Tube of the Year 2021

Tubes: the winners of the traditional annual contest organized by etma.

Creativity and technology aimed at full production sustainability represent the core of the projects presented for the Tube of the Year 2021 contest, organized by etma - European Tube Manufacturers Association - to award the most deserving packaging solutions.

«The high number of participants and the qualitative level of the proposals - explains Gregor Spengler, secretary general of etma - do not only testify to the consideration enjoyed by the award and its having become a valid benchmark for the performance of the sector industry. They also indicate that the companies’ drive for innovation has never stopped, despite the difficult economic context linked to the pandemic. Investments in new packaging solutions will bring results in terms of image in the eyes of consumers and consequent success on the market».

The members of etma met in Seville and here are the winners for the 5 categories envisaged by the award - aluminium, plastic, laminate, sustainability and prototypes - in which to find the meaning of Spengler’s words.

Aluminium

The winner in the Aluminium Tubes category was the 5 ml sample tube for Evercalm Redness Relief Serum from Austrian tube producer Tubex Wolfsberg. The tube is produced from 100% recycled material, of which 95% comes from so-called post-consumer material. The monotube is completely recyclable and fitted with an intelligent aluminium closure system instead of the conventional plastic screw cap. Since the tube entirely consists of aluminium, it can be manufactured in a single production step including closure. In addition, the sample tube has a protective BPA-NI inner coating. REN Clean Skincare is the first luxury beauty brand to offer samples in a monotube instead of hard-to-recycle sachets.

Plastic

Albéa took the prize with its tube for Aflofarm’s Artishoq. The tube is made using Encore PCR resin and is 50 mm in diameter. The perfect combination of PCR material and catchy coloring - a blue gradient which is achieved using 4-colour flexo and white screen printing - conveys a sustainability message at the same time and the successful design creates an impressive appearance at the point of sale.

Laminate

The winner was the Polyfoil® Stylo pipette tube developed and produced by Hoffmann Neopac AG for Skin-Unify Radiance cream by Filorga Laboratoires.

The new pipette applicator allows the cream to be applied directly to the skin in a precise, consumer-friendly and hygienic way while the ring enables the product to be dispensed in a targeted manner and protects it perfectly. Thanks to an arrow pictogram, consumers intuitively understand in which direction the ring has to be turned.

Sustainability

Ex aequo in this category. One of the winner was the tube made by Permapack for Kneipp, a cosmetic brand that was looking for an exclusive packaging solution for a new limited-edition hand cream to celebrate its 130th birthday. Kneipp has set itself the goal of eliminating the use of plastic packaging by 2025, thus Permapack developed a recyclable tube that contains 71 per cent paper and cellulose. Moreover, the tube is characterised by an EVOH barrier that is usually used in the beverage sector and by a digital printing technology: by using HP’s Mosaic software, it is possible to obtain a variety of designs with different colours based on a basic pattern.

The Vichy Capital Soleil tube produced by Albéa France is the other winner in the Sustainability category. It adopts a similar approach to the other winning tube: it replaces plastic with paper. L’Oréal Vichy is now using this innovation for its sun care product but the paper-based plastic tube, designed as an alternative to a wide variety of packaging solutions for cosmetic products, is a technological breakthrough in the market. It reduces the use of plastic in the tube body and tube shoulder (excluding the closure) by 45 per cent compared to existing solutions.

Prototypes

Hoffmann Neopac AG won again with a Polyfoil^® mono-material barrier (MMB) tube that provides a superior barrier for pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations while being recyclable at the same time. The body is manufactured using a unique lamination process. The advantages are improved barrier performance and more aesthetic options. The shoulder and closure of the tube are made of low MFI HDPE with a minimum quantity of other materials. The tubes are the first mono-material barrier tubes in HDPE to receive full RecyClass Technology & Product Approval. When combined with HDPE screw and hinge closures, the tube can be recycled together with rigid PE packaging.