“We have seen downgauging, which drives more labels per roll, which gives you longer run time before changing the roll, reduces roll count per order, which reduces sleeve and shipping costs,” he says.
Additionally, Johnston identifies removable sleeves by way of perforations or deseaming as a way to encourage consumer participation in sustainability efforts.
“With the addition of a vertical perforation the consumer can remove the sleeve prior to recycling the container,” he says. “Deseaming is a solvent when the sleeved container enters the recycling caustic wash process [to] release, allowing the sleeve to release.”
Johnston expects that sustainability-focused measures will continue to be part of the future for the shrink sleeve market.
“Everyone is talking and pushing for a circular economy,” he says. “There are now shrink films which can be recycled with PET bottles, now in line with sustainability’s directives with most companies and environment groups. This shrink sleeve material is printed with washable inks, allowing the ink to be removed.”
Although labeling suppliers have made conscious efforts to advance the attributes and sustainable qualities of shrink and stretch labels, experts highlight that brand owners still have a collection of considerations they must evaluate before employing these solutions.
“There are more steps involved with shrink and stretch sleeve labels than other label types thus making it more challenging,” Fort Dearborn’s Chapdelaine explains. “We encourage our customers to get us involved upfront on a project to ensure success. With shrink sleeves especially, it’s critical to choose the right material for the container and to take this into consideration during the container selection process as well as to understand sustainability options.
“Shrink sleeve labels also often need to include distortion of the graphics in order for the printed product to appear correctly once shrunk onto the container,” she continues. “Proper container sizing and line trials provide an opportunity to test for distortion. We recommend involvement with all key suppliers during the process: prepress, container, converter, and application provider to eliminate unnecessary errors and waste upfront before full production.”
Meanwhile, PDC’s Johnston calls out the variables that should be considered when applying shrink sleeves to empty beverage containers.
“The packaging engineers should consider when sleeving empty plastic containers, that the container is tested to see if the heat required to shrink the sleeve does not reach the thermo-load of the container which will distort the container,” he says.
Pandemic variables
As mainstream media reports often have highlighted the impact the pandemic has had on the global supply chain, experts note that the labeling materials market also has been impacted.
“During the pandemic we have seen certain materials become difficult to obtain,” Johnston says. “As a result, we see existing customers switch to films that are readily available. At times, this move from one film to another, if not researched and tested properly, provides a change in shrink quality.”
Fort Dearborn’s Chapdelaine also details the supply chain woes when developing labeling materials, but notes that the company is closely working with its partners to take a proactive approach.
“The pandemic created a lot of demand for consumer food and beverage products,” she says. “Similar to other label materials, there has been supply tightness for shrink and stretch sleeve raw materials along with transportation challenges. To help alleviate supply constraints, we work closely with customers to understand their forecasts and in the development of custom label management programs to ensure supply.”
Despite these supply chain challenges, demand for shrink and stretch labels shows that the positive attributes make them an ideal labeling solution for beverage-makers. BI
