Weekly Packaging Design Wrap-Up: Low-density shrink sleeves for beverage containers offer better recyclability, drawer-like openings for folded carton open with one finger, molded fiber shirt package transforms into hanger

Elyse Blye

LOS ANGELES , May 2, 2014 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Low-density shrink sleeves for beverage containers offer better recyclability


France-based Sleever International SARL has created shrink sleeves that can be separated from beverage containers during the recycling process without manual operation. Made of low-density polyethylene terephthalate (LDPET) and LDPET film, the sleeves can be easily sorted out in sedimentation tanks, allowing for easier recovery of used PET bottles and materials. Specifically, the shrink sleeves’ low density allows for LDPET flakes to float whereas the flakes of PET bottles sink to the bottom of the tank. “Downgauging labels has become a popular source-reduction strategy,” said Scott Keefauver, Sealed Air Corp. marketing manager in Beverage Industry magazine. Companies that have joined in on the trend of using these types of labels include Sealed Air, with its Cryovac LT-1 multilayer shrink-sleeve label, and MRI Flexible Packaging Co., with its C-Fit Sleeve stretch-sleeve label. Furthermore, Coca-Cola Co. tested a full-sleeve label made from a polyolefin mix during the 2013 holiday season with recycling benefits similar to LDPE sleeves.

The primary sources of this information are WorldPressOnLine SAS, Morangis, France, and Beverage Industry Magazine, Troy, Michigan


Drawer-like openings for folded carton open with one finger



Designer Gargee Thakkur has done away with flaps on paperboard cartons and replaced them for Taj Mahal Tea packaging with drawer-like compartments that can be opened and closed with the simple pull of a finger. The package contains three compartments for different tea flavors, each of which feature a small, semicircular hole for the user to insert their finger for opening. Standard folding boxes with lids have access points that could turn potentially troublesome for users, but Taj Mahal Tea packaging prevents that possibility while also presenting itself as an elegant and alternative packaging design.

The primary source of this information is Trend Hunter, Toronto, Ontario


Molded fiber shirt package transforms into hanger



Molded pulp is no longer just for egg cartons. Turkish design student Asli Ozcivelek has created a T-shirt package made of molded pulp that can transform into a hanger when consumers bring the product home. Called Transforma, the packaging is able to display the shirt through an opening in the front, allowing consumers to see the contents and feel the material. By unlatching the hook that keeps the package closed, consumers can open it up for use as a hanger. Hangers have done double-duty with other types of packaging, including the “get the hang of it” bag, whose handles can be detached to form two sturdy paper hangers.

The primary source of this information is Trend Hunter, Toronto, Ontario

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