Eco friendly packaging – no straightforward choice

The complex correlations between material properties, waste collection and recycling make it difficult for companies to make informed and economically sustainable decisions for or against a specific packaging material. And all the more so because even in the EU there are still major differences in waste disposal between countries. To find a good packaging solution, manufacturers would basically have to ask themselves in the case of each individual product and for which market it is intended, how consumers dispose of the packaging and what happens to it afterwards. There is also the important question of whether the packaging material and packaging design under consideration are also suitable for an automated packaging process. A challenging task for a manufacturing company, but one that can be solved in close coordination with packaging material producers and automation experts.

With all this in mind, Schubert has been consistently expanding its expertise in the field of materials for several years. Laura Gascho, plastics engineer in the application technology department at Gerhard Schubert GmbH, explains: “We want to support our customers in the choice of materials just as much as in the design of a packaging machine. A wide variety of packaging materials are collected at Schubert and tested in the Schubert Technikum (technical centre) for their machine-suitable properties. If required, the materials can also be examined in detail in the in-house laboratory. “Our laboratory testing includes physical and chemical analyses, friction value measurements, tensile tests and much more. We verify material structure with ultra-fine cross-sections under a digital microscope,” Laura Gascho reports. “Next, we create an analysis device to be able to precisely determine the types of plastic and their proportion in a given material.” This enables the machine manufacturer to show customers samples from its pool of marketable materials and provide them with comprehensive, independent advice on their selection. This also includes the development of alternative packaging made of cardboard. “With every project we complete, our knowledge base increases to the benefit of our customers,” says Laura Gascho.

Expert partners in the field of packaging materials and packaging printing are indispensable for building up the material pool. Schubert has been working with many material manufacturers and packaging producers for some time now and is committed to further developing these partnerships. Testing possibilities in the Schubert Technikum directly on a packaging machine are not only beneficial for customers, but also for the material developers. “Here we can try out entirely new solutions, such as paper pulp, and test them in detail,” Laura Gascho highlights. “The partnerships are very important for us and we learn a lot from each other.”

At Schubert, machine runnability has priority, because material recyclability is already determined by the respective manufacturer. In the case of flowpacks, the Schubert experts test sealability, tear strength and packaging size changes. Initially, this is carried out using Schubert technologies which are already available. But if required, new components such as robotic tools or a forming shoulder can be specially developed to create a flowpack. “Sealing mono-materials or paper-based films is not always easy. There is a lot to be considered,” Laura Gascho points out. “For instance, paper thickness, coating, printing and especially, sealing times. Paper needs either a lot of time or a lot of heat during the sealing process. Mono-materials are even more sensitive, as they burn very easily.” This is why Schubert uses special forming shoulders and ultrasound sealing technology in its Flowpackers. This protects the material and the product, reducing the number of rejects in the packaging process.

In the area of cardboard packaging, in addition to the material itself, the shape of the blank plays a major role in the feeding into the packaging machine, as in the erection and closing of the box. Small changes can under certain circumstances increase material efficiency, make the packaging process more stable or even simplify the entire machine concept.