Plastics packaging manufacturer and recycler Alpla has teamed up with label and sleeve producer CCL Label to develop a stackable PET beverage can with a full-body shrink sleeve.
The 0.33 litre ‘bottle in can’ format, which can be integrated into existing PET filling lines, is designed as an alternative to aluminium cans and combines the appearance of a metal can with the properties and recyclability of PET.
The container does not require an epoxy coating containing bisphenol A (BPA), and the development comes as the EU introduces restrictions on BPA in food-contact materials.
The tethered cap provides resealability while helping prevent contamination and insects from entering. This is said to reduce the cleaning required during recycling, including when packs are collected at home or through deposit return machines.
Carbon dioxide savings
The format is also available in rPET, which Alpla said could provide additional carbon dioxide savings and allow the container to enter an existing bottle-to-bottle recycling cycle.
CCL Label’s EcoFloat shrink sleeve is made from LDPE and is designed to separate from PET flakes during recycling. CCL Label says its floatable sleeve technology enables separation from PET during sink-float recycling.
The sleeve is applied after filling, which the companies say provides greater flexibility over production and design. PET preforms and sleeves also require less storage and transport capacity than prefabricated empty cans, according to Alpla.
The full-body sleeve provides 360 degree decoration, with a silver metallic effect and mirror finish intended to give the PET container the appearance of a metal can.
‘Long-term supply’
Daniel Lehner, global sales director for food and beverage at Alpla, said: “A beverage can may just as well be made of plastics. Our can relies on the well-known material properties of transparent PET, which has proven itself on the market and can highlight special products as a novelty.
“We stand for safe and modern packaging solutions worldwide. The PET can combines these features and enables our customers to have a seamless and long-term supply.”
In other Alpla developments, the company opened its first plant in the Philippines in March. The 4,800 sq m facility in Calamba City produces plastics bottles and closures using injection stretch blow moulding, extrusion blow moulding and compression moulding. It is Alpla’s 200th plant globally.
The company also opened a public plastics bottle collection point in Mexico City in the same month. The facility in Iztapalapa is intended to collect more than 200,000 PET, HDPE and PP bottles each year, with the material recycled into new packaging applications.
