Page 32 - Plastics News July 2019

FeAtures

But this is not a commercial line ready for prime time body. If any process is defective, electronic sensors notify
production. We hope to find a strategic partner with whom the operator and that unit is automatically ejected.
we can bring our technology to the next level.” The layout The assembled container exits the assembly module and
of the prototype line is shown in a line drawing included enters a flow wrapper and shrink tunnel. Just ahead of
in this story. The UHT pasteurizing equipment shown at the flow wrapper, a Markoprint X1JET digital thermal
the beginning is not something provided by 3EPack and ink-jet printer from Weber Marking Systems puts date and
is included primarily for purposes of illustration. “Many lot code on each body. As containers exit the shrink tunnel,
customers already have a pasteurizer, and keep in mind a wrapped straw is automatically applied to the shrink
that those who use the package for water won’t need a wrap. “For more than two years we’ve been looking for
pasteurizer at all,” says Saslekov.
a company able to produce the U-shaped biodegradable
A quick look at the equipment in action is available. straws from PLA,” says Saslekov. “Finally we found Matrix
Film is unwound into an aseptic vf/f/s system, which Pack, a producer in Greece. We’re also looking for a source
incorporates a “patent-pending film sterilization process.” that can thermoform our lid from PLA. Again, we have
Essentially it’s an application of a 3% hydrogen peroxide found some who can make it. But the minimum order is
solution plus exposure to UVC light. Commonly used to currently a barrier.”
decontaminate surgical instruments, UVC light has a In some ways the genius of a concept like this is that
wavelength of between 200 to 400 nanometers and is multiple bets are covered where sustainability is
effective at killing bacteria by destroying the molecular concerned. If consumers behave responsibly, 100% of the
bonds that hold their DNA together. Filled pouches move materials in the container will be recycled. Enormously
then to an assembly module that relies to a great extent helpful on the recycling front is that the effort required
on an oval-shaped track around which stainless steel molds to get the materials into the correct recycle stream is
continuously travel. These molds stop at various stations minimized because of the uniquely and deliberately flimsy
so that a number of automated processes can take place.
nature of the package structure. If consumers behave
First, vacuum cups pick a flat paperboard body from a less than responsibly and fail to put these packaging
magazine feed, erect it, and pull it into a mold. The mold components into the appropriate recycle streams, 75%
closes and moves along its oval-shaped track to a station of the materials involved are compostable under natural
where the two arms of a pick-and-place device alternate conditions. Translation: 75% of the materials will NOT wind
in picking an octagonal-shaped corrugated base and up floating in the Pacific garbage patch.
placing it into a body. The bases are delivered by way of a When we challenged Saslekov on just how recyclable is
rotary-style hopper that separates, sorts, and feeds them the seven-layer coextrusion used for the inner pouch, he
into two parallel discharge lanes leading to the station said this: “Maybe in the U.S. such a plastic would not be
where they get picked and inserted into the body. The recycled, but in many countries around the world it would
corrugated base is supported by the bottom flaps of be.” Even if he is wrong on that point, he emphasizes
the body.
that today only about 20% of all reclyable containers are
Now the mold moves to the next station: pouch insertion. in fact recycled. So that makes the 3EPak bottle, which
The beverage-filled pouches are conveyed up a short only contains 5 g of plastic, considerably less harmful to
incline conveyor and drop into a chute that delivers each the environment than a typical 22.5-g PET bottle for a
pouch into a mold. In the next station, mechanical fingers shelf-stable juice product. “If this package replaces only
smooth the pouch’s top corners out over the body’s edges. 2% of the plastic bottles sold globally today, plastic usage
In the next station, the thermoformed lids—which, much will be reduced by about 114,640,000 pounds per year,”
like the corrugated bases, are separated, sorted, and says Saslekov. So where does 3Epak stand currently? “The
delivered to the assembly module in two parallel lanes by a most important goal is to find strategic partners,” says
rotary-style hopper—are applied by the two arms of a pick- Saslekov. “Considering that this format offers the best
and-place device that also resembles the one responsible combination of cost, extended shelf life, recyclability,
for applying corrugated bases. The lids are pressed down and biodegradability, we think such partners will step
to firmly pinch the pouch’s corners against the paperboard forward soon.”

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