Elected in 1986 as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., award-winning actor and film director Clint Eastwood is quoted as saying, “Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.”

With sustainability acting as a driving force for change in labeling materials for beverage packaging, experts highlight the impact these trends have on labeling equipment.

“There are several converging key trends which are having an impact on beverage labeling materials and equipment,” says Paul Edwards, vice president of the digital division of INX International Ink Co., Schaumburg, Ill. “Substrates must be considered for their impact on factors such as recyclability, the ability for the materials to be biodegradable or compostable, as well as renewable components.

“The amount of material used for the labeling process — both the label itself and the liner used — needs to be taken into account and the impact on equipment design,” he continues. “A second major trend relates to the move toward premium quality labeling materials and the processes required to create a high-quality finished product from the substrates involved.”

Mike Soloway, director of product sales and labeling technology at Krones Inc., Franklin, Wis., points to sustainability trends as prompting product development in the industry.

The amount of material used for the labeling process — both the label itself and the liner used — needs to be taken into account and the impact on equipment design.

“Label manufacturers are focusing on developing products that can either be easily separated from the container during the recycling process or that can be recycled with the container,” he says. “These material and adhesive changes can lead to differences in the rigidity of the labels, which can affect how easily they can be applied to the container.”

Further, Soloway notes that container sizes and shapes can pose challenges to labeling.

“Container sizes only become problematic when they are either too small to travel on a container without falling over, or too large to fit in an existing machine that was not designed for that container size,” he says. “What impacts equipment more than size is the shape of the container. Most labels require straight sides since they cannot be applied to compound curves without some degree of wrinkling or bubbling.”

Soloway adds that, although shrink sleeves can overcome the need for straight sides, the material can present challenges of its own.

“For example, shrink sleeve materials can only shrink up to a certain percentage, so container designs need to take that into account,” he explains. “Also, shrink sleeves cannot shrink into recessed areas such as pinch grips.

“Lastly, containers with flat tops such as beverage cans are more challenging because the sleeve can hit the top of the can and bounce off as it is being applied, whereas a bottle with a gradual, sloping neck is more forgiving and can run through the sleever at a faster rate,” Soloway continues.

INX’s Edwards says that what’s influencing evolving beverage container sizes are trends including increased personalization, eCommerce, and generally more varied substrates, which drives more product variation and much lower than average run lengths for the label product.

“Brands are looking to use the variation in the product container as an effective marketing tool for their products,” he explains. “Hence, there is a greater variation in the product demand size as well as the product shapes. Labeling equipment must be able to efficiently manufacture products, which have a much greater variation in size, shape, and production run lengths.”

Future trends

With sustainability trends currently having a major influence on the materials used for beverage labels, experts anticipate that these trends will continue to impact labeling equipment well into the future.

“Sustainability-related trends are again strong here, with the use of recycled materials such as rPET,” INX’s Edwards says. “Even new biopolymers are making their way on the scene. Another very important trend relates to several factors such as personalization, but also QR and RFID tags for product safety and tracking, and specific marketing applications such as QR codes for an interactive and immersive experience.”

Edwards also predicts that the trend toward high quality and value-added products will continue to have an impact on labeling equipment. “These trends require having the ability to address many different and sometimes even counter-requirements with the labeling equipment you have in your production area,” he says.

Krones’ Soloway points to common shrink sleeve materials including PETG, PVC and OPS as not being easily recycled, noting the impact these materials will have on the future of labeling.

“The two major approaches to addressing the issue of sleeve recyclability are floatable low-density polyolefin films and crystalized PET films,” he explains. “Floatable films are increasing in popularity in Europe but remain difficult to source in North America due to the limited availability of resin. During the recycling process, these sleeves float while the heavier PET sinks. This allows the sleeve material to be removed which results in higher quality rPET flakes.

“Crystalized PET films are gaining traction in North America because they are more readily available,” Soloway continues. “They are made from the same polymer as the PET bottles, so they can be recycled together without separation. However, special inks are required on these sleeves because the ink must wash off during the recycling process. Both technologies are fairly new, and testing is ongoing.”

As far as what factors beverage-makers should consider before investing in labeling equipment, Soloway notes that labeling equipment should be easy to use and easy to maintain.

“Reducing the number of operator adjustment points will minimize downtime created by incorrectly adjusted components,” he says. “24/7 support with remote access capability and a large service network will result in faster error resolution to keep the equipment running at peak efficiency.”

INX’s Edwards suggests considering the secular trends influencing what products are being created before investing in labeling equipment.

“Sustainability, personalization, tracking, and product specific marketing, as well as the larger variation of substrate material types, shapes and sizes will have a large impact on what equipment [beverage-makers] need to invest in for the success of their business going forward,” he says. “Although some applications may require very long runs with little product variation, this is shifting significantly, and the ability to be able to cost effectively address trending requirements will be very important to beverage-makers.”

Looking ahead, Edwards anticipates that equipment will evolve in order to address secular trends and changing requirements.

“Digital labeling technologies have continued to advance, and they can effectively address key aspects such as short runs in a sustainable way, with less waste and energy usage,” he says. “The ability to provide variable data and QR codes for immersive experiences, and security codes on a per item basis, is something already possible with digital label systems. The larger variation of product sizes can be addressed using fully digital die cutting systems, such as inline laser die cutting.

“Digital systems will develop more applications — such as fully variable, hot foil embellishments — as an example,” Edwards continues. “That said, the further evolution of hybrid systems like the INX NW350 Digital Label Print System, which have available digital components but also take advantage of more traditional embellishing systems, are also likely to become more popular.”