Facts about mono-material handling at HDG

• Successful adaptations of HDG technology for processing the new packaging materials
• Daily Business: New machines and expansion of existing systems to handle mono-materials
• Since 2020: 85 % of delivered machine solutions → handle mono-material
• Since 2022: Processing of the first films made from recycled mono-materials

Introduction

“It's to improve our environment in general and also to reuse the packaging materials.”

Driven by higher environmental standards, the packaging industry is facing new challenges. The development of new solutions is essential to keep up with this momentum. HDG supports customers in implementing sustainable packaging solutions and with this enabling the adaptation to this development.

The use of mono-materials in the packaging industry follows ecological trends, as they offer a good separation and can be reused in the recycling cycles, they reduce the generation of packaging waste and can also lead to a possible reduction in a company’s carbon footprint.

Problem

Vital Petfood Group from Denmark, one of the leading companies in the pet food industry in Scandinavia, has requested a solution for the processing of recyclable mono-materials.

“We made a field study in Denmark and Germany, and it showed that the Doypack were still the market leading packaging for our smaller bags.”

A total of 60 stand-up pouches with zip closure should be packed per minute. The trigger for this request, aside from the legal requirements from the EU, was the growing environmental awareness of customers, who increasingly see a sustainable lifestyle as a standard. The use of mono-materials poses various challenges: not every type of material can be used on every filling machine, as mono-films behave differently to traditional composite films when processed by packaging machines. For example, they react more sensitively to heat and stretch more during the sealing process than composite materials.  

The sensitive reaction of the mono-material film can lead to increased waste material when starting and stopping the machine and a constant film tension must be ensured throughout the film making section. This is also reflected in the behaviour when cutting or punching the film: knives and punches wear out faster. For the manufacturing process, an adjustment of the sealing (duration and temperature) on the machine is unavoidable, as mono materials have smaller processing windows with narrower parameter limits for the sealing temperature and sealing duration.

Solution

“We found that HDG had a good understanding of our needs and made relevant suggestions on our solutions.”

HDG has met the requirements of the Vital Petfood Group thanks to the manufacture of the machine type RBL-300. The developed machine solution allows for changeovers between 5 different formats, which are simplified and sped up thanks to the automatic adjustment. An additional camera system detects stretching and shrinkage when the machine starts and stops, thus counteracting the possibility of increased waste material.

“Furthermore, we wanted to increase our spend of the net weight in bags up to 2.5 kg or 3 kg, if possible, on the same machinery.”

Another advantage: The machine can produce pouches from mono materials as well as from conventional films. In addition, the high quality of the machine allows filling volumes of 100 g to 2 kg, with the option of packing 3 kg filling weights in the future.  

Thanks to the continuous development of mono-films, the use of high-quality films and cutting and punching tools suitable for mono-materials is crucial for the production of an optimal packaging solution. Polyprint A/S, a competent partner for flexible packaging, supplies the film for this project, which is protected by special sealing tools during the sealing process.

Result

Thanks to the good cooperation, the acceptance test at HDG took place successfully in February 2022 and the acceptance test at Vital Petfood Group in Denmark in March 2022. HDG was able to meet Vital Petfood’s requirement thanks to its previous experience with mono materials and successfully put the machine into operation for the production of stand-up pouches with zip closures. Our team would like to thank Vital Petfood Group for the good cooperation on this exciting project.

You can find out more about the background of this project in our video: https://lnkd.in/eYu45NNi

Would you like to know more about our packaging solutions? Then let’s have a conversation!