Niklasdorf/ Laibach, June 2009
B&B brings out two completely new label papers
Drinks bottles for water and soft drinks are increasingly being given labels that go round the entire cylindrical body of the bottle. This means wraparound labels, whether cut-and-stack or directly reel-fed. More space for brand communication and product information, so manufacturers claim and it is easy to see why. B&B has extended its label range for these applications, adding two more label papers to the NiklaPET 80 gr product range:
NiklaPET Web 65 gr
This paper has been developed exclusively for reel-fed labelling and is a genuinely new product in this segment. Users can perceptibly reduce packaging material with this paper. There is a weight reduction of around 20% with respect to comparable label papers. The material is fully recyclable after use and also biologically degradable in just a few weeks. But the most important thing for drinks manufacturers is that consumers will take a liking to this label material as a brand communicator.
NiklaPET Rec 80 gr
This is a wraparound label that can be used both for cut-and-stack and reel-fed labelling. The special thing about this new label is its fibre composition. This follows the trend for using recycling fibres as closely as possible, provided the criteria are technically acceptable. So the fibre composition is one third post-consumer recycling fibres, one third production waste fibres and one third PEFC-certified cellulose. The result is a label paper with graded wet strength that is both technically and ecologically successful, one which, without compromise, conveys the brand image of the drink at the point of sale and at the point of use.
The two new papers now fill the gap in B&B’s label range for the wraparound labelling of PET bottles. For years, NiklaPET 80 gr has been the label paper provided for this application. This product has proved to be outstanding for cut-and-stack wraparound labelling, particularly with large PET bottles. Certainly the market for this separate labelling technology, that is to say reel-fed labelling, has developed to such an extent that it is now big enough to warrant an even more economical type. This situation was taken into account with a clear weight reduction, which was feasible in this application.
In parallel with this, B&B also took into account the change in value in society. More and more people are developing an ecofriendly lifestyle. About 30% of all (LOHAS) consumers are guided by this in their purchasing decisions. NiklaPET Rec is aimed specifically at this consumer class. "REC" stands for recycling and B&B’s criteria of "reduce and recycle" have allowed them to implement this in full for their label papers. Less weight of packaging and a longer product lifecycle is comprehensible, thanks to recycling.
Sustainable label material, what’s that?
Is time the fourth dimension here?
Only time can prove what is sustainable and what is not. Time as the fourth dimension does not only focus on what was in the past. Where things come from and how they were made. In the fourth dimension, the future has already arrived in the present. Where our products go and what damage they will cause or what benefit they will be. This is a new but crucial approach!
Are our products nutrients?
That is, are they biologically degradable by micro-organisms?
So are they beneficial or detrimental to the ecological cycle and therefore after their consumption, in the future?
B&B’s label papers, and this also includes our new NiklaPet Web and NiklaPet Rec types, come in useful in the ecological cycle at every stage, from processing to use and from recycling to the end, that is, right up to end of the life of the product. Our NiklaPet range for the wraparound labelling of PET bottles meets the important demand of being biologically degradable in just a few weeks. Which is how the lifecycle of our papers draws to a close.
The cradle-to-cradle principle goes far beyond the capabilities of life cycle assessments, balancing performance in advance.
This is the principle that we learn from nature.
