 25 years experience in the health and wellness industry, succeeded in their goal, (as they formulated it) “to create a safe and effective way for people to take their supplements without having to swallow a pill or capsule or get taken in by those over-hyped vitamin fortified waters where the vitamins have already deteriorated in the liquid”.

Currently, the inventors are looking to licensing out their technology. Interested parties can contact info@tapthecap.com.

In my vision, there is only one answer to our increasing mountain of post-consumer packaging material. Technology has to help us to develop recycling systems, preferably the ones which recycle “cradle-to-cradle”. And more and more of these systems are coming to age, while others are under development to fill the non-covered spaces.
Today I want to discuss the, still by many people believed to be unrecyclable, and as such undesirable, packages composed with an aluminium element.

There seems to be some confusion and misconception about recycling of packages which hold elements of aluminium. In other words the pouches made from a combination of plastic/aluminium or the famous beverage cartons made from paperboard /aluminium/plastic.
It takes approximately 95% less energy to produce secondary aluminium, via recycling operations, than is otherwise consumed when producing primary aluminium from bauxite. This is one of the main reasons why recovering the aluminium component from packaging material is so important and justifies the development of sophisticated recycling systems.

Let’s start with a look at the recycling of flexible pouches, a packaging format with an immense growing potential. Pouches have many benefits such as light-weighting, leading to savings in material and transport costs, but due to the (food) content they often have an aluminium layer, and consequently are said not to be recyclable. It is obvious that brand owners are keen to see this changed, as they want to be able to put a ‘recyclable logo’ on the packaging to reinforce their sustainability credentials.

The above claim about the non-recyclability of flexible pouches with an aluminium component is correct. However recent developments might bring this condition to an end.

The Enval recycling process
Enval, a UK-based company, a spin off from the University of Cambridge, is seeking to commercialise its patented know-how that it said offers a genuine recycling route for plastic/aluminium laminate packaging that has, to date, been unrecyclable.

With recent investments secured from a syndicate of investors including Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Capital Group and Cambridge Angels and the backing from industrial partners, like Kraft Foods and Nestlé, Enval expects to bring its first commercial plant into service towards the middle of this year.

The feedstock would come initially from industrial waste generated throughout the packaging supply chain, from sources as varied as web laminate makers, packaging converters and even food manufacturers. The company will later look to source post-consumer waste.

The recloseable stand-up retort pouch for Sprout Organic Baby Food has a multi-layer structure (PET/foil/OPA/PP). The pouches can't be recycled, so Sprout partnered with TerraCycle to collect used pouches to keep them out of the landfill and to upcycle into other consumer products, like tote bags.

Enval’s patented technology offers a genuine recycling route for plastic/aluminium laminate packaging. The technology separates the material into its constituent components, producing clean 100% aluminium ready for introduction into the secondary aluminium supply chain and hydrocarbons that can be used as fuel or chemical feedstock.

The Enval process is based on a process called microwave induced pyrolysis which allows the waste to be treated in the absence of oxygen. As opposed to incineration, pyrolysis takes place without the combustion of the material (in this case the waste) avoiding the production of green-house gases or toxic emissions. Furthermore, since the Enval process uses microwave energy as the source of heat, by using renewable or green electricity, the process can be made carbon neutral.

Recycling beverage cartons
It certainly is true that much of the paper used in beverage cartons (Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc, Elopak etc.) is virgin fibre and is recovered at paper mills through a de-pulping process. Worldwide there are some hundred paper mills which recycle post-consumer beverage cartons, recovering the paper part of the cartons. The paper mill that recycles the most cartons is the German Papierfabrik Niederauer Mühle GmbH, recycling about 100,000 tonnes of cartons every year – the equivalent of 500 million beverage cartons.

775% paper component, 25% aluminium/plastic component

However, this leaves a plastic/aluminium residue that isn’t and can’t be processed by the said paper mill and as such is currently disposed of to landfill or incinerated. But this is unnecessary and a waste of good quality prime aluminium.

I suspect that from this practice comes the general believe that beverage cartons can’t be recycled. Furthermore municipalities with a selective waste collection in place, forbid their inhabitants to put the beverage cartons on the same heap as paperboard, using the argument of non-recyclable.
But it has to be said we do recycle beverage cartons already for years.

In 2009 I wrote about small scale recycling of post-consumer beverage cartons and the first sophisticated recycling plant for Tetra Paks in Piracicaba / Brazil, which comes very close to the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ principal. The joint-venture between Alcoa Aluminio, Tetra Pak Brasil, Klabin and TSL Ambiental, uses ground-breaking plasma technology, which enables the total separation of aluminium and plastic components from the cartons. The plasma process allows for the return of all three components of the cartons to the productive chain as raw material. It’s not a perfect closed loop or cradle-to-cradle recycling as these three recycled components are not re-used in new Tetra Paks.

And the technology evolves. End of last year Stora Enso, inaugurated its new facility in Barcelona, being the first to employ technology called pyrolysis that enables the full recovery of plastics and aluminium used in beverage cartons.
The plastic/aluminium laminate from recovered beverage cartons is separated by the new processing technology. This means both fibre and aluminium can be fully reused and the plastic to utilised to generate energy in the mill. The recovered fibre is used for the production of white lined chipboard at the site.

The pyrolysis process, refined in partnership with Alucha Recycling Technologies, begins with the polylaminate (plastic/aluminium mixture) that has been separated from the beverage carton paper in a pulping chamber that works much like a washing machine.
This residue is dried and broken down into small pieces before being put through the pyrolysis process that involves exposing the material to 400ºC of heat in an oxygen free chamber.
The heat causes the plastic to evaporate while the aluminium stays where it is. The evaporated gas can be used to generate electricity, while the aluminium remains un-oxidised and can be recycled and re-melted without problems to be used to make new aluminium products.

The distinguishing features of the new system are that unlike a previous technology used at the plant of Corenso Varkaus in Finland that failed for economic reasons, the new pyrolysis operates at a lower temperature (400ºC versus nearly 800ºC) and operates in a zero oxygen chamber.
The chamber at Corenso Varkaus had 10-15% oxygen and this created aluminium oxide which is worth much less than pure aluminium.

The process generates valuable aluminium and enough power, via the evaporated plastic, to provide for 10% of the energy requirements at the Barcelona paper mill. And lower temperatures mean this can be achieved with a lower energy bill.

Dr. Carlos Ludlow-Palafox

With the help and technical assistance of Tetra Pak, Stora Enso began operating the pyrolysis process this summer after having already run a pilot with an annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes of beverage carton. The newly installed machinery will allow Stora Enso to move up to industrial scale production this year, with a capacity to process 30,000 tonnes of used beverage cartons annually.

Stora Enso states that the Barcelona mill now receives used milk and juice cartons from Spain, France, Portugal and the UK.

We have seen that in both processes, The Enval technology for flexible pouches and the Stora Enso plant in Barcelona for beverage cartons, pyrolysis lies at the heart of both processes. Now there is one interesting thing as at the heart of both companies, Enval in the UK and Alucha in Barcelona, which refined the technology for Stora Enso, sits Dr. Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, the technologist responsible for the pyrolysis technology. Carlos Ludlow-Palafox graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City in 1996. He gained a PhD with distinction in pyrolysis technology from the Cambridge University, where he, as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, in conjunction with Professor Howard Chase, conducted research into the microwave pyrolysis of plastics and plastic-containing wastes in batch systems. He is connected to both up-starts.

Concluding we can say that the aluminium component in all different packages. from pouches to cartons, can now be recuperated and used as new in the next generation of packages. Now it is up to the Councils to implement a selective collecting system for post-consumer pouches and cartons.

Compleat Cup - Photo Wendy Maeda-Boston Globe

When we look at coffee cups as a packaging we have seen little innovation over the last years. With the exception of the paperboard cup with foldable handles, the ordinary coffee cup (paperboard or plastic) is the preferred packaging format already for years on end.
Recently some innovations in coffee cups got our attention.

The world is absolutely addicted to coffee. The world production of coffee is nearly 7 million tons a year. In a 2010 report, Agriculture and Food Canada indicates it is the most popular hot beverage and the top food-service drink in the country.
Canadians slobber 14 billion – yes, billion – cups of coffee per year (410 cups per capita). But that’s nothing compared to the rest of the world. Each Fin, Swede, Dutchman or Norwegian takes in between 1,000 and 1,500 cups of coffee each year.

According to Starbucks, 66 billion cups of coffee are drunk every year in the U.S. and a full three quarters of those cups of coffee are enjoyed at home. The other 25% of coffee is drunk at the office, traveling, or in a coffee shop (CNN Money).

The coffee shop industry in the U.S. includes 20,000 stores with combined annual revenue of about USD 11 billion. The industry is highly concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom: the top 50 companies have over 70% of industry sales. Coffee is one of the world’s largest commodities.

Although only some 25% of the coffee is served in paper or plastic cups, it is an incredible quantity of coffee cups. And almost all supplied with a plastic lid with an opening for inserting a straw or with a narrow opening for direct user consumption.

When we look at coffee cups as a packaging we have seen little innovation over the last years. With the exception of the paperboard cup with foldable handles, the ordinary coffee cup (paperboard or plastic) is the preferred packaging format already for years on end. We have seen some innovations in the lids. The most famous is the “colour-changing” lid from Smart Lid Systems that provides consumers with a visual indicator of product temperature. Infused with a colour-changing additive, the Smart Lid coffee-cup lid goes from “coffee-bean brown” to “glowing red” after being placed on a cup containing a hot beverage.
But that was in 2006. Nothing impressive has changed since. Except recently some innovations in coffee cups got our attention.

The first is a remarkable one. Still in the design/prototype stage but with immense potential: The Compleat cup. A polyethylene-coated paper cup lacking a lid, as it has an origami folded drinking spout. A clever idea! Let’s look at it in detail.

The fill, fold, and sip coffee cup

Compleat Coffee Cup, innovated by architect Peter Herman from Boston/USA, is a simple, enclosed cup with a drinking spout. By folding the top into an arc, you close the asymmetrical paper cup, entirely eliminating the need for a separate lid. The flaps close in such a way that no liquid escapes, unless you choose to sip from the spout.

Thorntons chocolate melts

Creating an arc at the top of a folding carton isn’t innovative, as it is done frequently, particularly with folding cartons for confectionary products, such as chocolates. Neither is folding a cone very innovative. But what is innovative in this design is that it has never been done for a liquid proof packaging. Look at the paperboard blank and although it might not be the most efficient use of material, the result is a cleverly compiled coffee cup.

Let’s have a look at the text of the patent application (US 20100314434) for this coffee cup. In the patent description the cup is called a vessel, but for the rest it explains how the paperboard is folded.

Abstract from patent: “In a first embodiment of the invention there is provided a vessel that includes a sheet of flexible material, cut, rolled, and affixed to form a frusto-conically shaped base region. The sheet, when rolled, also includes an upper region having two opposing flaps. Each flap is delineated from a remaining portion of the sheet by a path along which the sheet is scored. The flaps, when folded along their respective paths, define a single elevated drinking portion having a spout formed between an extension of the base region and at least one of the two flaps.

One of the two flaps may be an outer flap and the other flap may be an inner flap such that the outer flap overlies the inner flap when the two flaps are folded. The outer flap has a first edge shaped to coincide, when the flaps are folded, approximately with the path of scoring in the inner flap. The outer flap may also include a closure tab formed as part of the sheet. The closure tab protrudes from a scored line along the first edge of the outer flap. The scored line permits the closure tab to be folded to overlie a portion of the base region. The closure tab may also be removably attachable to the portion of the base region and may include an adhesive layer”.

Note that the bottom is added separately, like the standard coffee cups. The patent application states that “the vessel includes a bottom formed from a second sheet of material, affixed in an opening of the base region, to enable the vessel to retain a liquid placed therein via an opening in the upper region existing when the flaps are unfolded. The bottom is generally circular. The bottom may be formed from material that is a part of the first sheet of material. The bottom may also be folded into a circular flat-bottomed surface having a circumferential wall wherein the circumferential wall is adhered to an interior portion of the base region”.

So far the patent application. Besides being more eco-friendly than the traditional cup and lid combo, it has the potential to save money by taking out the cost of a lid, even though the Compleat uses about 29-33% more paper than a traditional cup.

The Compleat design has another advantage. Market surveys show that consumers hold coffee cups for an average of 16 minutes – that’s 16 minutes that retailers can build a more robust and intimate relationship with the consumer. Introducing two extra flaps in lieu of a lid allows retailers to use the top of the cup for messaging, whether it’s straight advertising or a more subtle interaction with consumers.

But let’s face it. Getting rid of the supplemental plastic lid and still being able to keep the hot coffee safe during transport and sip when you want it, is very attractive.
It is now up to a paperboard manufacturer to pick up the challenge as the inventor is looking for licensees.

The second innovation is from Japan. It is just a simple addition to the traditional coffee cups, used worldwide. But clever it is.

Hot Magic Cup
Tokan Kogyo Co. Ltd., developed the, what they call the Surprise-Eco-Container or Hot Magic Cup. The, in principle, ordinary standard coffee cup automatically changes its outer layer shape as the thermal insulating layer pops out automatically when hot water, more than 85℃ is poured into the cup.

The Hot Magic Cup is universal and the eco-friendly containers have, according to the factory, a superior thermal insulating function to that of conventional double wall containers.

It is easy to hold and difficult to slip from the hands. Furthermore it has the same footprint in shipping and storage as the cups have the same size as an ordinary paper cup before use.

The next time we will have a look at developments in tea packaging. A very interesting part as tea drinking is almost always seen as a ritual. Quite different from coffee, which just is our daily drug.

The first attempts to create bottles by thermoforming were in the 1930s, but, although a number of projects has been pursued, they all were without commercial success.
The recent years, however, have seen successful developments in thermoforming bottles, closed with a pre-punched round aluminium seal, especially in the sector between 50 – 200 ml bottles used for yogurt, juice and isotonic drinks.

The Illig Technology
For this market segment Illig Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, in Heilbronn / Germany introduced its Bottleform BF 70 process in 2008. The material is drawn from the reel, heated and deep drawn in the forming station, mechanically pre-stretched, and subsequently formed by using sterile pressure air. However, due to the bottle design with its significant undercuts, it is necessary to have movable tool parts to enable de-moulding of the bottles. In addition a forming procedure has to be found, which enables an absolutely uniform wall thickness distribution despite reduced initial area and high depth of draw. With the use of specific tools in combination with a servo plug assist and control of the forming air it is possible to deep draw bottles at a stability in line with market conditions even out of a material only 1.4 mm thick (top load)!
The stability of the bottle is a decisive feature for further procedures like filling, sealing and transport. This applies for both the vertical load and the stability of the side walls.
The bottle rims have always to be absolutely even round for sealing. The quality of the sealing rims is decisive for the exact sealing. The secure lock between round plate and bottle guarantees longer durability.
Products do not show a middle seam that is a typical characteristic of blow moulded bottles.

Illig claims that a comparable bottle made by blow moulding has an average weight up to 8.5 gram. A thermoformed bottle stays far below this weight, as the average weight is 4.5 gram.

The Agami ‘Roll N Blow’ Technology
It is obvious that this system has its limits in terms of dimensions (50 – 200 ml). Furthermore they have a sealed top and not a screw closure as blow moulded bottles have. But more recently we have seen the solution for both problems with the development of Agami in France by blow moulding / thermoforming plastic bottles from the reel. I wrote about this development in my article “Highlights of Interpack 2011 – The Second Day”.

The Bottle Thermoforming machine ‘Roll N Blow’ of French company Agami, is based on an innovative technology of tubular thermoforming from a plastic sheet in reel. This sheeting is cut into strips, and each strip is shaped into a tube around a blow pipe. Each strip is then welded lengthwise and the resulting plastic tube is heated and blown into a mould, in order to create the bottle. This technology authorizes high and round shapes for a volume from 100 to 500 ml.

The Hol-Pack Technology
The world of thermoforming bottles is getting much more interesting since a mainly unknown Rudolf Holzleitner, of Hol-Pack Verpackungen from Piberbach in Austria, patented (EP2091829) his invention.

Hol-Pack patented the thermoformed, welded plastic bottle for filling non-carbonated liquids for larger bottles, up to 1.25 litres. The Hol-Pack process involves thermoforming two sheet halves, joined in such a way that the parting line forms a flange-shaped undercut within the bottle. The flanges are welded together at the end of the bottle forming process. The parting line can be arranged along or across the bottle vertical axis.

The lengthwise version allows for production of multi-chamber bottles. Sleeves and labels can be used to conceal the weld line, which is visually unappealing but adds stiffness to finished bottles.

Bottling companies have the option whether to manufacture the entire bottle from a film reel, or buy pre-made semi-finished halves and only carry out the welding of the delivered items on their own machines.

As it is possible to thermoform such semi-finished products in a stackable version, the stackable semis also allow for a commercially interesting modular system. Easily changeable, various bottle shapes are achieved by the fusion of different parts. This technology allows bottlers to a great variety of options and flexibility in bottle shapes as well as in material.

Technically the welded sheet thermoformed bottles feature, compared with blow-moulded bottles, a higher stiffness, due to the welding of the undercuts.

Up till this moment the thermoformed, welded plastic bottles only are suitable for filling non-carbonated liquids, but I am sure that future development will eliminate this restriction and that we will see quite some new applications for this technology, due to its economic prizing, its flexibility in processing, the almost unlimited choice of material, and the almost unlimited free-hand of the designer.

**

What is Thermoforming?
For my readers who want to know in more detail about the thermoforming technology. Here are the principles.
Thermoforming is a generic term for the manufacturing of plastic components through the vacuum and / or pressure forming processes. A simplistic overview of the single-sheet thermoforming process consists of heating extruded plastic sheet and forming the sheet over a male mould or into a female mould. Depending on what type of mould a customer selects, the thermoforming process allows the customer the ability to receive a part with the same aesthetic properties as an injection-moulded part at a fraction of the tooling expense involved in injection moulding.
There are 4 basic processes in the Thermoforming Technology: Vacuum Forming, Pressure Forming, Mechanical Forming and Pressure Diaphragm Forming.

Vacuum Forming – The most common method with the simplest mould. The sheets adhere to the mould using atmospheric pressure. Various other versions of the process are available, using pre-blowing (balloon), negative forming (plug assisted), reverse blow moulding, etc.

Pressure Forming – A blowing bell is combined with the mould, in order to increase, through the use of compressed air, the adherence of the sheet onto the mould. Indispensable for tenacious materials and clearer definition on the surface of the sheet in contact with the mould.

Mechanical Forming – Pre-cutting negative forming (plug assisted) is combined to the base mould in order to obtain areas precise details on the surface of the sheet opposite that facing the mould.

Pressure Diaphragm Forming – The sheet adheres to the mould through the use of an elastic diaphragm which is compressed by a high pressure fluid. Indispensable for extremely tenacious materials.

Some of these same principles apply to another thermoforming processes: twin sheeting. Twin-sheeting is heating two sheets of plastic and forming simultaneously on two opposing half-moulds, and then welded together under high pressure. Cavities can also be created with materials of varying colour and type.
In some cases, the twin-sheeting process produces parts that resemble a blow-moulded part, but the twin sheeting process allows the customer to receive 1) a higher quality, more aesthetic part, 2) a two colour part, and 3) a part with an assembly device trapped inside as the part is being formed.
source: Kenplas Industry Ltd.

Shatler's Caipirinha in a CartoCan

In June last year, I wrote that “the revolution in the bottling industry is on”. It seems to be working out that way, as recently we have seen some very interesting developments in beverage cans. No, not the well-known metal can, but beverage cans made from paperboard. These developments are pioneering in the aseptic can as well as in the paperboard packaging field.

After the, in Germany developed, Cartocan for 250ml energy drinks entered the market in 2010, a new Euro patent application (EP 2017178) emerged, relating to an identical drinks can made from paperboard. The third development, although not for beverages, but for motor oil, is from Sonoco UK.

Kirei no Susume, launched by Shiseido on July 21, 2010, is packaged in a Cartocan

Why these developments in paperboard cans for liquids? Beverage cans, traditionally made from metal, aluminium or tinplate, have become more expensive over the last years, whereas paperboard has remained consistently cheaper. But there is one more reason.
Paperboard cans are favoured by the European packaging laws. The paperboard can is classified as ‘Ecological Favourable Packaging’, a German typification in its “packaging laws”, which add 25 eurocents (a refundable packaging tax deposit) to the price of all metal cans sold by beverage resellers.

It is not surprising of course that all three are European developments. In the USA we don’t see a packaging tax, refundable or not, to protect the environment and stimulate recycling, and consequently we don’t see, as we see in Europe, the implementation of ‘packaging laws’ stimulating developments of more environmental friendly packaging formats.

Let’s have a detailed look at these three paperboard beverage cans.

The Composite Can
Paperboard hollow bodies aren’t new. Since ages we use the convulgated winded paperboard cans or tubes as we call them, but never for beverages. We all know the composite can or paperboard can used for dry products and sometimes for pastes, such as creams, balms and oil-based products.

The EcoPak made by Chicago Paper Tube & Can Co Inc

Although often seen as a simple packaging format for simple products (see my post: “EcoPak and Ecocentric – What’s in a Name?” ). there are some examples of brilliant design using the composite can in the upscale market. One of these examples is the Biznaga range of Spanish Gourmet specialties.

The composite can or paperboard can or tube is mostly a round container comprised of a body with two ends made from a variety of materials. The packaging can be produced in many shapes and sizes. The container body is made from paper, and various liner materials to achieve barrier requirements and often completed with a printed label for packaging graphics.

The CartoCan
The new paperboard can, which is made by Michael Hörauf Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Donzdorf / Germany and marketed under the brand name Cartocan, is a highly innovative and brand-appropriate take on the ubiquitous 250ml energy metal drink cans.
CartoCan is the new, high-quality packaging alternative to the tinplate and aluminium can. The slim, cylindrical, trendy format permits a clear positioning of the product at the point of sale.

With the CartoCan, as packaging format, Michael HörAuf offers a complete system for packaging production, sterilization and filling of beverages and food with a shelf life of 12 months. In addition to the aseptic filling of the CartoCan, the company ensures that the mild heat treatment retains the taste, texture, aroma and colour of the product as it undergoes, it claims, optimal processing.

Wood fibre is under ecological conditions a natural renewable and recyclable raw material. The properties of the material along with the environmentally friendly manufacturing and recycling process ensure that the CartoCan supports a brand’s environmental policies.
The CartoCan can be filled with from flavoured milk drinks to tea, from fruit juices to energy drinks.

Full system supplier IPI s.r.l. in Perugia/Italy is one of the system partners for CartoCan and provides the material, which is especially developed for this product. This ensures a full compatibility between equipment and material.

The multi-layer structure is designed in order to produce a protective barrier for the products to be filled. Its structural integrity guarantees preservation of the contents of the product during its entire shelf-life.

Cartocan cans (capacity 200 to 250 ml) feature carton barrier laminates (aluminium or EVOH layers inside and outside are optional), flexographic printing, sleeve material printed in 5 colours, and a wide choice of designs.
Cartocan can be recycled in the same manner as milk cartons.

The Keienburg Paperboard Can
Recently a new Euro patent application (EP 2017178 in German) emerged, relating to an identical drinks can made from paperboard. There is not yet an official brand name available for this can, so I call it, for the time being, after the inventor Günther Keienburg.

Let’s first look at the abstract of EP 2017178 (A2): “The casing comprises a parallelly coiled layer of cellulose-containing material in the form of cardboard and/or pasteboard, and a liquid-proof functional layer. An inner casing surface facing content of the container includes an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer barrier layer with a weight of 10 grams per meter square. A container wall includes a four layer sulphate cardboard with a weight of 250 grams per meter square. The material comprises polyethylene and polyamide coatings”.

It’s a development of Keienburg Agentur für Verpackung GmbH in Rhauderfehn / Germany, which, alongside the cans, offers production units to erect the can body. This gives drinks manufacturers the ability to make the paperboard cans at source, eliminating the high costs for transportation and storage of empty metal cans.
To produce the cardboard can only board reels and can tops and ends are delivered to the fillers. One reel of 4 feet diameter and 0.5 feet width is equivalent to 4.000 cans. The production units offered by Keienburg are said to be capable of producing in excess of 40,000 paperboard cans every single hour.
Currently used filling lines only need simple modifications to process the paperboard cans as standard aluminium pull up can tops are used. This newly introduced production system is said to save up to 30% of the production costs.

The difference between the Cartoncan and the Keienburg can is that the Cartoncan uses an adhesive tape to cover and close the drinking hole in the paperboard top of the can, while Keienburg uses the standard original metal can ends, creating an almost identical beverage can as we know it. This difference in can construction is important as the Keienburg can is designed for carbonised beverages, just like its metal carbon copy.

The Sonoco rigid paperboard can for motor oils
Last month Sonoco, the world’s oldest and largest producer of paperboard cans, also entered, via its UK subsidiary, the market of paperboard cans for liquids. However not for beverages as the former two, but for motor oils.

Sonoco’s solution was a rigid paper container with metal ends that offers the same product appearance and protection for liquids, but at a lower cost and using far more sustainable materials. According to Sonoco, the screw-top, paperboard can is durable enough to last the required product’s four year shelf life.
Furthermore the company claims that the rigid paper container demonstrates significant economic and environmental improvements in its life cycle assessment when compared to the steel can that is generally used in the motor oil market. Not only does it result in a 27% reduction in material weight inputs and reduces the customer’s shipping and handling costs, it also results in a 34% reduction in energy inputs, a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 2% reduction in chemical bad actors.

The Future
Now start thinking. Use your imagination.
Some months ago I wrote about the new Evero Aseptic paperboard bottle from Tetra. Although I think Sonoco is using its convulgated winded paperboard tubes, cutting them in the required sizes, HörAuf and Keienburg are rolling a paperboard sheet in a similar way as Tetra is doing for its Evero.

The Keienburg can uses aluminium ends as are commonly used for 3-piece metal tins. Tetra is using a plastic shoulder/neck which is glued into the paperboard body.
You can see that the Keyenburg paperboard can assembled with a shoulder/neck piece, results in a paperboard can with an aluminium or plastic bottom end and a shoulder/neck, emerging into a full bottle with screw cap facility.

Compare also the development of the Aisa can, I wrote about in my article “Tetra Evero Aseptic and AisaCan – The Revolution of Multi-Material Bottles”

A fascinating evolution in beverage bottles and cans is awaiting us.

Note: I couldn’t find a website of Keienburg, But for those interested here is the full address:  Keienburg Agentur für Verpackung GmbH, Rajen 21, 26817 Rhauderfehn, Germany.

The last months of 2011 have seen some serious publications about Food Safety and Packaging, as well as Packaging and Sustainability. I selected the 4 most important to show for further study here.

The time of frolicking around is over. The last month of 2011, I wrote several articles about fancy and exclusive packaging designs. I still have some left, but that’s for the end of this month. The New Year started and it is time to go back to serious business.

The last months of 2011 have seen some serious publications about Food Safety and Packaging, as well as Packaging and Sustainability. I selected the 4 most important to show for further study here:
1.    A complimentary white paper which provides an overview of the Food Safety Management Systems and Food Packaging Design and Manufacture Standards: ISO 22000, PAS 223 AND FSSC 22000. The white paper is written by SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

2.    The European Commission (EC) published a guidance on active and intelligent (A&I) food packaging to help industry, professionals and national authorities understand and implement the underlying legislation passed two years ago.
3.    A Green Paper on Packaging and Sustainability, published by EuroPen. A result from a broad stakeholder consultation on the topic of Packaging and Sustainability. The paper concludes that packaging should be seen as part of the solution in achieving a resource efficient society.
4.    And finally the Consumer Goods Forum released the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS) to enable the consumer goods industry to better assess the relative sustainability of packaging.

Let’s look at the publications in detail. I included links so that you can download the publications (in pdf), if they are of interest to you. But first some excerpts.

First the white paper: Overview of the Food Safety Management Systems and Food Packaging Design and Manufacture Standards: ISO 22000, PAS 223 AND FSSC 22000
This white paper written by Supreeya Sansawat (Global Food Business Manager, SGS) and John Terry (Global Product Manager, Food Supply Chain Assurance SGS) is a discussion about the relevant standards ISO 22000, PAS 223 and FSSC 22000.
The document aims to provide an overview of these standards and discusses how the food packaging industry came together to develop PAS 223 ‘Pre-requisite Programmes and Design Requirements for Food Safety in the Manufacture and Provision of Food Packaging’ and how
PAS 223, coupled with ISO 22000 now forms the Food Safety Systems Certification (FSSC) 22000 standard for food packaging.
Within the context of food packaging it explains issues such as the potential migration of harmful chemicals or other contaminants to the food and the potential dangers associated with increased use of recycled materials and mislabelled products.

This 16-page white paper (click the title or the image at the side to download the document in pdf) handles, apart from Packaging and Food Safety, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Benchmarking for Food Packaging and an Overview of ISO 22000 and PAS 223, a discussion combining Food Packaging Safety Schemes with those related to the Environment, Health and Safety and Quality Control.

Secondly we have seen the EU Guidance to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 450/2009 of 29 May 2009 on active and intelligent materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.
The Framework Regulation (EC) 1935/20048 allows the introduction of active and intelligent packaging on the European market. This Regulation states that food contact materials shall not transfer constituents to food in quantities, which could endanger human health, bring about an unacceptable change in the composition and bring about deterioration in organoleptic characteristics thereof (Article 3).

The guidance defines an active packaging as a type of food packaging with an extra function, in addition to that of providing a protective barrier against external influence. Active packaging is intended to influence the packed food. The packaging absorbs food-related chemicals from the food or the environment within the packaging surrounding the food; or it releases substances into the food or the environment surrounding the food such as preservatives, antioxidants, flavourings, etc.

An intelligent packaging provides the user with information on the conditions of the food. In contrary to active components, intelligent components do not have the intention to release their constituents into the food. The intelligent component may be positioned on the outer surface of the package and may be separated from the food by a functional barrier. The functional barrier concept is explained in the guidance.

This EU guidance, which is an evolving document and will be updated to further clarify aspects related to the implementation of this legislation, gives definitions and examples, handles legal aspects in relation to the authorisation of active or intelligent substances or components, contains the EU list of substances that may be used in active or intelligent components and has a questions and answers section related to the risk assessment and authorisation procedure.

To read the full 26-pages document, click the title or the image at the side (downloading in pdf)

The third publication I advise my readers to consult is a Green Paper – Packaging and Sustainability – An open dialogue between stakeholders, published by EuroPen.
Europen, with its slogan “The Voice of Industry for Packaging and the Environment”, is a pan-European cross-sectoral industry and trade body dedicated exclusively to this subject. In November 2011 they published a green paper as result of an open dialogue between stakeholders on packaging’s role in society. Representatives of environmental NGO’s, the European Commission, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, retailers and retailer trade associations and Europen corporate members were among stakeholders involved in shaping and endorsing the contents of the Green Paper.

The Green Paper is predicated on the initial, common sense position that packaging is a necessary element in the functioning of our economy. In this context, the document sets out to re-examine the core questions about the place that packaging plays in the drive towards sustainable production and consumption. The contributors to this paper hope that it will provide a way of addressing and understanding the challenges that are involved in choosing how goods should be packaged.
In particular, this paper provides some answers to the varied questions that must be asked in order to attain the ‘Optimum Packaging Design’, with the lowest possible environmental impact. To support the decision-making process, seven key considerations around the areas of material selection, design, consumer choice, production, use, end-of-life and innovative business models were identified and discussed.

The full 16-page Green Paper can be downloaded in pdf by clicking the title or the image at the side.

The last document I want to attract your attention to is the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS).
By its nature packaging is very visible and in a world of scarce resources it is something that attracts the attention of consumers, the media and environmentalists. They often challenge the industry to address it. And of course the industry has a responsibility to review and optimize the environmental performance of the packaging it uses with respect to all relevant life cycle stages.
Finding the balance between under-packaging and over-packaging is the aim for all businesses.

That’s why the Consumer Goods Forum published the First Global Measurement System for Packaging Sustainability to enable the consumer goods industry to better assess the relative sustainability of packaging. The Consumer Goods Forum is sponsored by two of the organisation’s board members: Philip Clarke, CEO of Tesco and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever.

The aim of the Protocol is to help companies reduce the environmental impact of their packaging by providing a common language to address a range of business questions about packaging sustainability either within a company or between business partners. That common language consists of a framework and a measurement system. The framework entitled A Global Language for Packaging Sustainability was first published in June 2010. The metrics presented in the Protocol published today deliver the measurement system.

In this case, if you are interested and as a matter of fact, you must be, there are 3 pdf’s to download.
The Framework : A global language for Packaging and Sustainability
Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS)
Questions & Answers: Frequently asked questions about the GPPS 2.0

Click the titles or the images to download the pdf.

Reading these reports mentioned here is a real good start of 2012.

Yesterday at exactly 00.00hrs my server WordPress supplied me with some crunchy numbers. Here they are. This blog was viewed 210,585 times in 2011. That’s an increase of more than 50% in relation with 2010.
The busiest day of the year was May 16th with 1,302 views. The most popular post that day was “Highlights of Interpack 2011 – The Third Day”. By the way the whole series of articles about the Interpack was a success.

In 2011, there were 61 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 257 posts. There were 589 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 170mb. That’s about 2 pictures per day.

Where did they come from?

Most visitors came from The United States. The United Kingdom and India were not far behind.
Of all 210,000 visitors of Best In Packaging roughly 40% came from North America, of which 80,9% USA, 13,3% Canada, 3,7% Mexico, 0,2% Puerto Rico and 0,2% Costa Rica.
Roughly 25% of all visitors came from Europe, of which 22,5% UK, 9,6% Germany, 8,0% France, 6,5% Netherlands and 6,5% Spain.
Of the approximately 15% of visitors from Asia, 28,6% came from India, 11,1% Malaysia, 9,6% Thailand, 5,7% Singapore and 5,5% Philippines.
Australia supplied the blog with 83,2% of the 10% of all visitors from Oceania, while 16,6% came from New Zealand.
South America represented 5% of all visitors with Brazil 45,6%, 19,5% Argentina, 12,7% Colombia, 8,7% Chile and 5,1% Peru. Note: Don’t forget that I started in April 2011 a sister-blog (Excelência em Embalagem) for the Latin America region.
Finally Africa came up with another 5% of total visitors, with 44,1% from South Africa, 16,9% Egypt, 11,1% Tunisia, 5,0% Kenya, 4,4% Mauritius.

So far the visitors’ statistics. How did they find this blog?

With 660 followers (482 blog-followers and 178 Twitter-followers), 60,858 (30%) clicked directly to the Home-page  and 7,068 (3,4%) visited the Packaging Dictionary straightaway.
Search Engines, like Google, took care of 30% of all visitors, with search topics as vodka brands, best packaging, best in packaging, packaging innovations, and plastic codes.
A mere 5,7% (11,895) came through linkedin.com, while the rest (30%) came via websites and blogs which referred to one or more of my articles, such as packaginguqam.blogspot.com, packagingdigest.com, packagingcalculator.com, brazilinhotpants.wordpress.com, guiaenvase.com, boards.core77.com and many more.

Now what article of 2011 was most popular?
Playing With Paperboard – Origami In Folding Cartons
My vision: Packaging Trends in 2011 and beyond
Packaging Design with Corrugated Cardboard
January – Five New Packaging Innovations
February – Five New Packaging Innovations
Dual-Chamber Bottles

These statistics are of course a bit misleading as an article written in Jan or Febr 2011 has more chance to be clicked in that year than an article written in Nov or Dec. To illustrate the point “Highlights of Interpack 2011 – The Third Day” got the most visitors of the year in just one day, the day that the article was published May 16, 2011. As I said before all articles about the Interpack were very popular during that period of the exhibition. Consequently the month of May was the busiest month in terms of visitors. But during the following months the attention for the Interpack was declining in relation to other topics.

So interesting in this case is the popularity of a specific item over the years.
Apparently  the content of my articles have staying power, as also in 2012 more than one article from 2010 or even 2009, were under the most popular and frequently read:
The most popular of the previous years were:
Shaping Glass for Vodka – August 2009
Milk in a Pouch – Innovative and Sustainable – April 2009
Improving the Shelf Life of Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables – Febr 2010
10 Fresh Packaging Ideas – June 2010
Innovative Dispensing Bottle Caps for Sensitive Vitamins – May 2009

Obviously there is a continuing and persistent interest for the topics I wrote about some time ago. I decided therefore to create an index-page, which should facilitate my readers to find older, but still popular articles more easily.

Let’s see what 2012 will bring us. There is many an interesting item to write about and several “coming-up” developments will turn around the packaging world. 2012 will be an interesting year.
Thank you for visiting this blog in 2011 and I hope to see you in 2012 again.

In São Paulo today a driver tried to descend a flight of steps with his car and of course got stuck between the walls.

Photo: Eliezer dos Santos / VC in G1

After exiting his car through the window, he declared that he didn’t recognise the road as a cul-de-sac and thought that the stairs were just the continuation of the road.

The story doesn’t tell whether it was a male or female driver, but in any case a brainless one.

Happy New Year

In the past we were used to wish everybody “Peace on Earth”, and although still very relevant in these days, this wish seems to be out of fashion. However I wish everybody peaceful days and hope we once will face a world without conflict. It is too childish the way we are creating world conflicts. We are living in the 21st century, for Christ sake, we must be able to live harmoniously with each other. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Atheists or whatever religious or non-religious movement a person wishes to be a member of, let’s finally accept one and other the way he or she is, irrespective of his/her religion, colour , gender, sexual preference or whatever some people seem to see as a barrier for love and peace.

One more thing. Apparently there is a movement objecting to the use of the word Christmas, trying to de-Christianise this time of the year . I don’t understand that. Whatever religion you are part of, nobody can deny that Christmas belongs to our rich human heritage and culture. It is exactly the same with the Jewish holidays as Passover, Hanukkah, Yom-Kippur, Muslims’ Laylat al-Qadr and Ramadàn,  Krsnajayànti and Dassera for the Hindus and Buddhist’s  Vesakha Pùjà and I can go on and on. Nobody is trying to change that words, why deny Christians the right to celebrate their cultural heritage. Don’t come up with the argument that it is all a fairy-tale, that’s why. With good reason we can say the same for any and all religions.

The streets of Belém, Brazil, the city where I live, showed Christmas decorations made from recycled material, like PET bottles. The illumination was inaugurated on the 16th of December - Photos Reuters

For large groups of people this period of the year has religious aspects, for others it is just a fine closure of a year of hard work and hardship, with hopefully a prosperous next year. Please. Respect each other. Let the people enjoy in peace the celebrations of their religion and enjoy your own existence when you don’t fit into this particular religious celebration.

It is childish behaviour to do otherwise.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays