All4Labels launches inspirational global showcase for wine & spirits

All4Labels Global Packaging Group has announced the launch of its new global business strategy to sustainably develop the wine & spirits sector starting with a dedicated marketing campaign, which is designed to shape consumers’ experience through unique, precious, and sustainable labels and packaging. This will take form in an inspiration project of a global itinerant showcase — called ‘Motherland’ — which will display the unique essence of each product and its local heritage through eye-catching design.

In the coming months, All4Labels will be producing eight special label concepts on bottles of wine & spirits from Argentina, France, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Russia, China, and Germany. These countries represent the locations of the group’s blue-chip sites that are specialized in the wine & spirits segment, and each will feature a product that is typical of the local market.

Created together with its newly launched packaging design division, All4Graphics, each label will seek to embody the natural beauty and traditions of the region of origin, while implicitly demonstrating All4Labels’ technical and innovational capabilities. The labeled bottles will be unveiled at dedicated local events starting with a kick-off in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9, 2022.

The showcase is an opportunity to address the importance of building an open environment with meaningful relationships throughout the entire value chain, and All4Labels is working closely with a group of leading partner companies to share this ethos. Motherland will also highlight the value of All4Labels Smart + Secure GmbH that would embed smart features such as Brand Security with QR fingerprint, Gamification, and Traceability in order to support the customer experience through analytics.

“We are embarking on this campaign to highlight our presence as a main player in the wine & spirits market and to show our high premium solutions,” said CEO of All4Labels Adrian Tippenhauer.“Motherland will demonstrate in very real terms how All4Labels is pioneering innovation with bold creativity, high quality and sustainable packaging solutions for local and global wine & spirits brands.”

The goal for All4Labels is to enlarge its presence in this developing market. Guido Iannone, All4Labels CSO said, “Wine & spirits have been a core focus for the All4Labels sales strategy for a long time, and we have developed an extremely high level of technical expertise in label production with exceptional finishes and embellishments for premium brands. We are now using this expertise to drive new growth opportunities for us, for our partners, and our customers.”

All4Labels is committed to producing labels and packaging in the most efficient and responsible way. Massimiliano Martino All4Labels CTO said, “Motherland was produced using innovative materials and technologies to reduce the carbon footprint by 80% compared to the conventional way of producing premium labels. We have developed and deployed an embellishment process that avoids waste while ensuring an exclusive tactile and visual effect.”

“Conscious of the new digital era where metaverse is evolving into a new reality we will explore how a virtual world can impact on people’s behaviors. With some real applications All4Labels can link bottles to an NFT marketplace, to show how advanced avatars could revolutionize virtual engagement,” added Paola Iannone, VPMarketing and Communication at All4Labels.

The Motherland campaign will continue over the coming months demonstrating the global footprint and local knowledge of All4Labels along the way. Supplier partners in the project include Avery Dennison, Fedrigoni Self-Adhesive, Leonhard Kurz, H+M, Estal, Actega, Nilpeter, Omet, HP Indigo, and Luxoro.

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Huntsman launches water conservation project at Baroda plant

Huntsman Textile Effects, the global leader in innovative and environmentally sustainable dyes, chemicals, and digital inks, has successfully implemented a water conservation process to improve water efficiency and reduce net water usage at its Baroda facility.

The initiative undertaken at the plant aims to save around 76-kilo liters of Reverse Osmosis water per day by modifying the phase sequence in the pH measurement program. Water is used extensively throughout textile processing operations. The amount of water used varies widely in the industry, depending on specific processes operated at the plant, equipment used, and policies concerning water use.

This conservation project at the Baroda Plant will have a potential savings of Rs 10 crore or $146,000 a year for the organization. Speaking on the development, Mark Devaney, Vice President Manufacturing and Operations
Excellence, Huntsman Textile Effects said, “At Huntsman, we recognize the important role we play in creating a more sustainable future and are committed to the well-being of the communities where we operate and the protection of the environment. We are continually looking for ways to improve the environmental footprint of our manufacturing sites and have been implementing numerous projects in recent years to reduce our water usage.”

“The team has done a detailed assessment of the pH analysis process in dye vessels, mapping the existing water usage and potential conservation method. After a brief study and several brainstorming sessions, we were able to adjust the phase sequence, resulting in conservation of Reverse Osmosis water by almost 76-kilo litres of water per day,” said Kavishwar Kalambe, Site
Director, Huntsman Textile Effects. “This project directly contributes to Huntsman’s Horizon 2025 goals to reduce net water usage at facilities in water-stressed regions,” he added.

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Polymer fibers with graphene nanotubes make it possible to heat hard-to-reach, complex-shaped items

•  Polymer fibers with graphene nanotubes combine the flexibility of synthetic fiber with very high electrical conductivity. The nanotubes can be added into melted polypropylene or polyamide to provide electrical conductivity.
• An ultrafine conductive fiber is used for fabric or mesh that can then be integrated into a polymer system.
• Such electrically conductive heating fibers are required in the medical, agricultural, construction, oil and gas, textile, automotive, and aerospace industries.

  From the warming of seating to the heating of industrial and living areas, from the heating of cars’ interior parts to the de-icing of roofs—all these challenges require flexible heating elements that allow temperature control. AMPERETEX has developed an ultrafine polymer fiber with OCSiAl’s TUBALL graphene nanotubes, also known as single-wall carbon nanotubes. “A current equivalent to an ordinary incandescent lamp with a power of 75 W is enough to heat polymer material with a mesh made from such a fiber with nanotubes. The solution is safe for people—the voltage of clothing made of fabric with nanotubes is only 5 V,” said Pavel Pogrebnyakov, Founder and CEO of AMPERETEX.

  “Graphene nanotubes are one of the highest performing conductors on Earth. At the same time, unlike other carbon additives, they are very flexible. Their shape is similar to human hair, but 50,000 times thinner. Due to their unique properties, the dosage of graphene nanotubes required to modify polymer fibers can be so low that it doesn’t affect filament production or characteristics,” said Dr. Christian Maus, Development and Support Leader for Thermoplastics at OCSiAl Group. The graphene nanotubes are available as concentrates that can be added into melted polypropylene or polyamide, for example.

  Heating mesh made of innovative fibers is integrated into flexible material or complex-shaped composite elements. Laboratory tests showed fiber durability of 30,000 cycles, which is compatible with 30-year service life. Electrically conductive heating meshes have successfully passed testing in various projects, among which are an anti-icing roof and a bus stop: an anti-slip coating with integrated AMPERETEX heating elements and embedded automatic heating sensors.

  “The market for the application of such fibers is huge. This includes the medical, agricultural, construction, oil and gas, automotive, and aerospace industries. Currently, we have entered the production of synthetic heating fabrics at industrial-scale volumes. This year, we plan to release a line of products for heating in previously unavailable areas. We are trying to reduce energy consumption and create solutions for the B2B sector in response to a specific request. The next step is the usage of these elements for heating of hard-to-reach objects and products with complex geometric configurations,” noted Pavel Pogrebnyakov.

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Flexibility is key to stability

PET Technologies has recently brought to the market a new generation of flexible PET stretch blow molding
machines APF-Max. Its output varies between 3000 and 14 000 bph, while the bottle volume is between 0.1
and 6 L. The product range includes 6 basic models and 5 extra. First customers have already highlighted its
features.

User-friendly concept and innovative design. Streamline forms an alternative coloring, modular concept, and controller that is easy to operate. Worth highlighting that all the communications are connected via the top of the machine. The electric cabinet is on the backside. The machine is divided into 2 parts to transport it easily by land or by sea.

APF-Max blow molder is equipped with B&R PLC (since 2017, B& R is part of the ABB group). The program, as
well the manuals for the machine, are available in languages depending on the customer’s location.
A central lubrication system makes machine maintenance easier Flexibility. APF-Max series has 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-,6-, 8-cavities configurations. The notion of “flexibility” in terms of APF -Max series by PET Technologies stands for:

• Wide range of preform neck standards. With the same machine, you can produce both 100 ml bottles
  for sanitizers, for example, and 1 L wide neck jars for coffee.
• Increase of output of the blow molder you already have. You can buy a 4-cavity model with an output of 7000 bph and then reach 14000 bph! It is enough to install additional cavities make and make respective
  changes in the heater.
• Wide range of bottle formats, from 100 ml up to 6 L. Let’s see how it works with model APF-Max 5! To
  produce up to 2 L bottles, the machine has 5 cavities. When you decide to switch to a 1-gallon bottle, the
  machine is readjusted for 3 cavities
• Hot fill option: it is applicable to the whole APF-Max series and is an additional advantage to the features
  described above.

Molds quick change. APF-Max blow molder flexibility keeps pace with a quick-change system. The equipment
concept allows using many mold sets for a wide range of PET bottles with minimum change over time. Blow
mold is equipped with non-spill quick-change connections and is replaced in one piece.

Thus, 15 minutes are enough to change the blow mold and start to produce another bottle format. 108
mandrels in the heater of 8-cavity blow molder you can change in just 4 minutes. All-electric configuration. Servo drives provide more precise positioning together with high speed, stable heater conveyor speed, and blowing process. The stretching rod position is automatically controlled depending on the bottle height when you switch from one bottle format to another. Preblow is also controlled via PLC.

NIR heating and low total installed power. APF-Max blow molder is equipped with the special short-wave
near-infrared heating system (NIR). It is not a common method for the PET blow molding market, though
preform heating is more efficient whilst fewer kilowatts are consumed. The advantages of the NIR heating system
for PET bottles production:

• Uniform temperature distribution between the inner and outer parts of preform wall
• Reduced heating time
• Compact heater size
• Reduced energy consumption of blow molder.

Ceramic reflectors are used to better preform heating and to reduce energy consumption. Automatic
temperature regulation is on the top of the story. Universal and operator-friendly, economic, and flexible. These are only a few attributes to characterize the new generation of PET stretch blow molders APF-Max.

The machine has high output while its dimensions are more compact. It is equipped with a double air recovery system to cover the demand of low pressure and pressure for preblow. It explains why our customers like Avida (Russia) and Kazan milk plant have already installed 3 blow molders APF-Max, though it was launched to the market not long ago.

UBQ Materials partners with Resirene to create the first worldwide Polystyrene with UBQ

 UBQ Materials, a cleantech developer of advanced materials made from waste, today announced a partnership with Resirene, the largest Polystyrene resin producer in Mexico, to produce the first worldwide circular grade high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) compound with UBQ inside, which will make it the most sustainable in the world.

Resirene, a large polymers producer, serves numerous market segments, including polymer applications for food & beverage, healthcare, and medical products, electronics, construction, and advertising, among others. The company has made significant R&D and production investments as it foresees increased demand for sustainable products. UBQ will be used in higher-value items ranging from multi-use razor handles to signage.

“The plastic-free movement, including government regulations banning products such as single-use straws and plastic bags, has propelled the polystyrene market to adapt and evolve. There is now a continuum of sustainability within polystyrenes, ranging from starch-containing products to those made with recycled polystyrene,” said Sergio Paredes Castañeda, CEO of Resirene.

“We have reached a new level in terms of reducing our product’s environmental impact with UBQ inside, thereby allowing our customers to jointly achieve sustainable loans, enabling the polystyrene industry to strive as a whole towards circular economies,” the executive mentioned.

UBQ Materials converts unsorted household and municipal landfill-destined waste into UBQ, a climate-positive, cost-competitive replacement for plastic. UBQ  is a bio-based drop-in material that can be incorporated into standard manufacturing processes without additional machinery or materials. The production of UBQ decreases the landfilling of waste, preventing methane emissions and curtailing the leakage of toxic substances into the soil.

“The ‘lifecycle’ of products is a misnomer – until now, products were manufactured, used, and discarded – not a cycle at all, but rather a straight line. Our goal is to close the loop on the production-to-waste process and create a circular economy that takes the seemingly endless accumulation of waste and converts it into a resource,” said Albert Douer, Chairman and co-CEO of UBQ Materials. “This partnership with Resirene allows us to incorporate our climate-positive thermoplastic into various products, offsetting emissions and offering a viable end-of-life solution for waste.”

After extensive R&D trials and testing to develop the new material with UBQ, Resirene has already started to sample the new material with clients. Initial results suggest that customers find the added environmental value meaningful, even when one accounts for the variable of product costs.

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