Beverage producers will be required to face various challenges in the next 10 years.
Bottlers and converters will be asked to produce ecologically sustainable packaging that guarantees recycling and the consequent availability of high-quality production material, to lower their production costs even further, and to increase both their productive efficiency and total sales.
A number of companies have already implemented good practices in the production of their packaging that make recycling operations easier. Such practices regard not only the choice of determined production technologies that enable lower resource consumption but also the selection of the specific standards to be respected when choosing the type of packaging to use and the technologies to produce it, and also in regard to labeling.
Z-Italia has developed a technology that permits plastic BOPP labels to be applied without using glue for the transfer of the label to the container and a label micro-perforation system that facilitates the label’s subsequent removal.
The glue traditionally used for roll-fed applications cannot be dissolved in water and cannot be removed through a simple washing cycle. To make matters worse, residue that contaminates the PET to be recycled invariably remains even after recycling operations have been completed.
The Z-Italia labeling machine applies BOPP labels to containers without using glue. The label’s first flap is not glued and the container is not “soiled” with glue; the overlap, instead, is sealed using traditional hot glue. This ensures both that the label is perfectly sealed and that the surface of the bottle is free of all glue residue.
This type of application offers many advantages. Not only does it enable substantial savings in glue consumption and maintenance costs (the labeling unit can be cleaned faster and less frequently), it also guarantees the complete recovery of uncontaminated PET from recycling processes whenever one-way or disposable bottles are used and enables the easy stripping of the label before returnable bottles are inserted in the washing machine.
In order to facilitate the removal of the label from the container prior to waste collection, Z-Italia has also developed a laser micro-perforation system that works on the labeling machine itself before label application.
Perforation is already widely used in both sleeve and full body label applications in both partial and tamper-evident versions (for a guaranteed seal). Not only does it make bottles easier to open (when utilized for tamper-evident sealing), it enormously simplifies the removal of the entire label for the purposes of sorted waste collection. In certain nations, such as Japan, for example, where consumers are required to tear off the label and dispose of the bottle in one bin and the label in another, perforated sleeve labels are really the only option feasible.
With sleeve labels, this perforation can be performed directly by the converter during the production of the labels. Up until now, this was not an easy operation for converters to perform on BOPP labels.
BOPP are widely used all over the world and highly esteemed by bottlers. They’re cheap, easy to apply at even high production speeds, and above all, ensure the product an attractive appearance.
Producers of returnable bottles in both glass and PET are extremely interested in this type of application.
Returnable bottle recovery processes provide a perfect example of sustainability thanks to the reduction of residue and the energy required for recycling. In this process, the bottle itself plays a fundamental role because it can be used again and again and again, and therefore must comply with precise quality and image specifications and guarantee the hygiene requisites requested.
The most popular returnable bottles in the market are decorated with silk-screen printing. Although new silk-screen printed bottles are highly attractive, they damage easily and rapidly during the recovery process, and this leads to elevated procurement and storage costs, especially when Multiproduct is involved. In solution to this problem, some bottlers have opted for the application of pre-cut paper labels using cold glue. Paper labels reduce the costs of procuring and storing bottles decorated in this way because they can be removed in the washing machine, of course, but also create higher maintenance costs for the machines used for their removal. Label residue clogs washing machines to the extent that the latter must be cleaned continuously, no to mention the fact that glue residue is hard to remove completely from the bottle’s surface and requires the use of specific detergents.
The technology developed by Z-Italia that permits BOPP labels to be applied without glue, perforated, and removed on the line before entering the washing machine is the ideal solution for the recovery of returnable bottles in both glass and PET.
The advantages are numerous, and include:
- Significant reductions in bottle procurement and storage costs. The same bottle can be decorated with different labels for different tastes again and again.
- Bottles recovered and re-used many times show evident signs of scuffing and are less attractive. A shiny new label restores the bottle’s sheen and can extend its working life as a result.
- The label to be used is a standard BOPP, the same one used in one-way bottles with the same cost. The label also permits the frequent changes in image demanded by marketing, and permits the insertion of promotional messages and the launching of themed advertising campaigns.
- Because the label is not glued to the bottle, it can be easily removed by a mechanical device or a laser beam before entering the washing machine.
- The washing cycle is faster, more thorough, and more hygienic. Even the washing machine requires less maintenance.
- Empty EBI bottle inspection machines can check decoration-free bottles with greater accuracy.
- Consumers can strip off perforated labels easily and make their own contribution to sustainability, in this way playing an active role in reducing environmental impact.
- This technology does not lead to any increase in the cost of the raw materials (PET and labels) and permits savings in the use of glue.
Last but not least, for bottlers who make ”corporate responsibility” one of the key elements in their marketing strategy, showing consumers the way to more ecological sustainable behavior will certainly have a big return.