Following two years of work, Clondalkin Kirchberg has successfully developed ultra-thin shrink sleeves. The Swiss subsidiary of Dutch packaging group Clondalkin (Amsterdam; www.clondalkingroup.com) has down gauged its biaxially oriented PS (OPS) sleeves to 40 micron and its PET sleeves to 30 micron. The new thin gauge foils have been available since the start of this year.

Clondalkin said the 40 micron OPS film has the same stability during production as 50 micron alternatives. In addition, the film has no static and the sleeve machine’s performance has improved despite the thinner gauge.

Tobias Hirschi, Clondalkin Kirchberg’s technical product manager, commented: “These new generation foils provide excellent stability on the sleeve lines, especially on conical yoghurt pots and bottle applications, where the first production runs show that the run ability is second to none. This development brings major improvements in the application of the sleeves.”

The sleeve also helps customers to cut costs as well as the environmental impact of their packaging, noted Sander Kool, the company’s sales and marketing manager. He said: “It is not only the reduction of the material that contributes to achieving this. The application of thinner sleeves also requires less energy to make the sleeve shrink around the container or bottle. In addition, the new OPS has an improved gloss that enhances the graphics on the sleeves.”

Clondalkin Kirchberg is Europe’s leading supplier of polyester and aluminium lids, coffee creamer lids and shrink sleeves.