Dec. 01, 2021
Coca-Cola launched its first label-free PET bottle called "Coca-Cola Contour Label-Free" in Korea.
To differentiate between the original and Coca-Cola Zero, different cap colors were used. Coca-Cola specifically designed the bottle with an iconic contour shape to help consumers easily identify the brand. The move is designed to accommodate the industry's trend toward label-free bottles and to increase the recyclability of plastic bottles by eliminating labels on them.
According to Innova Market Insights, 66 percent of global consumers believe that industry, governments and waste management companies need to work together to improve the recyclability of packaging. Korean consumers have a high level of interest and demand for label-free products.
To date, Coca-Cola's soda brand sea gram's, bottled water brands PyeongchangSoo and Vio Soonsoo, and beverage brand Toreta, have launched label-free packaging in Korea. Last year, Coca-Cola also launched a 100% label-free recycled bottle for its drinking water brand I LOHAS in the Japanese market.
Recently, Flying Snow mineral water (Bonaqua), produced by Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, launched label-free bottles made of 100% recycled rPET plastic.
The company says the new bottle is inspired by rivers. It is designed to achieve greater recycling efficiency by eliminating labeling materials.
The Danone Evian mineral water brand has launched its first label-free, 100% recyclable rPET bottle in Singapore in a 400ml size.
The cap material on the Evian bottle is different from the rPET used for the bottle. The cap is made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and oriented polypropylene (OPP), both of which are recyclable plastics. In addition to the embossed and embossed Evian brand logo, the bottle also has the basic information of the product, and the whole bottle has been completely de-labeled. According to the person in charge of Evian, it took two years to develop this bottle.
Suntory launched a limited version of green tea packaging without labels, the bottle does not have any sticker packaging, only a small label at the bottle cap.
Although the drink bottle without a label is somewhat monotonous, it looks very transparent and consumers can directly feel the freshness and cleanliness of the tea color. It is said that Suntory launched this bottle of green tea, sales increased by 50% over the same period of comparison.
A recent report from the European Patent Office shows that between 2010 and 2019, the number of chemical recycling patent applications is twice as high as mechanical recycling. According to a study of data from McKinsey & Company, the current demand for recycled plastics continues to grow, especially in countries in Europe and the U.S. It is expected that by 2030, the global recycling rate of plastics is expected to increase to 50%, and the proportion of chemical recycling may rise to about 17%.
On November 23, IKEA announced that it will completely phase out plastic packaging by 2028, with the intention that all new products will be plastic-free by 2025 (with the exception of some food products, mainly to ensure food safety and prevent waste). Then, by 2028, the packaging will be completely plastic-free.
IKEA currently uses 920,000 tons of packaging materials per year, costing more than 1 billion euros, but most of this is paper packaging and about 10% is plastic, which IKEA hopes to eliminate. But the challenge of this project is huge.
Italian plastic container molding equipment manufacturer SIPA (SIPA) this year developed a bottle weighing only 7.6 grams - DUO Ministackable, made of 100% recycled plastic. SIPA calls it "the world's smallest and lightest stackable bottle".
The bottle is blow-molded from a 100 percent rPET preform and is made on the Sipa Xtreme Renew platform, an innovative technology from the company that produces preforms directly from heat-cleaned flakes.
The highlight of this technology, according to Sipa, is that it makes the bottle blanks ultra-light. At the same time, the bottles are stackable and space-saving due to their unique design. The packaging has also been awarded the RecyClass A certificate.
In June this year, Sidel merged its two PET mold subsidiaries, COMEP and PET Engineering, to create a new mold manufacturing company, Competek. the new company aims to combine two existing PET bottle stretch-blow mold production technologies to reduce weight and save energy during the molding process.
One of these is Sidel's Starlite bottle bottom design technology for non-carbonated and carbonated beverage bottles, which helps reduce bottle weight and improve palletizing stability. Competek says this technology can be applied to any brand of stretch-blow machine. In addition, the company has added additional vents in the mold reinforcement locations to improve gas emissions, resulting in lower blow molding pressure and significant energy savings.
Both technologies are already widely used in the market for carbonated beverage bottles up to 2.5 liters, 5-liter non-carbonated bottles and all sizes of PET bottles. Potential savings of 1 to 2 euros per 1,000 bottles manufactured and CO2 reduction of 2.4 to 4.8 kg per 1,000 bottles are claimed. This combined solution is also available for 100% rPET bottles.
