Illig focuses on sustainable packaging solutions

Illig Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, a manufacturer of thermoforming machines and tools, has developed new technologies to meet customers' needs for designing recyclable packaging.

With new regulations coming from Europe and other regions around the world, more innovation is required to ensure responsible end-of-life options for all sorts of packages, Conor Carlin, managing director of the company's North American subsidiary, Illig LP, said.

"The use of monomaterials is encouraged, while multilayer materials or difficult-to-recycle materials are discouraged, and sometimes taxed, as in France's new packaging laws," Carlin said.

"Having the ability to easily separate materials is critical for recyclers and material recovery facilities (MRFs) so that they can generate profitable, valuable bales for secondary markets," he said in an interview prior to K 2019.

To that end, Heilbronn, Germany-based Illig is out with a plastic-cardboard package in which both sides of the cardboard can be brilliantly decorated, the amount of plastic used is reduced and sorting is simplified for recycling at home or MRFs.

Developed with the circular economy in mind, the dual-material packaging can be produced on existing Illig thermoforming systems equipped with an in-mold labeling (IML) unit. A tool set with the required packaging design is all that's required.

The IML automation is capable of handling plastic, paper and cardboard labels, and, in theory, any plastic that can be thermoformed can be used, Carlin said.

"So far, we have worked with PET and cardboard, though we have also proven polypropylene and polystyrene substrates for other types of labels," he added.

Another Illig innovaton is its new thermoforming system, IC-RDKL 80, which produces decorated lids made from recycled PET to complement decorated containers also made of recycled PET.

"We think there will be both market-pull and industry-push elements to the demand," Carlin said.

For the plastic-cardboard packages, the containers are made of very thin-walled plastic, which uses less material, while the outer layer of cardboard gives the package stability and top-load strength for storage, transport and display.

Before processing begins, the IML unit extracts the cardboard labels with the preprinted decorations from the magazine and places them into the forming tool's cavities. The resulting product is a cup or tray with a new design concept.

The technology also lets packaging specialists use a different preprinted label for each cavity.

Illig officials expect it to be popular in the premium products segment of the market for decorated thermoformed packaging, such as meat and vegetable trays, ice cream containers, frozen TV dinners, deli and dairy products, margarine, cream cheese, spreads, jams, jellies, cereals, pet food and nonfood products.

After use, the plastic can be easily separated from the cardboard by the consumer or collection center and the materials recycled. Illig says this simplifies the sorting process for recycling while promoting a positive brand image for the packaged product.

When use of its high-productivity thermoforming systems are factored in, Illig says production of resource-efficient and sustainable packaging is possible.

Earlier Illig packaging efforts focused on like-polymeric materials, such as polypropylene tubs with PP labels, so the items could be recycled in the same stream, Carlin said. Now cardboard is bringing some important benefits.

"Using cardboard provides additional rigidity to the pack and allows further downgauging on the plastic part, saving both material and energy," Carlin said.

Illig tasked experts from its packaging lab and research and development department as well as tool and machine engineers to come up with this application and bring it to market.

The plastic-cardboard combination has been around for years in Germany and some European countries. But the trend is growing, Illig Managing Director Karl Schäuble told reporters.

"The reason for that is basically in some countries, legislation foresees the separation of cardboard and plastic so it can be separately recycled," he said.

While the plastics industry offers more recyclable packages, the recycling sector needs to step up, too, on a global basis, Schäuble also said.

"The worldwide development of recycling systems and investments into existing systems must be given the highest priority," he said.

Illig Group continues to expand despite tougher economic and political conditions and increased public scrutiny. The company is building a plant in Romania that will create 50 jobs near Sibiu when it comes on line in 2020.

"Illig feels uncertainty in the markets, which can be attributed to political and economic risks, but the main factor is the worldwide packaging discussion against plastics and the resulting feared damage to the image," Schäuble said. "The result of the business year 2019 will thus be lower for Illig compared to the strong previous years."

For the first half of the year, Illig's global orders are down about 19 percent compared to the previous year, company officials said. Other German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers are reporting similar drops.

Illig is also demonstrating cups made of recycled PET that have easily separable paper labels. The company will produce lids for the cups on the new IC-RDKL 80 thermoforming system. The brilliantly colored lids will also be made from recycled PET.

Illig has almost 20 years of experience in IML-T and provides labeling systems for containers; for forming, filling and sealing systems; and now for lids, Carlin said. Along with the sustainable cardboard solution, Illig is the world's only one-source supplier of multiple IML-T thermoforming systems, the company says.

With new labeling options, designers have more freedom to use brighter, dynamic graphics to increase the shelf-appeal of the product, Carlin said.

"They might include humorous messages or reminders to recycle," he added. "Marketing designers have multiple opportunities to set their relevant brand messages for the point of sale."

Illig also says it has reached a breakthrough in performance with its fourth generation thermoformer called IC-RDM 76K, which has a new drive system and significantly more closing force. The machine will produce drinking cups made of recycled PET.

In addition, the company is showing how Illig Connectivity, can link a customer's thermoforming production system to a network that improves job and process control and makes exchanging data, logging and archiving easier.