At the Netstal booth in Hall B3, an Elion 1750 with hybrid injection unit will be running a thin-wall packaging application produced in 4 cavities at a cycle time of 2.7 seconds optimised for the circular economy using the injection compression moulding process. The yoghurt cup is ‘light as a feather’, according to the injection moulding machine manufacturer, featuring a filling volume of 200 g, part weight of 5.4 g, and wall thickness of 0.3 mm. Since the cup and label are made of 100 % polypropylene (PP), the packaging is particularly easy to recycle. Unlike a conventional in-mould label, the label comes off in the mechanical recycling process. The PP stream is not affected because printing ink particles are reliably separated from the pure PP. Injection Compression Moulding (ICM) reduces the weight of the cup by an incredible 34 %. Another improvement in terms of sustainability: the combination of the ICM process and product optimisation also results in a 27 % reduction in packaging volume.
The packaging application, optimised for recycling, was developed in collaboration with high-end system partners Glaroform, Beck Automation, SABIC, IPB Printing, motan, Regloplas and Uniform Color. The development partner from the food industry is Emmi AG, the largest bottler of dairy products. The specifications of the packaging were optimised with and under the guidance of Emmi's requirements.
Another highlight is the new Axos 9 control generation, Netstal ‘s latest generation of control technology, now available for the Elion and Elios series machines. The innovative operating concept ensures users obtain the maximum performance from their Netstal machine; the integration of Smart Operation allows employees in the production environment to operate the machines quickly, safely, and effectively.
Hall A3 is also worth a visit: Netstal will be visiting its Turkish mould partner Ceylan with an all-electric Elion 2200. In 4 cavities, 150 g margarine trays with IML decoration are produced. With a shot weight of 42 g, the cycle time is 3.8 seconds. The IML system with side removal, camera control and packaging unit comes from Eurasia Robotic in Turkey. The turnkey production line is running at Ceylan's booth, Hall A3, Booth A3-3105.