Last month, Coca-Cola HBC revealed that it is piloting a 100% recyclable cardboard and paper carrier and wrap – as an alternative to plastic shrink film. In a recent conversation with Mondi, which helped to develop the product alongside DS Smith Packaging and Krones, we learned more about the R&D process behind the solution, as well as its functionality and sustainability attributes.
To start with, could you give us a broad overview of the product?
Our Hug-IT is an extraordinary innovation of which I am very proud. It serves as a sustainable alternative to plastic shrink wrap for PET six-packs. It’s a paper sleeve crafted from the world’s strongest paper, Advantage SpringPack Plus, with outstanding strength and stretch properties. The sleeve “hugs” the six-packs tightly, ensuring the safe transport of bottles from supermarket shelves to our homes.
I’d like to get a bit more granular detail now – how did the project progress from start to finish? It would be good if you could give us more information about R&D, testing, trials, etc.
To be honest, the development of this solution proved to be extremely challenging. One might be thinking it’s just a paper sleeve, but I can say that this paper sleeve is hitting it big. We encountered numerous hurdles, that were entirely new to us.
These challenges included the production of Advantage SpringPack Plus paper for this specific application, conversion and printing processes, ensuring transport stability, and humidity resistance, gaining consumer acceptance, and aligning with our Mondi MAP2030 sustainability targets. After all, the ultimate goal was to create sustainable packaging that will leave a positive impact.
In simple terms, at the project’s outset, we collaborated closely with Krones, combining our paper expertise with their engineering knowledge. It took some time to identify the right paper that could withstand the demands of packaging, palletising, transportation, delivery to the shelves, and consumer convenience.
We conducted numerous lab tests, simulations, and industrial trials, which was crucial to ensure that the solution could be seamlessly integrated into customer’s processes before it could be considered for placement on store shelves.
And how did the collaboration initially come about? What did Coca-Cola’s brief look like, and why do you think they are interested in solutions like this?
I can honestly say that the entire team was highly enthusiastic about collaborating with Coca-Cola HBC and Krones on this project, and I believe we all gained valuable insights and experience.
The main driver behind the project was sustainability. The brief from Coca-Cola was clear: they wanted a paper-based alternative to plastic shrink wrap with an overall lower carbon footprint to meet emerging consumer and regulatory needs for more sustainable packaging.
The paramount was to maintain Coca-Cola’s brand identity and to ensure that the brand retained its characteristic design features. Although our Advantage SpringPack Plus possesses great strength, it had never been used for printing purposes. It’s essential to consider that there is a significant difference between printing on plastic and printing on paper, therefore a new development was necessary to preserve the paper’s strength properties while maintaining sustainability without compromising the brand’s characteristic features. I believe we successfully achieved this with the sleeve, with a neat and natural look. See for yourself!
Coca Cola Helenic Bottling Company, with its plant in Edelstal, Austria, is at the forefront of environmentally friendly packaging. Choosing Mondi’s Hug-IT paper sleeve is definitely a commitment.
From a functionality/strength point of view, how does this solution compare to conventional alternatives?
As previously mentioned, for this solution we use Advantage SpringPack Plus, the strongest paper in the world. The stretchability allows to wrap the bottles very tightly giving the six-pack lots of stability and holding the bottles in place, which gives the consumers a very convenient and secure feeling when carrying the bottles from the store to their home. One of the aspects I truly appreciate is the easy way to recycle the paper, by simply tearing off the sleeve and disposing of it in the regular household paper waste bin.
Likewise, from a sustainability perspective, how does this product compare? Have any LCAs been undertaken to determine its impact?
At the beginning of this project, we conducted an internal product impact assessment for our full Mondi Hug&Hold solution, with Hug-IT being an important part of Coca-Cola HBC’s final solution, to ensure that we met our sustainability scorecard criteria before initiating the research and development phase.
Subsequently, we conducted an external Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, which was peer-reviewed by independent sustainability experts, and the results are very promising. Additionally, the fibres used in our solution have been sustainably sourced, and the entire product is recyclable in the paper recycling stream.
I am extraordinarily pleased with this result and feel privileged to be a part of something that will have a meaningful impact on the future.
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