Research, Development and Innovation for the development of plastic packaging
The development of R + D + i as a value commitment in APS is materialized in the implementation of the Plasma fluorination by incorporating this new technology for the manufacture of barrier containers with the aim of improving the recyclability circuit of this type of packaging.
At the same time, we have been carrying out certain industrial tests, some with the aim of incorporating as much post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) as possible into our plastic packaging and others to reduce its weight, to contribute our efforts towards the construction of a true circular economy.
Aware of the risk and danger of the products that are packaged in the containers we manufacture, the approvals are being thoroughly tested and validated in order to maintain our high-quality standards, which are the basis of our commitment to our customers, society and the environment.
All this carried out under the premises of our Committee of RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION and with the implementation of the UNE 166.002 standard to achieve the objectives of
- Implementation of the new PLASMA technology
- Incorporation of post-consumer recycled material into our packaging
- Reduction of weight of the packaging
New scenario 2023
2023 opens a new scenario and the implementation of the new Special Tax on non-reusable plastic packaging seems imminent. In the field of fiscal measures to encourage the circular economy and regulated according to Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, as of January 1, 2023, this new tax will come into force.
From APS we approach this new scenario with the serenity of working aligned with our objectives and our Business Development Plan, incorporating the challenges that the new year poses to us from the administrative-financial field, R + D + i and product development and Quality-Environment.
Throughout 2023 and once our containers have been approved in accordance with ADR, we will issue our DECLARATION FOR THE RECYCLED PLASTIC CONTENT for those containers to which we incorporate post-consumer recycled plastic, maintaining the course with a view to closing the UNE-EN 15343: 2008 approval that will verify that we can know the origin of the batches of recycled material received used in the manufacture of each container, thus being able to achieve the traceability required by the system.
ALCION PACKAGING SOLUTIONS (APS) can offer you an integral solution to manufacture custom plastic containers. We can produce each container according to the needs of our customers covering the full cycle, from conception to production.
Whenever you need a new packaging for your products you will have to questionyourself manypoints: how shouldIapproach the launch of this new product, how can I improve the image of my brand, how can I transfer to my packaging all those small details of functionality and ergonomics to help final consumer to use it, howcan I distinguish myself from my competitors...
You can count on APS either to choose from our standard packaging or to develop a new custom plastic packaging. Our experienced product development team and specialists will help you make the best decision, to find the best rigid packaging solution that, surely, will highlight your brand to stand out.
If you are looking for a different packaging, you are in the right place. We encourage you to gointo detail and be clear about the impact you expect in the marketif you go for a counter-worthy packaging.To build a definition of what you really need,we suggest you gothrough:
Product differentiation
How different do you want your packaging to be? What shape are you thinking of? And what colors?Design engineering objectives mustbe analyzed in depthas well.
Functionality
You will have to take into account consumerexpectationsin terms of usability, ergonomic aspects, even one-hand control when dispensing, leakproof closures easy to open, but safe.
Compatibility
It is important to take into account any previous incident of leakage, or packaging deformations that you might previouslysuffer, since, in that case, your product could need a barrier container or a different closure complement ...
Capability to be recycled
Can I use PCR in my packaging? How doI adjust the plastic tax?am I aware of the difficulties in supplying PCR material and the impact it can have on availability and the supply chain?
Availability
Will I be able to assume the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)? What lead times will I need?
Logistics and storage
How do I need the container to be delivered? What type of packaging, what quantity per pallet? Am I willing to changemy secondary packaging?
Once you have an answer to these questions, you will surely have an idea of what you are looking for. Now we invite you tolearn more about our products and experience in the world of packaging.
Barrier packaging: resistance and impermeability
External agents can cause alterations in the products inside a plastic container, so it is essential to have resistant solutions with the necessary quality to avoid deformations in the container or eventhe degradation of the plastic container itself.
Light, humidity, oxygen, pressure changes, temperature are some of the main agents that tend to cause suchproblems on packaged products.
Perhaps you can find the solution to such reactions by using barrier containers, manufactured either with multilayer co-extrusion technology or by plasma fluorination.
Barrier plastic packaging actsprotectingagainst chemical reactions that occur inside the container of certainactive formulas that usually cause gases that deform, break or degrade the container.
It is essential, thus,to verify the packaging-product compatibility to achieve its optimal functionality.
You can also read: How to ensure the preservation of the agrochemical product
Multilayer co-extrusion
Co-extrusion is the simultaneous extrusion of two or more polymers to get a multilayer structure.
This technologyallows to manufacture a container with multiplelayers (multilayer), thanks to the use of several extruders, containing one of them a material that has barrier properties.
The efficiency of multilayer plastic containers manufactured by co-extrusion with barrier layer, for example, lies in using a material that has a high degree of impermeability to oxygen, even if the layer is thin,even underconditions of low humidity.
Plasma fluorination
Plasma fluorination is a new technology that allows to get high barrier in a monomaterial HDPE container manufactured by extrusionblow moulding.This technology accelerates the process of coating the surface of the container by providing barrier properties to containers that remain 100% recyclable, by turning a monomaterial HDPE containerinto a high-performance barrier container.The remarkable thing about this new plastic packaging manufacturing process is that it definitively solves two essential problems of traditional fluorination, the result is a plastic packaging:
- Environmentally friendly throughout all the manufacturing process.
- With barrier properties achieved 100% on the entire surface of the container.
PET containers: injectionblow moulding
For certain industries, such as cosmetics and dermocosmetics, having the possibility of tailor-made plastic packaging that respects the specific needs of the products is an essential point to guarantee sales.
The packaging must protect the goods inside but also provide an added value that no packaging manufacturer ignores.
Our injection blow moulding machines work with PET material of virginand recycled grades for use in the cosmetic and dermocosmetic sector, meeting the necessary requirements demande dby the sector.
In ALCION PACKAGING SOLUTIONS we guarantee the best quality and define characteristics to achieve an attractive packaging, essential in the purchase decision of the final consumer.
HDPE containers: extrusion blow moulding
In industrial packaging, the plastic packaging solution must fulfil a bunker function: contain – protect – preserve. Its behavior with the external environment and with the product it contains, its transportation and usability are also important elements to consider in an industrial container for the packaging of chemical products.
Our extrusion blow moulding machines transform HDPE of different grades, both virgin and recycled, to achieve packaging with features and characteristics that allow its full recyclability.
We work with standard neck normsto meet the demand of our customers and open their range of possibilities in the market.
Therefore, HDPE packaging is the ideal plastic packaging technology to properly contain any chemical product.
You maybe interested: HDPE packaging and degassing caps the best way to pack your product
APS: custom-made plastic containers’ production
At Alcion Packaging Solutions we have a wide experience in the manufacture of custom plastic packaging.
Our R&D&I team cooperates with customers to find the perfect and tailor-made solution for their product to combine design, functionality, quality, technique and safety. In addition, we are iso 166002 certified, providing us with the guidelines to organize andeffectively support our R&D&I area, strictly complying with the standards required by such certification.
In this way, with the implementation of the UNE 166002 Standard for R + D + i we have established the first steps to launch the development plansof ALCION PACKAGING
SOLUTIONS where the commitment to innovation and the manufacture of recycled and recyclable plastic containers are the central axes.
Today we are the perfect partner for companies looking for plastic packaging for chemical products manufactured in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. We invite you to learn more by entering our website and contact us for any advice. Let's talk!
Sustainability and the future of plastic packaging were the main issues of the second edition of APS’s Open House Days: Building a sustainable future. It was held along June the 1st and 2nd and it was attended by several experts in packaging technologies and by many professionals from the agrochemical sector. Many attendees who sought to get answers to the changes that are taking place with regards to plastic legislation and, consequently, at many other stages.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Extrusion blow moulding (EBM) and Plasma fluorination: perfect combination for sustainable plastic packaging
After our CEO’s introductory speech, José Guaita, President of Heura Gestión Ambiental opened the first presentation about legislation and the Extended Producer Responsibility. The attendees were able to see and understand the transition from Delegated Responsibility, which was primarily a responsibility that fell on the customer, to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is coming soon and which falls directly on who places the packaging on the market. Major changes at the level of regulations to which we must adapt, and which represent a challenge for the packaging sector.
Where should the plastic sector be headed? Diego Bärlein, Sales Manager of W. Müller, presented his commitment to extrusion blow molding (EBM), since it brings great advantages both in terms of production rate and resistance to chemicals, in addition to debunking the false myth that plastic is the biggest pollutant. And he did it with data. Plastics only account for 12% of all the waste we produce and plastic for packaging produces only 1% of CO2 emissions, for example.
Further to the extrusion-blowing, Steve Steendhoudt, Sales Engineer at Delta Engineering, took the floor to give details on plasma barrier solutions that undoubtedly provide great advantages, such as resistance to the aggressive products contained into a plastic packaging, impermeability to solvents and resistance to high temperatures. In addition, it also brings great benefits to increase sustainability, since these are easy recycable products, and it can replace multilayer products that require chemical recycling.
At this point, Roberto Bello, Sales Manager of Alcion Packaging Solutions, spoke of the fact that a 100% recyclable barrier plastic container already exists, and it is none other than that produced in Alcion Packaging Solutions by means of plasma fluorination technology. An environmentally friendly packaging throughout all its production process and behavior, as it provides the necessary barrier properties to protect the packaged product.
Research and UN approval in plastic packaging
To finish with this 360º vision and provide a global solution to those who attended the presentations, Miriam Jiménez, Food Contact Specialist at AIMPLAS, and Laura Benedito, Director of Quality and Environment at Alcion Packaging Solutions, closed the presentations.
Miriam Jiménez made everyone aware of the great work that is being done in R&D&I departments to continuously improve and, in this case, implement these improvements in plastic packaging. They investigate factors such as permeability, which is a critical factor for the shelf life of the product, since the level of oxygen and the level of water in the product affects this. In addition, they also investigate other factors such as exposure time and temperature as well as specific properties of the final application.
Laura Benedito, on her side, gave an overview of the UN approvals to be taken into account, with emphasis on the ADR (Agreement on Dangerous good by Road) approval and its different provisions, the one relating to hazardous materials and objects and the one relating to transport equipment and transport. She detailed its structure, the classes of hazardous materials, the packaging groups and all the tests that are carried out (chemical compatibility test, drop test, leak test, internal pressure test, permeability test) and those carried out in Alcion Packaging Solutions’s in-house laboratory
Through the different presentations we wanted to give a 360º degree vision of what is a plastic container conceived and manufactured in a sustainable way, as well as all the aspects that must be considered when selecting a safe plastic container with optimal quality, while remaining sustainable.
After the presentations and various clarifications, we opened the doors of our plant to show the attendees what was presented during the morning. Being able to see how the manufacturing process of a plastic container is using plasma fluorination technology provides the vision that at ALCON we are truly committed to finding SOLUTIONS to the challenges that society and legislation poses to PACKAGING and to the sector in general.
We thank to all our partners and speakers for their commitment during these days and the attendees of the event for their participation. We hope to do it again soon because the contact with our customers or potential customers is, without a doubt, what we like the most. Share impressions, solve doubts, transmit our philosophy and way of working and show all the work behind, carried out by a great team of people committed to this GREAT PROJECT that is ALCION PACKAGING SOLUTIONS.
For any questions, before we see each other, you can contact us, we will be delight to do everything possible to solve it.
Thanks to all, see you soon!
In sectors such as industrial or agrochemical, barrier plastic packaging is a must for products to be distributed safely, without posing any health risk and keeping the product intact until its use.
Choosing the most suitable packaging for a product is not only a matter of thinking about its use, transport and appearance. The characteristics that a container must have are conditioned by those of the product it contains and its way of reacting when coming into contact with it.
This factor is even more important when we talk about chemicals and industrial products, among others, that are more aggressive and that can further deteriorate packaging. It is in these cases where barrier plastic packaging can become the protagonist, since these are containers with all the barrier properties necessary to contain the product in perfect condition, retain all its characteristics and, most difficultly, do not deteriorate during its storage, transport and distribution. But what exactly does barrier packaging have that makes it one of the most adequate solutions to pack aggressive products?
What is barrier plastic packaging?
Barrier plastic containers, manufactured by co-extrusion, consist of several layers of plastic materials, which provide sufficient strength to contain aggressive products that would deteriorate and deform any other type of packaging.
This is why barrier plastic packaging is one of the great solutions to preserve and transport chemical products in the safest way. The chemical formulations emit gases that can bloat or collapse a plastic container, so that, not any type of plastic packaging would be adequate in these cases.
Barrier plastic containers made by blown coextrusion combine materials with different properties to achieve protection that would be unworkable with other mono-layer containers.
Until now, multilayer coextrusion had been one of the worldwide used technology to manufacture barrier packaging, from now, in Alcion Packaging Solutions we have already incorporated into our manufacturing process a new technology, plasma fluorination, being the most sustainable option that provides barrier properties to 100% recyclable HDPE packaging.
Key features of barrier packaging
Barrier plastic packaging is the perfect choice to pack chemicals and industrial products because of their ability to protect from light, moisture, oxygen and temperature changes, the main physical factors that can affect both the product and the packaging itself and alter its properties and characteristics.
In addition to preventing packaging from deteriorating by shock or from possible reactions to external agents, barrier plastic containers must also protect them from oxidation, degradation of their components and, ultimately, from any factors that can chemically alter them as well as from the internal reactions of the formulation itself.
Thanks to barrier plastic packaging, it is possible to prolong chemicals shelf life, that is, keeping all their characteristics intact for as long as possible until the expiration of the product indicated by the formulator or packer. This shelf life depends to a large extent on factors such as container permeation, as the presence of oxygen, water vapour or carbon dioxide can alter the composition of products and impair them.
Barrier plastic packaging may be different, and the products for which they are used, too. Depending on the characteristics of each product, packaging may be needed to act as a barrier against some factors or others.
Trends in the use of barrier packaging
One of the main trends in barrier packaging research and innovation is to find solutions to make these packaging using the fewest different materials, resulting in a relatively homogeneous packaging that allows easier recycling and easier and less expensive production.
To achieve this, research focuses on the development of new raw materials with barrier properties that can be recycled, new technologies to improve the technical characteristics of packaging and the refinement of existing barrier packaging by trying to follow a more sustainable line with recyclable or biodegradable materials.
What does seem clear is that sustainability is the main tendency to follow for all companies that use and need barrier plastic packaging in their activity, and is that barrier packaging is no longer expected only protection and resistance, but also that they are recyclable or biodegradable and that favor the circular economy both throughout its life process.
Barrier plastic packaging is considered one of the best options for sectors such as industrial, chemical, cosmetic, dermocosmetic, agrochemical, etc., and at Alcion Packaging Solutions we have the best technologies to produce barrier packaging following the latest trends. We know that sustainability is one of the great concerns of any company today, and producing 100% recyclable barrier packaging and through a totally environmentally friendly process is already a reality for us thanks to plasma fluorination.
