Convenience and innovation shines through

Alcan Packaging Pharma Europe's stand-up recloseable Beauty Purse® is being used by Quies for its Quies Flash Frais soothing eye masks.

Claimed to be the first portable stand-up pack for health and personal care, the Beauty Purse® combines aesthetic appeal, and simplicity of use. It is equally suitable for the handbag, travel or the bathroom.

The patented open and reclose system ensures precise closure even after many uses. The front and rear of the gusseted pack are manufactured from BOPP 30μ/alufoil 12μ/LDPE 75μ; and the gussets from PET 12μ/alufoil 12μ/LDPE 75μ.

The pack is reverse printing in 4-colour rotogravure and is enhanced by alufoil's natural aesthetic value. The large printing surface improves brand visibility and its communication potential.

The Beauty Purse® is a dispensing system invented and developed by the French company 3G. 3G is able to provide full service solutions to the European market for cosmetics and toiletries.

Alcan Packaging Zutphen had the judges purring with delight with its eye-catching organic shape alufoil tray with easy-open lid for Sheba Essence from Mars Petcare Europe.

Designed in close co-operation with Mars, the 130μ PP laminated aluminium tray features all over printing in 7- colour rotogravure. The 360o printing is flashy and clear, providing excellent on-shelf differentiation and positions the brand clearly as a premium product.

The manufacture of the tray created a number of challenges; the first was to anticipate the degree of deformation caused by stamping prior to pre-printing. The non-standard asymmetrical shape meant that extra attention had to be paid to the stamping process which causes stress, break the tray or produce wrinkles.

Finally to ensure a "smooth surface", creating the correct dent resistance for a smooth wall tray was an added difficulty.

Alupak and Alcan Packaging (Rorschach and Singen) joint development of the PeeliCan® is being used to great effect for all kinds of fish fillets and seafood.

Offering great advantages to fillers, retailers and consumers because of its lightweight, stackability and easy opening, the PeeliCan® provides a simplified filling process using a patented ultrasonic sealing technology. This ensures safe sealing even when the rim of the container is contaminated by product during filling.

Currently being used to great effect for Système U - Filets de Macquereaux fish fillets, the multi-coloured rotogravure printed container is made from stove lacquered/ alufoil 130μ/PP and the multi-colour lidding foil from a laminate of PET/alufoil 50μ/peelable PP layer.

Two further systems are now available for anchovies and herrings. Customised packs offering shelf differentiation are also possible. This new filling/sealing technology and packaging system were developed jointly by Alupak (final pack concept), Alcan Packaging (packaging material) and Waldner (filling/sealing machine).

Constantia Teich's portion pack for Chocomel Hot from Friesland Foods Western Europe creates a convenient dispensing cup-shaped pack for a hot chocolate drink for use in the popular Senseo® pad machines.

The packs consist of a cup with a top and a bottom foil-based die cut lidding material. The top lid is a high sophisticated double layer lid. The end user peels of the aluminium foil and sets free a plastic lid which has exactly sized and positioned holes. On the bottom of the cup there is a deep drawn special alu lid with an integrated weakening that ensures a controlled push-through in the brewing machine for the flow-off of the drink.
Friesland Foods' system employs a simple adapter to hold the "cup" instead of the standard coffee pads used by Senseo® coffee machines.

Providing aroma-barrier, long shelf life and heat resistance for sealing, the duplex structure was critical to the packs development. To ensure all these criteria were met: the top lid is manufactured from Print (UV Flexo)/Print primer/alufoil 50μ/separation and protective lacquer/lock-film; and the Bottom Lid: 60μ alufoil/lock-film.

Novartis Consumer Health won an Alufoil Trophy for its user-friendly Nicotinell L-Pack for an anti-smoking aid.

The packaging design challenge for this Nicotine Replacement Gum pack was to keep both the size of the gum and the number of gums per blister unchanged within the wallet-style pack. The solution was to fold the blister onto the foil side to provide protection from accidental perforation.

The L-Pack is manufactured from PVC: Flexo print on the outer side/pre-lacquer/alufoil 20μ/heat-seal lacquer/transparent PVC/PVdC (250μ/23μ). The blister is attached to the carton so that it self unfolds when the L-Pack is opened and returns to the folded position when closed.

Hydro Aluminium's winning entry for ProTechT Solutions' CertiniteTM, a passive explosion and fire protection system, proves how successful aluminium foil is across any number of market uses.

CertiniteTM prevents explosions and reduces the risk of fire by up to 80% compared with a fuel tank without Certinite. It is manufactured using plain alufoil with characteristics that allow it to be stretched and formed on dedicated machines to produce a "net like" structure.

The resulting 50-80μ material is then shaped into rolls, cylinders, cubes and bricks by special roll machines or presses to create tailor-made solutions for different applications.

The mesh is designed to achieve optimaI flame resistance and minimal volume displacement when placed in gas or fuel tanks and "confined spaces" to prevent explosion and fire.

Protective Packaging's laminated foil pouch with two compartments for AGMA Healthcare's Sterile Zyceine Wipes containing a sporicidal disinfectant is designed for use in sterile environments in the healthcare sector.

The AGMA multipart chemical system allows a potent sporicide (essential to destroy pathogens) to be generated in small, useful quantities at point of use. The two compartments are essential to keep the incompatible products apart before they combine at point of use.

The compartments maintain the individual integrity of the two essential reagents during packing, gamma-ray sterilisation, delivery and storage. At point of use, the vulnerable seal is rupture and the reagents and wipes mixed together. The pack comprises PET, alufoil and PE.