Collation shrink film is often used for bundling single packages of consumer goods.Like other plastic films, this type of film is currently under social pressure. Paper could be an environmentally friendly alternative if a suitable type of paper can be applied in such a way that the requirements for manipulation and transport of the bundles are met. In this study, the use of paper for bundling bottles is experimentally investigated. The study focuses on bundles of six PET bottles of 1.5 L containing flat water and sparkling water. Suitability of a paper-based bundling method is evaluated in terms of rigidity of the bundle and in terms of resistance to horizontal inertial forces that inevitably occur during transport. Behaviour of collation shrink film-based bundles is taken as a minimum performance level. The study shows that various paper-based bundling methods can technically qualify as a replacement for collation shrink film and even offer additional benefits. A particular promising concept consists of a band of paper that is stretched around the bottles. It allows lifting the bottles by grasping two caps only, and it beats shrink film regarding resistance to varying horizontal inertia forces. Further research is necessary to optimise the concept and to adopt it for a wider range of products and for industrial use.
Background of this research is suspension packaging: fragile goods are attached to a panel of cardboard by wrapping it in stretch film. The panel is then appropriately folded, and the whole thing is placed in a cardboard box of corresponding dimensions. The primary objective of this study is to identify paper types that might be used in future as a more sustainable alternative for stretch wrap film. The experimental methods that are utilized are basically variants of mechanical pulling tests on paper samples. Sample preparation and sample size are adopted from international standards, but displacement control is adopted to detect relevant stretchability properties. Some kraft papers show a high ultimate tensile stress and a moderate stretchability, mainly permanent stretch as expected. Although the ultimate tensile stress of paper from recycled fibers is lower, some of these paper grades show a considerable higher stretchability including a higher elastic stretch. It is concluded that both kraft paper and paper grades from recycled fibers may be applicable as a wrapping material for suspension packaging. Further experimental research is needed to identify appropriate wrapping parameters for each paper type.
Due to increasing pressure on brand owners and distributors to avoid single use plastics such as plastic bundle packaging, a new bundle packaging that consists of corrugated board only, has been designed. Obviously this new packaging should equally enable transportability. This study compares the transportability of bundles using corrugated board on the one hand and bundles using plastic collation shrink film on the other. In particular, the resistance to varying horizontal inertial forces is compared experimentally. All tested bundle packagings of corrugated board perform well above expectations and significantly better than shrink film packaging. All additional requirements regarding marketing, durability, consumer convenience, …are met.
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