PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2010

LABELLING 58 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 10/10 www.petpla.net Sleeve and roll in one Sidel’s new Rollsleeve system offers material savings, attractive packaging and cost savings. According to the AWA Labeling and Product Decoration Mar- kets Global Review 2010, the market for heat shrink labels is growing fast – it increased by 4.4% in 2009, a much higher rate than other types of labels. The trend is particularly strong in rapidly industrializing countries (South America, China and India). The reasons for the success of high-shrinkage full-body sleeve labels include enhanced potential for communication and information, because of their greater space, compared to traditional labels. As the film is heat-shrunk, it adapts to any surface and is not restricted by the container’s shape; furthermore, full-body sleeves help to strengthen the surface of thinner bottles, which offers increased potential for light- weighting containers. Full-body labels can also function as a light barrier and even as a seal, when it is used to cover the container cap – which, again, offers savings in materials and processing. No traces of glue are left on the bottle, making recycling easier. Sidel presented a newly developed labelling systems at the Sidel plant in Mantova, where they explained the four specific advantages of the new Rollsleeve: savings in costs, flexibility, quality and sustainability to the trade press. ess uses an MDO film (Machine Direc- tion Orientation): this means that the film is stretched in the same direction as the machine. The converting phase thus has two fewer manufacturing steps: sleeve forming and welding are not needed. The company claims that this system achieves label material savings of up to 30%, compared to traditional TDO (Transverse Direction Orientation). Sidel Group estimates that, with a throughput of 200 million bottles per year, savings on the costs of label material alone can lead to ROI within 18 months. Rollsleeve can apply labels that are 50% thinner (down to 18 microns) than traditional sleevers, which usually require minimum thickness of 50 microns. As the label is tubed and wrapped around the bottle as it moves within the machine, the film is not stressed. Flexibility Rollsleeve can be simply changed from sleeving to hot glue roll-fed applica- tions, in around ten minutes more than a normal format change- over. With a routine action started from the operator panel, it becomes a roll-fed machine using the same labelling unit. Rollsleeve can also be equipped with a module for partial body sleeve labels. It can label various kinds of packaging, including PET, in any shape and format. Sidel has successfully tested all the prin- cipal materials available on the market, i.e.: PET, recycled PET, PVC, PE, PP, OPS and PLA with thicknesses ranging from 18μm to heat-isolated 150 μm and up to 60% shrinkable. Quality Sidel’s ‘heat & cool’ sealing system is designed to deliver outstanding label finish. The sealing area can be posi- tioned exactly to the edge of the label, so the final overlap has no visual or tactile flaws after shrinkage. The quality of labelling is main- tained even at high speeds (up to 54,000bph) and does not depend on the height of the container. The tube label is not lowered from above, unlike traditional technology. Sustainability By effectively having two machines in one, Rollsleeve is claimed to offer Cost savings ‘Tubing’ takes place within the Rollsleve machine, rather than being sourced externally. Sidel is one of very few manufacturers in the world to offer this. The Rollsleeve tube creation proc-