Canadian Packaging

Amcor Flexibles wins three 2015 Alufoil Trophies

By Canadian Packaging staff   

Design & Innovation Food Safety General Bottling AirFluSal Forspiro inhaler aluminum cans aluminum foil aluminum wine closures Amcor Felxible Amcor Flexibles Capsules Amcor Flexibles Europe and Americas Bel Group Canseal Pro for can ends EAFA European Aluminium Foil Association Formpack base and blister lid foil Sandoz International STELVIN Inside wine closure

Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas takes home three coveted Alufoil Trophy 2015 awards organized by the European Aluminium Foil Association.

Demonstrating Amcor Felxible’s ability to offer the highest quality in innovative and creative packaging solutions, it won three coveted Alufoil Trophy 2015 awards organized by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA).

In the category of Product Preservation, Amcor Flexibles, together with its partner Sandoz International, was awarded an Alufoil Trophy for AirFluSal Forspiro, a new respiratory inhaler for people suffering with asthma/COPD.
Amcor-Inhaler-Blister-StripAmcor Flexibles was asked to design a blister strip to ensure a longer shelflife of the powder in the AirFluSal Forspiro inhaler.

The strip protects the inhalation powder from moisture ingress and also improves performance during transportation and release of the powder from the cavity.

By removing the aluminum blister strip at the end of the day in the feedback window, the patient can check whether the prescribed number of inhalations has been taken.

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Head of the judging panel, Bel Group global packaging eco design manager Jean-Paul Duquet explains what impressed them, “This is a complex device and all the components had to be carefully combined to achieve the required performance. It is clear that the protection of the active ingredient—a hygroscopic powder—is entirely due to the innovative use of the aluminum foil in the blister strip.

“The powder is readied for release when the lid foil is pierced and upon inhalation the airflow transports the powder out of the cavity through the holes,” he adds.

Amcor Flexibles Europe and Americas R&D pharma director Andrea Della Torre  comments: “We are particularly proud to have won this award for our blister packaging with our partner Sandoz. It emphasizes how an early and close collaboration in the packaging development process contributes to launching an innovative product for patients.”

By using a novel seal layer between its Formpack base and blister lid foil, Amcor has been able to reduce the potential for moisture ingress via cross diffusion by 50 per cent.

Amcor Flexibles was also awarded an Alufoil Trophy 2015 for Technical Innovation for STELVIN Inside, a new range of aluminum wine closures and liners that can double wine maker’s oxygen transmission rate (OTR) choices.

Amcor-Flexibles-Capsules-compo-3

Each of the four new liners has a different OTR target which, through technical developments in combination with other materials that make up the liner, ensures a controlled level of oxygen dispersion allowing wine makers and consumers’ consistency from one bottle to the next.

Liners are highly complex and play a pivotal role in aluminum closures for wine. They guarantee absence of cork taint, consistency from one bottle to another, preservation of aromas, flavors and freshness and controlled OTR which is critical to the wine aging process.

Explaining the judges’ decision, head judge Duquet says, “A great deal of research and development has gone into the making of these closures. The absence of tin in any of the liner formulations means there are no issues about stability or recyclability. Further, they take aluminum closures into new segments of the wine market, such as aging red wines, which can only add to their popularity in the marketplace.”

Amcor Flexibles Capsules general manager notes, “Amcor Flexibles Capsules is delighted that STELVIN Inside has been recognized by the Alufoil Trophy 2015 jury and has won such a prestigious award for Technical Innovation. It demonstrates our ability, as the pioneer of STELVIN aluminum closures, to continue to bring breakthrough innovations to the market, which offer new benefits that help winemakers craft and perfect their wines.”

All of the films used in the liners are produced by Amcor and are PVDC-Free. Two of the four new liners also contain layers of aluminum foil. OTRs are offered between 1 O² and 7 O².

In the category of “Resource Efficiency”, Amcor Flexibles was awarded an Alufoil Trophy for Canseal Pro, a direct-seal aluminum membrane for can ends.
Amcor-Canseal-Pro-open-lid

The membrane reduces total packaging material and cost, since it is directly sealed onto a can so no additional metal ring is needed. Canseal Pro offers a safe and convenient closure, with excellent seal integrity, outstanding barrier properties, easy peelability and highly efficient processability.

Thanks to the excellent barrier properties offered by aluminum foil, Canseal Pro is currently being used for dry products that do not need heat processing after filling, as well as for other products such as condensed milk.

“This is an excellent solution in a high volume packaging product, which can have a substantial impact on the amount of material used, as well as performing well across other functions,” says judge Duquet. “We viewed it as a potential ‘game changer’ for this type of can product, as sealing times could be reduced and better line speeds achieved, offering resource efficiencies in these areas too.”

The coextruded sealing structure of Canseal Pro is made especially for a newly developed direct sealing technology, based on inductive heating of the can body.

The composition of Amcor’s polymer coating on the aluminum foil enables this kind of sealing process with reliable seal integrity. For a typical 73 mm diameter can, 1,000 conventional steel EOE lids weigh around eight times more than the equivalent Canseal Pro lids.

“We are delighted to receive this trophy as recognition of our continuous focus to improve convenience and reduce the total packaging cost of our customers’ products. Canseal Pro is another success story resulting from our strong cooperation with machine manufacturers and customers. Together with Alufix, our range of easy-open aluminum membranes for cans, Canseal Pro further strengthens our offering in this market,” explains Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas product development engineer Sven Bauer.

About Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas
With 68 plants in 21 countries, Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas, a division of Amcor, is a market leader and the world’s largest supplier of flexible packaging.  We deliver innovative packaging solutions and provide enhanced quality products for the food, beverage, pharma, personal care, medical and industrial markets. Its award winning approach towards sustainability makes Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas the preferred partner for customers looking for responsible packaging solutions. For more information visit www.amcor.com.

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