Coveris has developed a mono-material stretch sleeve for Dr. Beckmann packaging, combining full-body decoration with a design intended to reduce material consumption and remain compatible with existing plastic bottle recycling processes.
Featured in ThePackHub’s Innovation Zone, the SleeveFlex Ultra Stretch solution is manufactured from mono-material low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. Coveris states that the format uses approximately 30% less material than conventional shrink sleeves, while its elastic construction allows the sleeve to conform to the container without heat or adhesive.
The development is being used for Dr. Beckmann household packaging and can be applied to both PET bottles and HDPE containers.
Reducing material and processing requirements
Rather than relying on heat to shrink a label around a container, SleeveFlex Ultra Stretch uses the elasticity of the LDPE film to stretch around the bottle and conform to its shape.
This approach removes the need for a steam shrink tunnel during sleeve application. Coveris reports that this saves approximately 150 kg (331 lb) of steam per hour compared with conventional shrink-sleeve processing.
The elimination of heat and adhesive from the sleeve application process is therefore an important part of the development alongside the reduction in film use. However, the material saving itself should not automatically be interpreted as an equivalent reduction in environmental impact, which will depend on factors across production, use and end-of-life handling.
Designing the sleeve around bottle recycling
Compatibility with different bottle materials has also been considered in the sleeve design.
When SleeveFlex Ultra Stretch is used on a PET bottle, its low-density, floatable construction is designed to allow the LDPE sleeve to separate from the denser PET during sink-float recycling processes. This is intended to support recovery of the PET bottle material where suitable collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure exists.
The approach differs when the sleeve is applied to an HDPE container. In this configuration, both the HDPE bottle and LDPE sleeve belong to the polyethylene polymer family, creating a mono-material PE packaging configuration.
These distinctions are significant because the presence of a full-body sleeve can affect how a bottle behaves during sorting and recycling. Rather than treating the label as a separate decorative consideration, the SleeveFlex approach considers its material and physical properties in relation to the underlying container.
Full-body decoration without heat shrinking
For brands, stretch sleeves provide a route to maintaining extensive decoration around shaped containers without using the conventional heat-shrink process. The elastic film stretches during application before contracting around the bottle geometry.
For the Dr. Beckmann pack, this enables the sleeve to provide a substantial decorated surface while reducing the quantity of material used compared with the conventional shrink-sleeve benchmark cited by Coveris.
The development illustrates how material reduction can involve changes not only to packaging weight but also to the processes used to apply decoration. Here, the combination of thinner material use, mechanical stretching and the removal of a steam shrink tunnel changes both the sleeve itself and its application method.
At the same time, end-of-life outcomes will continue to depend on the bottle and sleeve combination as well as the collection, sorting and recycling systems available in the relevant market.
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