FOCKE Rethink Packaging 1

80 MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY
see also TJI 05/2020
Focke‘s box in box flexible packer (model 551) effectively combines two hinge lid packers
FOCKE RETHINKS
SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
How sustainable can packaging for tobacco products be? The engineers at German packaging
machine manufacturer Focke & Co say that balanced paper-based solutions protect the product
just as well as they protect the environment. Rethinking cigarette packaging could be as simple as
a return to the roots.
I
t was not long ago that all consumer produce packs that are considered single
products were packaged in paper. More PAPER-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR material packaging at speeds of up to 500
recently, cheaper manufacturing pro- TOBACCO PACKAGING ppm.
cesses resulted in plastic being used as The box in box flexible packer (model 551)
the main packaging material, and with effectively combines two hinge lid packers
this development came the misconcep- Examples of Focke’s solutions for sustain- and represents an alternative to the sealed
tion that packaging which lasts forever, able paper-based packaging include the seal- bundle. With a production capacity of 500
and which can only be destroyed by ed bundle wrapper (model 502), which ppm, this paper packaging solution pro-
thermal disposal, must be better. However, teams up with the tray packer (model 556) vides what Focke describes as a consistently
the team at Focke stated that packaging to provide a flow wrap solution for sealed high product quality for reclosable pack-
now appears to be returning to its paper ori- bundle packages that use either conven- ages.
gins, and that consumers prefer to purchase tional or sustainable paper packaging. Using The company has also been working to
a sustainable product. a virgin fibre paper, this solution is able to further optimise the materials used in its
MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY 81
solutions, which also helps to reduce the sustainable, they also want to show this continued. “In other cases, it is important
risk of unwanted substances seeping from quality to the customer,” Schnakenberg that all components of the packaging that
the packaging into the product. Here, an added. are connected to each other consist of only
inner liner can be omitted, or the grammage How has Focke, as a maker of packaging ma- one material, such as cellulose or polypropy-
of the blank or inner frame can be reduced. chinery, responded to these shifts in the lene. Sometimes it is about biodegradabil-
When it comes to packaging film, a paper or market? According to Gerd Holtkamp, de- ity.”
cellophane wrapping can be used instead of sign engineer in the R&D department and Christoph Schneider, head of packaging
PP parcel film. Cellophane was previously a leader of the material laboratory, concerns technology and senior design engineer in
standard material for film, and using it en- relating to making tobacco packaging more the R&D department, commented that
sures that health warnings are still visible sustainable are nothing new for the team at Focke has always had a focus on paper and
because the material is naturally transpar- Focke. “In many cases, these concerns have cardboard, and that technical developments
ent. been present for a long time,” he explained. within this group of materials has allowed
In the RYO/MYO segment, Focke has devel- “For example, savings on materials, energy, the company to be more creative in their
oped a solution for paper-based films that minimising scrap, minimising production use.
include coating. Here, an ultrasonic sealing waste, and producing safe and relatively “Technical developments constantly lead to
process means that poorly sealable paper easy to operate machines that are flexible new possibilities in materials, production
composites can be processed without the when it comes to processing different ma- and processing possibilities,” he explained.
loss of efficiency. terials: all of these things existed before and The company has retained the freedom to
Bundles of Cigarette or RYO can be wrapped they have now found their place under the think laterally, and to seek out solutions
in paper to make products even more sus- heading of sustainability.” that lie perhaps to the right or left of tradi-
tainable, and to further harmonise the Today, however, sustainability for packag- tional solutions. We spend a lot of time talk-
packaging and the marketing and com- ing materials has different meanings, de- ing to our customers and material manufac-
munication concepts behind it. pending on the various disposal routes and turers to find out where the journey can
preferences of the different countries. lead. As more and more attention is paid to
“Sometimes the aim is to ensure that the reducing the amount of plastics in packag-
RESPONDING TO CHANGING packaging can be incinerated with as few ing, the use of paper-based solutions is a
pollutants as possible,” Holtkamp logical conclusion.”
▲
PREFERENCES
Focke’s dedicated R&D division for sustain-

able packaging aims to develop new packag-
ing concepts to support the company’s cus-
tomers in the field of sustainability. Team
members Jan Schnakenberg, Gerd Holt-
kamp and Christoph Schneider explained to
TJI that regulatory environments and
changing consumer preferences have
caused a shift towards more sustainable
packaging - including for tobacco products -
and that manufacturers are adapting their
products accordingly. Maintaining product
quality is important, but marketing con-
cepts and the communication of sustain-
ability as an inherent quality of a product
are equally important.
Jan Schnakenberg, project manager at
Focke, commented that, “In general, con-
sumers are becoming increasingly aware of
the need for sustainable action. Those who
can afford it also want to show that they are
buying sustainable products.”
He said that tobacco manufacturers – both
large and small – are all concerned with the
topic of sustainability and want to be pre-
pared for possible changes in legislation.
“Furthermore, achieving cost savings and
increasing market share are always an im-
perative. When a product becomes more Sustainable box-in-box packaging Sustainable RYO packaging
82 MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY
within a certain range,” Schnakenberg com-

mented. “Paper has traditionally been a
widely used material for packaging in the
tobacco industry, and Focke has therefore
always tried to design machines that are as
open as possible for material changes. In
many cases - for example, when changing
from film to paper for wrapping, or the
change from aluminium laminated paper to
pure paper for the inner liner - only small
and quickly-made changes are necessary.”
The options that customers have installed
on their production lines, and the design of
the product that is being produced, ulti-
mately dictate the speed of operations that
can be achieved.
RETHINK, REPLACE, REMOVE,

RECYCLE, AND REDUCE
The R&D division for sustainable packaging

at Focke works according to the sustainabil-
ity principles of the “5 Rs”, aiming to meet
specific sustainability goals together with
that is required and therefore which materi- customers.
PUTTING SUSTAINABILITY INTO al will provide the most satisfactory result. “Not all customers have the same ideas
PRACTICE When it comes to production speed and about sustainability,” Schneider said. “There
changeovers, the team said that the use of is a great deal of room for interpretation,
sustainable paper-based solutions does not particularly in different markets, and we try
So how do these paper-based solutions per- present any disadvantages. “In principle, to support our customers as best we can.”
form? Until recently, most sealed bundle the production speed for all applications is He continued: “Through many conver-
film has been a composite film. Unlike the same with paper as with other materi- sations with customers, we have ascer-
when regular sealed bundle film is used, a als, as long as the material properties are tained that rethinking the packaging pro-
paper solution produces no residual materi- cess is an initial and very important step.
al when incinerated, and the packaging is Can we replace, or remove certain materials
both recyclable and biodegradable. completely - such as the foil - in order to
And what about the freshness of the prod- make the packaging solution more sustain-
uct? Focke says that its tray packer (model able? Perhaps we focus on making sure that
556) and sealed bundle wrapper (model the materials are recyclable, and work to re-
502) produce the most airtight seal- duce the overall amount of packaging and
ed bundle on the market. According materials that are used - for example, even
to Schnakenberg, the use of sus- by using thinner materials. Seeing these as-
tainable paper materials does not pects as individual parts of solutions, and
reduce the airtightness of a sealed being in a position to actively respond to
wrap—which would not leak, or them, is part of the rethinking process.”
would only leak minimally, depend- Schnakenberg concurred: “In general, it is
ing on the paper. “The water vapour always the goal of Focke to be innovative,
barrier, which is sometimes re- but also to respond to customer requests.
quested by customers, is the bigger We strive to continually present new ideas
problem here because even the best to our customers, and to inspire them to be
papers have a comparatively poor successful through cooperation. Our best
barrier for this. For these customers, packaging ideas and machine solutions can
Photos: Focke
the use of a special cellophane film would only be successful together with our cus-
then be an adequate substitute,” he ex- tomers,” he concluded.
plained; adding that customer requirements
ultimately dictate the water vapour barrier Most airtight sealed bundle on the market Jeremy Booth, in Leipzig

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80 MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY

see also TJI 05/2020

Focke’s dedicated R&D division for sustain-

within a certain range,” Schnakenberg com-

RETHINK, REPLACE, REMOVE,

The R&D division for sustainable packaging

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