Wimbée and Koehler Paper, part of the Koehler Group, have developed the ‘first’ cardboard cap with a paper coating to top aerosol cans; among its first applications are Héritage’s O’Cedar furniture care products.
Wimbée is credited for the development of the patented cap’s cardboard structure, with Koehler Paper’s NexCoat Smart flexible packaging paper applied to the cap’s surface.
Apparently, NexCoat Smart’s high fold-crack resistance provides ‘excellent’ laminating, shaping, and printing properties on the cardboard’s surface – and, according to Koehler, reduces its environmental impact.
“Koehler NexCoat Smart is ideally suited to the challenge of creating a greener and, in particular, recyclable alternative to standard caps,” says Bettina Bastien, brand owner manager for flexible packaging paper at Koehler Paper. “It is made of renewable raw materials and can be reused multiple times within the established paper recycling process.”
Right now, the cap is available in standard diameters of 51mm and 63.5mm. Additional caps with diameters of 45mm and 55mm are currently being developed.
NexCoat Smart falls under Koehler Paper and Koehler Innovation & Technology’s NexFlex range of flexible packaging papers. Described as ‘unique and recyclable’, they are designed to substitute plastic packaging ‘wherever possible’.
Other offerings in the range include Koehler NexPlus, the ‘next generation’ barrier paper with functional surfaces for ‘product-specific protection’; Koehler NexCoat, which pursues dimensional stability and smoothness by applying a coating on one side; and Koehler NexPure, an uncoated paper with a ‘natural’ appearance.
Koehler Paper targets the range at an assortment of food and non-food product packaging, including laminates for pouches and sachets. Interzero has also awarded its “Made for Recycling” seal to several contributions in the NexFlex range.
Another fibre-based cap recently came to light as Paboco and Blue Ocean Closures combined a paper bottle and lid – creating the ‘industry’s first’ market-ready solution. With its thin HDPE barrier weighing less than 2 grams, the total package is said to be recyclable in the paper stream and has a total weight of 16 grams.
Seda International has also crafted its fibre-based beverage lid from 100% certified renewable fibres; it aims to save CO2, water, and 400 tons of plastic for every 100 million lids. It is said to offer the lowest cradle-to-grave CO2 emissions and water consumption of any fibre lid currently available on the market, and an LCA suggests that it improves the environmental performance of moulded fibre, polystyrene, and polypropylene alternatives.
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