LABELLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 11/21 www.petpla.net 31 Interview with Artem Krukov, Labelling Business Development Director at Sidel How the label becomes more sustainable and flexible In light of increasing regulatory demands globally, labelling today is a highly intricate process that is even more vital to products than ever before. Food and beverage industry players are particularly concerned about the costs of materials and are keen to optimise their investment while increasing brand recognition. Mr Artem Krukov, Labelling Business Development Director at Sidel talks about trends in labelling and how a greater focus on sustainability and flexibility is changing the way labels are created and applied. What are the most important challenges in labelling for the beverage industry? Artem Krukov: Similar to the manufacturing industry as a whole, beverage producers are searching for greater efficiency and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for their labelling equipment. There is also a significant focus on sustainability. The label is one of the main interfaces for communication with the consumer. Companies are changing their labels constantly to respond to fast-changing consumer preferences. How is labelling becoming more sustainable? Artem Krukov: It is our goal to help customers cut costs on everything from material consumption to maintenance costs. By reducing label thicknesses and surface areas, customers can cut costs and improve the carbon footprint of label production and the labelling process. Label producers are working to ensure that labels do not affect PET recycling. Another important trend is the conversion of labels from shrink sleeves to BOPP labels (plastic roll-fed labels for wraparound application). This is a very important step in bottle labelling, since containers labelled with shrink sleeves are difficult to recycle. Hence, the shift to BOPP labels not only provides recycling capabilities, but also helps companies reduce their carbon footprint even further. What do you mean by that? Artem Krukov: Historically, labels have caused issues with PET recycling to food-grade standard because the label or the glue has affected the recycling process. Today there are several initiatives that can minimise this impact, namely label surface/size reduction, wash-off glue development and glue application minimisation. Drinks manufacturers focus a lot on glue characteristics. What is the reason for this? Artem Krukov: We can observe this tendency via two trends. First of all, customers around the world are eager to reduce the amount of glue for three reasons: 1) more glue equals higher costs; 2) less glue usage positively impacts machine cleanliness, which leads to higher efficiency; and 3) glue affects the recycling process. Most importantly, customers want to address all of these factors without sacrificing product quality. The second trend can be seen only in some countries: customers want to increase glue distribution to make label application more solid and stable. Sidel has developed a solution that fulfils both requirements, namely by leveraging the BOPP solution, we have developed a laser-engraved glue roller (a standard scope for the roll-fed machine portfolio). Thus, we can have better control of glue distribution and repeatability. As a result, the label can still maintain its optimal quality even with less glue. At the same time, we can manage higher glue quantity as well, and it will be distributed more efficiently over the entire glue strip surface. How does Sidel integrate sustainable solutions in labelling? Artem Krukov: Sustainability is always at the heart of Sidel. We make every effort to minimise the impact on the environment. The Sidel EvoDeco labelling solutions minimise electricity and glue consumption via the new
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