Paper overwraps on smaller packs of tissue products are increasingly more common on the shelves. But larger bundles present additional challenges. Infinity Machine & Engineering Corp.’s Marketing Coordinator Gregory Sense explains the need for progress.
As ecological consciousness has continued to become more prevalent on a global scale, consumer data has clearly indicated that individuals take their own environmental impact into account when making purchasing decisions.
In a 2020 consumer study conducted by McKinsey & Company, 78% of consumers indicated sustainability as an important factor of their lifestyle and more than 60% of consumers stated they would be willing to pay more for a product if it was packaged sustainably.
In consumer product industries like tissue, sustainable packaging creates an opportunity for product differentiation. If brands utilise sustainable packaging effectively, there is increased potential to establish and develop customer loyalty.
Infinity Machine & Engineering Corp. produces both multi-pack and single roll wrappers with a proven history of providing sturdy, sustainable, primary packaging for tissue rolls across a multitude of formats. Due to Infinity’s innovative packaging machinery, smaller packs of bathroom tissue and kitchen towel wrapped in paper overwrap are becoming increasingly more common in storefronts.
Despite the advantages of sustainable packaging, next time you go to your local supermarket, you may be surprised to see how little it is being utilised in large bundles of tissue products.
The immediate solution would seem to be replacing polyethene packaging with more sustainable paper overwrap, as it is done in smaller packs. However, large bundles of multiple tissue packs present additional challenges. The increased mass of bundles makes paper wrapped solutions much harder to implement effectively, especially when you consider the durability polyethylene provides.
Furthermore, the difference in material properties between paper wrap and polyethene would require new means of forming, sealing, and cutting bundles, which would require additional engineering and development.
Confronted by this dilemma, Infinity engineers further developed some of our existing capabilities to provide a more ecological alternative to polyethylene bundlers.
Since its debut in 2010, Infinity’s C15 casepacker has become a fixture of tissue packaging, with over 250 machines installed across six countries. Designed to provide secondary packaging for tissue, diapers, and hygiene products, the C15 can pack product into corrugated cases or trays.
While cases are much more common, corrugated trays are becoming more frequently utilized due to the ecological benefits they offer. Corrugate trays can often be made using less than half the material of cases, with the C15 capable of loading trays with bottom gap flaps and a wall height as small as 100mm.
These trays can suitably support poly wrapped or paper wrapped packages and can be designed with easy open perforations for display. Some supermarket chains in North America have already begun to adopt these display ready trays.
The utility of these trays doesn’t end with display functionality. Utilising trays instead of bundles for bulk tissue packaging creates a unique way to differentiate products, while also improving the sustainability of product packaging.
Innovative packaging solutions that prioritise the environment, like replacing plastic bundles with corrugate trays, ensure that sustainable packaging is not a trend, but rather an evolution of the industry. Infinity Machine and Engineering Corp. is committed to being at the forefront of this evolution, ensuring that our customers can prioritise sustainability and functionality.
This article was written for TWM by Infinity Machine & Engineering Corp.’s Marketing Coordinator Gregory Sense.
