Avery Dennison began the digital traffic sign revolution in 2014 with our introduction of the TrafficJet Print System. Quickly becoming one of the best-selling printers for specification compliant traffic signs with warranties exceeding industry standards, TrafficJet is in regular use in nearly 500 locations across 50 countries. This printer has been instrumental in the elimination of more than 1.5 million gallons of wastewater worldwide. “Our newest printer, TrafficJet Pro, truly challenges the need for toxic screen printing” says Aaron Means, senior product manager. “This affordable printer featuring UV LED instant cure and True Traffic Color spot inks, delivers print speeds comparable to high-volume screen printing, while eliminating the complexity and multiple waste streams associated with screen printing. In addition, the print production process can be housed in an area less than one-third required by screen printing, conserving valuable space and associated costs. For government agencies, longer-life TrafficJet Pro signs reduce their replacement cycles and maintenance costs, lessening the impact on the environment.

A lot of designers are coming up with cool packaging designs for various products, but this packaging concept by Nolan Nisbet for the Apple Watch is particularly intriguing! Inspired by the packaging design for the iPod, Nisbet adopted a clear and transparent package for the Apple Watch as well. The transparent packaging comes in two parts, one protects the screen of the watch, whereas the other part forms a protective layer around the strap. But here’s where it becomes interesting, the packaging of the strap has been designed in such a way, that you can slide it on and off! This allows you to try on straps of different styles, letting you mix and match, till you settle on a combination that you like. You can try on the various packaged straps on your hand, so you can see how they would actually look on you! The clear protective layer ensures that no one actually ends up touching the straps, and they are in pristine condition, preventing them from getting dirty or contaminated before they are even sold (especially useful in these COVID-19 times).

When it comes to the straps, Nisbet has branded them with Nike! He’s presented an innovative idea, wherein Apple and Nike collaborate to create some pretty cool straps for the watch. The different straps come in diverse colors and patterns combined with Nike’s sporty and funky design philosophy. In fact, even the packaging has been integrated with Nike’s branding. The center of the package showcases Apple and Nike’s logos. And, this center portion has a little secret compartment! The user’s manual and the charger have been placed within the compartment. These two essential add ons have been compactly integrated within the packaging of the watch.

Nisbet’s packaging concept for the Apple Watch is not only innovative and unique but also extremely functional and convenient! He’s taken the buyer’s comfort into consideration as well, creating a packaging design that eases up and supports your buying process. 

“We are pleased to announce that the executive management of HTL has decided to enter new business opportunities in the plastic packaging industry by venturing into the production of plastic products for external customers and third parties,” said HTL in a statement.

The company informed that this business will be pursued through the existing plant site of HTL subsidiary Hi-Tech Blending (Pvt.) Ltd. (HTBL).

The company said that its subsidiary HTBL has been producing bottles for its own needs since 2016 for both its locally blended and locally filled products. “Having attained substantial experience in extrusion blow molding and injection molding, the company has been exploring the provision of similar plastic packaging to outside customers for some time,” it said.

HTL said that it has been approached by potential customers to provide various types of plastic bottles and informed that the processes for import and installation of requisite machinery in the extrusion blow molding machine and feeding recycling system section of the plant site of HTBL have been initiated for the production of various quality products for external customers and local third parties.

The company said it had initiated process of import and installation of 06/04 Head Double Station Machine for bottles of different types/sizes from 50 ml to 1000 ml for Fast Moving Consumer Products (FMCG), import and installation of multi-layer 2 head double station machine for oxygen sensitive products/bottles and import and installation of injection molding machine for caps, buckets and auto parts.

While 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water today, Bernhardt and its Denmark-based customer Solarsack have decided to act by using their expertise to offer a solution to a key issue: water safety. By combining our efforts, we have been able to develop an affordable water treatment solution using the sun's rays.

Two years after winning the PackTheFuture award in the Social Benefits category with our STERI-LIQUID POUCH, Bernhardt is awarded for the second time in a row in the same category for the 500-times reusable pocket produced for SolarSack. The purpose of this contest? Promote the creative and innovative potential of the plastic and flexible packaging sector: latest packaging innovations, new solutions, the latest technologies and trends in the sector... Born in close collaboration with the Danish company Solarsack, this product aims to promote access to drinking water for areas that are deprived of it.

Very easy to use, the Solarsack must, once filled with 4 liters of water, be exposed to the sun's rays for 4 hours... and that's it! Indeed, the combined action of UV-A, UV-B rays and the rise in temperature allows the destruction of pathogens present in water. Offering a real alternative to methods that consume coal or wood to purify water, the Solarsack is designed to be reusable 500 times, thus avoiding the generation of 600 kg of CO2 and saving 2 trees.

In addition to innovation from a social and ecological point of view, the Solarsack is also a technical innovation since its asymmetrical structure combines a very strong laminated film and a 5-layer co-extruded film offering excellent transparency to UV rays. The welding and insertion tools have been specially adapted to create a mechanically resistant and durable 4-litre pocket over time.

In conclusion, solarsack combines expertise in the design, production of film and pocket manufacturing to provide a solution to a major problem that is likely to increase in its final years: lack of access to drinking water.

Following significant investment over the last 18 months, Coveris has established a state-of-the-art BOPP label manufacturing facility at its Louth site with a dedicated finishing hall and installation of specialist high-speed slitting equipment. To support growth plans in the beverage market, Coveris has made further investment and upgraded its BOPP label manufacturing capabilities with the installation of the UK’s first fully automated Universal X6 slitter.

Using the latest technology, the Universal X6 slitter provides high-speed efficiency, accuracy and automation in Coveris’ production of BOPP labels, increasing the site’s capacity to over 3 billion labels per year. With moisture imperious qualities and performance during high speed application, reel-fed BOPP labels are typically used in the PET bottling industry for water, dairy-based and carbonated drinks.

Already a supplier to world-leading brand owners and bottlers, including Coca-Cola European Partners and Refresco, Coveris targets further growth in the BOPP label sector, complementing its existing beverage packaging footprint in plain and printed collation shrink film, pressure sensitive (self-adhesive) labels, stretch sleeve and shrink sleeve formats.

“Coveris is uniquely positioned as the leading supplier of plain and printed films to the beverage sector in Europe. Supported by investment in state-of-the-art technology, dedicated BOPP manufacturing capabilities and award-winning print, we are able to provide our customers with leading quality, service and products, while targeting ambitious growth in the BOPP beverage industry”, commented Mark Summers, Coveris Films Sales Director.

Coveris’ print quality at its Louth site was recognised at the European Flexographic Industry Association (EFIA) this year. Coveris was awarded Gold in the ‘Flexo Print on Film – Reverse Print Narrow’ category for a collation shrink film multipack for French Coca-Cola brand Tropico.

The cannabis and CBD industries are being actively targeted by counterfeiters, who aim to benefit from the industry’s explosive growth. The KushCo proposition will provide companies with enhanced packaging, with the most secure visual authentication technology using 3D photopolymer images, unique serialization, e-verification, label tracking, and data capturing capabilities.

“It is our responsibility as a leader in the space to build consumer trust in addition to empower governments and brands. Counterfeit products undermine the legitimate cannabis industry by hurting sales, cheating governments out of tax revenue, and eroding consumer confidence while putting their health at risk. KushCo wants to provide the tools for our clients to have greater transparency and accountability,” said Nick Kovacevich, CEO of KushCo.

Andrew Clint, Managing Director of De La Rue’s Authentication business, said: “As the legalized cannabis industry matures and companies look to protect their consumers, strengthen regulatory compliance and introduce global trace capabilities, we are happy to be partnering with KushCo to enable the provision of product authentication labels and anti-counterfeit services to their customers.”

De La Rue prints more than 8 billion product authentication labels each year, working across multiple stakeholders. Its services are designed to correctly identify and track legitimate products throughout the supply chain and can be applied to any revenue generating product type, including tobacco, alcohol and legalized cannabis, it says.

BRUSSELS – Stand-up pouches (SUPs) can now be made using recycled material from full polyethylene (PE) laminated SUPs and virgin performance PE polymers thanks to a collaboration between ExxonMobil, Hosokawa Alpine AG, EREMA Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen GmbH, and Henkel AG & Co KGaA Company. The new SUP packages combine 30 percent recycled SUP PE with 70 percent virgin ExxonMobil performance PE polymers and are well-suited for non-food applications, such as detergents.

“Flexible packaging is structurally a highly complex product requiring different material layers to enable it to meet a wide range of property requirements. This complex mix of materials poses the main challenge for recycling flexible packaging today,” says Marcin Lapaj, Global Business Development Manager for Circular Economy at Henkel. “That is why there is a need to go beyond the current functionalities and create a flexible packaging that also has recyclability ‘built in.’ There is a growing demand for packaging that focuses on being recyclable and uses recycled materials. This approach ensures valuable resources are kept in the loop longer and less waste is being generated. Combining efforts along the value chain is helping the industry move one step closer to enabling the desired circularity of flexible packaging for a more sustainable future.”

“ExxonMobil introduced full PE laminated SUP packaging solutions as a replacement for conventional multi-material structures which can be difficult to recycle. These full PE SUPs can be easily recycled where programs and facilities to collect and recycle plastic films exist,” said David Hergenrether, ExxonMobil Chemical vice president, polyethylene. “This recycled PE is now being used in combination with our performance PE polymers to manufacture new SUPs, helping customers create sustainable solutions.”

Exceed™ XP, Exceed™ and Enable™ performance PE polymers, and Exact™ plastomer products are ideal for SUP packaging films as they deliver excellent stiffness, toughness, sealing and optical properties. Exceed XP provides outstanding toughness properties like puncture energy and exceptional MD tensile strength for excellent bag-drop performance, which is essential for package integrity. Exact offers low sealing initiation temperatures. Enable delivers similar haze to BOPP/BOPA, balanced stiffness-optical performance and outstanding optical properties at a lower machine direction orientation (MDO) ratio versus high density PE which can allow easy MDO processing for industrial converters. The full PE SUP films based on ExxonMobil polymers deliver comparable performance to multi-polymer structures which contain BOPP, BOPET, or BOPA, making them well-suited for food applications.

Fabricating these full PE SUP films on Hosokawa Alpine film MDO lines with TRIO technology delivers greater value. High orientation allows the film properties to be optimized to meet specific SUP requirements for optical (gloss and haze) and stiffness properties. These films containing performance PE need to be stretched less than five times, compared to six times when using other leading polymers, which improves the MDO processability.

“By stretching the films on MDO lines with TRIO technology we can influence the mechanical and optical properties to meet the needs of the application,” said Dr. Holger Niemeier, executive vice president, Hosokawa Alpine.

Loctite® Liofol solvent-free adhesives from Henkel’s newly introduced RE product range are “designed for recycling”. These adhesives contribute to the success of full PE SUP films by offering a set of features allowing homogenous laminates to be recycled mechanically with excellent results. This is achieved at efficient machine speed with optimal ink compatibility for high-quality printing, high initial tack and room temperature curing.

Once the SUP has been used, EREMA’s INTAREMA® TVEplus® technology combines filtration, homogenization and degassing in a single, effective working step to deliver recycled PE material with a new level of quality that can be used in new laminated SUP packaging for non-food applications. Exceed XP performance PE allows the properties of the film to be retained when recycled content is added to the formulation.

For further details please visit the ExxonMobil pavilion (FG10.1) at K2019 or Exxonmobilchemical.com/SUP