From the label to the packaged product
MODULAR SL: P.E. Labellers automatic labeling machine
Technological choices for a sustainable future. P.E. Labellers, Irplast e Refresco-Spumador - three authoritative voices of Made in Italy - have embarked on a common path by focusing on technological innovation as a key growth factor, the only one able to make packaging evolve towards sustainability.
Parlare di packaging significa prendere in esame una filiera di imprese, che rappresentano un segmento vitale della realtà imprenditoriale italiana e internazionale. Lo dimostrano i dati rilevati lo scorso anno, quando il numero di prodotti confezionati venduti a livello globale ha toccato i 3.850 miliardi di unità e si stima che il trend di crescita espresso dal settore, anno su anno, si aggiri intorno al 3%.
Labels wrap-around roll-fed in film BOPP by Irplast
Determinante, per questo sviluppo, il livello di avanzamento tecnologico che, in alcuni casi, ha raggiunto standard di eccellenza, mostrando un orientamento all’innovazione che permea tutte le fasi della catena del confezionamento fino alla distribuzione al consumatore finale.
I prodotti che oggi traggono - e ricevono - maggiore impulso dalla spinta innovativa sono, in primo luogo, quelli realizzati in un’ottica di sostenibilità, mediante processi produttivi all’avanguardia.
Labeling: a key moment
In order to understand this, it is sufficient to retrace the path taken by each product that arrives on our table, passing through the crucial phase of labelling, that is, the moment in which the package is “dressed” with a label, acquiring a new identity.
Acqua MOOD 100 by Refresco-Spumador in 100% R-Pet bottle
From the technological point of view, this step immediately imposes precise choices in the field: in fact, we must ask ourselves which labels to choose, with which technologies to apply them, on which containers and through which machinery. The answers come from companies that, for the past 50 years, have set themselves the goal of developing sustainable and value-added packaging processes. This is the case of a virtuous “triad”, consisting of P.E. Labellers, Irplast and Refresco - Spumador, three emblematic voices of the Italian packaging supply chain, which have imposed themselves on international markets for the level of excellence achieved in their respective fields: Irplast produces the film and prints the labels, P.E. Labellers makes the machines with which to apply them, and Refresco - Spumador finally brings the bottles to consumers’ tables.
The common denominator that distinguishes these three companies is their commitment to technological development, to which they have always assigned a crucial role, and on which they focus to drive the evolution of packaging towards a sustainable present and future.
An all-Italian story
The stages of an exciting journey into the sustainable packaging of today and tomorrow. Focus on the protagonists.
P.E. Labellers - a Mantua-based company that has been a key player in the global labelling market for ten decades - has built its leadership on the key concept of “total flexibility” which, in the context of the automatic labelling machines produced and installed by the company on a global level, means, first and foremost, modularity, i.e. the possibility of offering a single machine that can take on various shapes and configurations, depending on packaging requirements. Each machine is fitted with interchangeable labeling stations that can be replaced in a few simple steps, so that, for example, you can immediately switch from a system with hot glue technology to one with cold glue or self-adhesive technology.
From the perspective of innovative and sustainable packaging, this feature is essential for user companies such as Refresco - Spumador, which can choose to label the bottles of their products (RECOARO Water, MOOD Water, etc.) with exactly the technology they need at that precise moment in time, thus significantly optimizing processes.
Refresco - Spumador represents a milestone in the Italian beverage industry, since 2020 owner of another historical brand such as Beltè and part of the multinational group Refresco, a global leader in the contract production of beverages. Like P.E., the company embraces the choice of technological innovation as an engine of continuous growth. And with P.E. it has established a partnership that has lasted for forty years.
The packaging of tomorrow for Refresco - Spumador is represented by lighter, ergonomic, attractive bottles, packaged with modular technologies. But that’s not all. They need sustainable and superior quality labels, otherwise even the best performing P.E. machines or the most attractive Refresco - Spumador bottles will not make a difference…
Irplast comes into play in response to these needs, to close the circle of “innovation” with a proposal of state-of-the-art customizable labels, such as the 100% recyclable linerless pre-adhesive labels, ideal even on the fastest bottling lines.
Third excellence in this history of Italian packaging, Irplast is vertically integrated, from film extrusion to printing of finished products, establishing itself among the leading producers of BOPP film.
Its business model is based on the search for solutions to replace materials of fossil origin and to reduce thicknesses. With the new ISCC certified, bio-based and post-consumer-waste films, Irplast is able to produce all types of labels and multi-pack wraps.
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