Award-winners and innovative potential

Cation-active Hair Color from Russian luxury brand Estell’er won the award in the Aluminium Tube category. The tube, produced by Tubex Russia, uses colours with holographic modulations to produce unusual tinting. The dark violet colour and the pearl-like shimmer is achieved with the help of halftone printing, adding a pearlescent pigment to the transparent enamel. The large cap across the entire diameter of the tube is not only consumer-friendly, but also emphasises the tube’s elegant design. A pigment with a mother-of-pearl effect was used to colour the cap.

In the Plastic Tube category, the first prize went to Albéa’s Eau Thermale Jonzac Sublimactive Sérum Fermeté. This tube, with its elegantly simple design for on-the-go use in offset colours, uses a TearDrop design. Its dispenser system controls the exact dosage. With its transparency, the material looks like glass but is much lighter and more stable than a comparable dropper packaging. 

The tanning cream Beer Cream from the Italian luxury cosmetic brand LR Wonder Company, the winning tube in the Laminate Tube category, was produced by Global Tube. The tube with a metallised gold flip-top closure has a gently merging and flexo-printed colour gradation across the entire tube body from the bottom to the shiny closure, coupled with the use of 360° Decoseam technology. Gold-coloured cold foil technology used for its graphic elements draws attention to the logo. 

 CTL Packaging’s Green ESTube, which stands for ‘easy supply tube’, topped the Prototype category. The aim of this technology is to simplify the recycling process. Up to now, most popular tubes have been made of different plastic materials, usually PE for the tube body and shoulder and PP for the cap. In the ESTubes, the body, shoulder and closure are all now made completely of PP and are therefore completely recyclable. In addition, the tubes are printed using digital offset printing, a process that is more eco-friendly than conventional printing techniques. The Eco Low Profile tube closure achieves material savings of 20%. Thanks to the particularly flat shoulders and a special edge, water can no longer collect in the cap.

The winner in the newly announced Sustainability category were Albéa’s tubes for a shower gel range from Caudalie. The low-profile caps reduce the weight by 50% compared with conventional caps. Reducing the wall thickness of the extruded PE tubes from 500 µm to only 350 µm has made the tubes a third lighter. The flexible tube with a structured surface is very stable despite its thinner wall thickness, and the material savings do not compromise the consumer experience. For the artwork of the tubes, silkscreen printing was used for an extraordinary visual effect. 

Sustainability takes centre stage

Colgate has finalised the design of a recyclable toothpaste tube, which is the first oral care or personal care tube to earn Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) recognition for recyclability. Under development for more than five years, the tube will debut under the company’s Tom’s of Maine brand in the U.S. in 2020. Roll out to select global markets under the Colgate brand will follow. The company plans to fully convert to recyclable tubes by 2025, when all of its products will be in 100% recyclable packaging. Most toothpaste tubes are made from sheets of plastic laminate – usually a combination of different plastics – often sandwiched around a thin layer of aluminum that protects the toothpaste’s flavour and fluoride. The mix of materials is pressed together into a single film, making it impossible to recycle through conventional methods. To make a recyclable tube, Colgate chose high-density polyethylene (HDPE), the widely recycled “No. 2” plastic popular for bottle making. But because HDPE is rigid, it isn’t well suited for ultra-thin laminate sheets and soft, squeezable tubes. The packaging engineers recognised that they could use more than one grade of HDPE in their designs. The team then tested a dozen different combinations – using from six to 20 layers – to find the recipe that allows people to comfortably squeeze out all the toothpaste, protects the integrity of the product, and meets the demands of high-speed production. 

www.colgatepalmolive.com 

Ets Bugnon’s Organic PE tubes are produced with sugarcane ethanol. The plantations dedicated to the organic PE represent only 2,23% of the farmland of the total country and are located on low productivity arable land. The production process from sugarcane seeding to the tube reduces the carbon footprint by 75%. This tube presents has the same characteristics as the classical PE tube from petroleum and has a comparable resistance against chemicals. 

https://www.ets-bugnon.fr/fr/ 

FKuR’s Green PE is a family of bio-based plastics, produced by Braskem from renewably sourced sugar cane, a sustainable and easily printable alternative to fossil based counterparts. This material is suitable for the extrusion blow molding of tubes. The material can be used for identical applications and is also 100% recyclable in the same PE waste stream. Depending on the application, HDPE grades with more than 90 % of bio-based content, or LDPE grades with more than 95% of bio-based content, as well as LLDPE grades with more than 80% of bio-based content are available. Furthermore, Terralene LL 1712 FKuR is a ready-to-use compound for tube production based on Green PE. 

www.fkur-polymers.com

The Digitran process from Kammann Spezialmaschinen und Steuerungstechnik (KSM) is a digital printing solution for caps, cosmetic tubes, bottles or lip care sticks. From small to large quantities, this process can display products in the highest possible quality. Even the thinnest lines are recognisable and the shades and gradients are eye-catching. In addition, the products can be personalised, regardless of whether small or large quantities are involved. Every process is free of UV curing and solvents, which allows an eco-friendly and harmless decoration. 

www.digitran.de

LageenTubes’ Inno-Greenpack is made of PCR and sugar cane. 

www.lageen.com

Neopac’s recycled plastic tube, the latest addition to the company’s EcoDesign line of products, is made from a body and shoulder mixture containing up to 75% recycled, polyethylene plastics. The recycled material contains 50% PCR (post-consumer recycled) – for example, milk bottles from closed loop recycling in Western European countries, and 25% from PIR (post-industrial recycled) material from tube laminate production waste. The tubes’ caps are made from 100% ocean plastics PP materials derived from sea ropes. In addition, the tubes are decorated using solvent-free colours and low-solvent varnishes that are exclusively UV cured. The company has recently joined Ceflex, a collaborative initiative of European companies and associations representing the entire value chain of flexible packaging. By 2020 Ceflex aims to have a comprehensive sustainability and circular economy roadmap for flexible packaging.

Neopac’s Picea tube, which houses a line of Madara’s hair conditioners, was one of five finalists for a Green Award at Luxe Pack New York. The Picea wood tube is comprised of 95% renewable material and is sourced from PEFC certified forests in the EU. The tube offers a carbon footprint that is 40% better than standard polyethylene tubes while maintaining high-quality barrier properties, decoration, food suitability and recyclability. 

www.hoffmann-neopac.com 

Quadpack’s PCR Tube is manufactured from post-consumer recycled plastic. The biobased PE Tubes, which are available in diameters of both 25mm and 35mm, are made from a bioplastic that uses sugarcane ethanol in the manufacturing process as a substitute for petroleum, and is still compatible with standard recycling systems. Quadpack Wood has crafted a special cap made from wood sourced from sustainably managed forests for the PCR and biobased PE tubes, which really pushes home the green message. Both types of tubes are finished in neutral white, and can accommodate a variety of decoration techniques, from screen-printing to spray coating.

www.quadpack.com

Enhanced solutions for more convenient application

Cosmogen completes its Sqeez’n range with 3 new applicators: Micro Squeez’n Glow for lips, Micro Squeez’n Style for eyebrows and Micro Squeez’n Spatula for face. Their patented on/off closure rotary system protects the formula and allows to dispense the right dose before smoothing, sculpting or stretching on the targeted area with the formula. Like for all applicators in the Squeez’n range, they are ergonomic and easy to clean, while preserving the formula from any contamination and oxidation. Their size makes them a nomadic cosmetic partner. Bianca de La Garza chose the Squeez’n Pentaball and the Tense tube for an ultimate beauty product experience to provide an enhanced application experience. 

www.cosmogen.fr

TubAirfree by Gaplast and PumpArt is designed for liquid and sensitive formulations. This lightweight, squeezable and cost-conscious airless packaging protects the formulation, is easily applied at 360° and is almost completely discharging while retaining its original shape. The cap and valve come from Gaplast, the TubAirfree tube from PumpArt.

www.pumpart.com

Tubex and Aptar have developed Skin Protect, a new dispensing solution for sensitive formulas that incorporates an integral contamination barrier. This tube and closure partnership protects against contamination during the entire period of use. Tubex developed a customised shoulder and exclusive head for this push-on closure. To ensure that the tube and the closure are completely airtight when filled with the product, Tubex developed an in-line leak tester for collapsible tubes to guarantee 100% airtightness. Every single tube is checked for airtightness to ensure that the content is perfectly protected. 

www.aptar.com

Laminate production in Europe

Alltub Group has new production capacities for ABL (Aluminium Barrier Laminate) and PBL (Plastic Barrier Laminate) tubes after investment in a new production line. According to its own information the company is the first one to produce laminate tubes with a diameter of 13.5 mm in Europe. The production can manufacture laminate tubes with a variety of closure, thread and cannula options. The line also offer 360° printing using Nanoseam and Decoseam technologies. There is a broad demand for this small diameter technology.

www.alltub.com