“Clearly sustainability is a major trend – also for the closure industry”
The tethered cap transformation is a great challenge for the beverage industry and the entire related supply chain, but new developments offer manufacturers opportunities to create new customer benefits and consumer experiences beyond climate protection.
PETplanet talked with Thomas Schmidt, Group Marketing Director at Bericap.
PETplanet: Thomas, what is this year’s most important trend in caps and closures?
Schmidt: 2022 is the year when a lot of companies in the beverage bottling industry will be switching over to tethered caps to comply with the SUP Directive. That’s why many of our current customer projects focus on the introduction of our ClipAside tethered cap design. But we also believe that light weighting, design-for-recycling and use of bio-based or PCR materials are important to driving sustainability in product development projects. New product developments are naturally also associated with great potential to create new customer benefits and deliver consumer experiences beyond climate protection.
PETplanet: Can you tell us more about your ClipAside tethered cap design?
Schmidt: We’re committed to supporting our customers through this challenging transformation, and we’re doing it by offering beverage brand owners and fillers the opportunity to switch over to tethered caps with minor modifications at most to their production processes and equipment. This is one of the main reasons why they are choosing our ClipAside design, besides its intuitive and robust handling performance across all neck finishes from PET 26 to 38 mm. The ClipAside design offers highest flexibility to our customers as it can be supplied in standard slit or tethered slit versions. So, once the filling line has been adapted for the new closure shell design, a switch from standard to tethered TE band doesn’t require any further modifications. We’ve already launched it in the French bottled water market and we’re in the process of starting the first serial shipments to a number of leading international market players as we speak. During the tethered cap project Bericap also made a strong contribution to the new PET 26/22 CSD GME 30.40 neck finish, which provides a significant material reduction compared to the commonly used PCO 1881 necks. Our fully industrialised ClipAside solutions for GME 30.40 therefore mark a major milestone for the introduction of tethered caps in the CSD segment.
PETplanet: Of course, consumer convenience and product sustainability are important parameters when it comes to product development. Which other parameters belong to it?
Schmidt: I’d like to add product integrity and operational excellence to that list – and ideally we want to achieve improvements in several of these benefit areas. Another product we developed on the basis of these priorities is the new Bericap 3438 – 38 mm closure for dairy and juice beverages with our patented Safe Venting technology. The lightweight, tethered closure’s combination with Safe Venting technology is a perfect example of an innovative product being developed on the basis of consumer preferences and sustainability requirements as a solution to a customer problem.
PETplanet: What exactly is this new technology – and what problem does it solve?
Schmidt: Safe Venting keeps pressure build-up inside the bottle below a safe 2 bar through a venting feature in the closure’s sealing area. By managing the pressure it protects the consumer from the so-called ‘missiling effect’ – a familiar hazard with certain beverages that have a tendency to ferment. When juices or dairy products in bottles with conventional non-venting sealed closures are opened and then re-closed, internal pressure can build up to 5 bar. The next time a bottle with this level of internal pressure is opened the closure can ‘missile off’ loudly and potentially cause injury to the consumer. At the same time, the beverage can foam out uncontrollably. Our venting technology eliminates this issue while still providing a secure seal. We’re currently supplying the Bericap 3438 to a number of juice customers in Europe – the internationally known brand ‘innocent drinks’, for example. We are proud to be part of their journey towards realising a CO2-neutral, all-electric factory in the Port of Rotterdam.
PETplanet: Speaking of sustainability: You received the Packaging Europe Sustainability Award in 2020 for another innovation. What was it about?
Schmidt: With our award-winning BericapValve we have succeeded in avoiding the conventional material of silicone and designed a valve made from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). So the closure is 100% silicone-free, which is an enormous advantage for recycling because it prevents the contamination of the recycling stream with silicone. Our valve closure has a top recyclability rating and is certified according to leading institute standards, such as bifa Umweltinstitut and Fraunhofer.
PETplanet: In other words: this small yet decisive change of using a different material has enabled you to eliminate a weak spot with a huge negative impact on the whole cycle – the contamination of the valuable PET material with silicone.
Schmidt: Exactly. The BericapValve is made of TPE, which can be recycled in the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) recycling stream without contaminating it, yet still has the same properties as conventional valves.
PETplanet: Is this valve only available for special closures?
Schmidt: No, it fits a wide range of flip-top closures for all common neck finishes and can be used for sweet, sour and fat-containing products, as well as for sport drinks and still water. With such a variety of applications, the valve is a sustainable alternative to the conventional silicone valves that are currently in widespread use for spreadables. It also optimises the customer products’ dispensing performance.
PETplanet: Where else is consumer convenience important?
Schmidt: In our experience optimum dosing and dispensing is extremely important for edible oil, soy sauce and vinegar, especially because they are used for different applications in the kitchen. We’ve closed a gap in the market by developing two dispensing systems for these products: the 2 Flow and the X Flow.
PETplanet: What’s the difference between these two systems?
Schmidt: The 2 Flow has a tear-out membrane that creates two pouring holes, a small hole on one side for low-flow applications such as dressing a salad with vinegar or oil and a large hole for high-flow applications such as pouring oil into a frying pan. Deflectors inside the closure improve flow performance for significantly enhanced consumer convenience. The X Flow has an even more impressive dispensing concept. The consumer still has a choice of two different flows, but the flows also remain constant irrespective of the bottle angle. Even when the bottle is turned upside down the flow rate remains constant.
PETplanet: Could you also manufacture these closures more sustainably?
Schmidt: Absolutely. The most effective initiative to improve sustainability is definitely the reduction of the plastic material necessary to produce the container and closure. We’re demonstrating this with our closure range for the PET 26/21 neck finish that can be used for edible oil, soy sauce and vinegar, as well as still water. It is turning out to have particularly promising characteristics in terms of lightweight design and material reduction. As long as we are able to reduce material by design without compromising functionality or product integrity, we can increase the sustainability of these solutions.
PETplanet: Other than sustainability and customer convenience, what trends will be important in 2022?
Schmidt: Closure customisation and flexible individualisation are still important in the food and beverage segment as well as in many other industrial sectors. That’s why we offer our customers a digital printing service to maximise their design flexibility. It allows them to create a unique-looking, recognisable product, on the one hand, and to protect the product against copying and counterfeiting, on the other.
PETplanet: Thanks very much for the interview, Thomas.
