Syntegon serves up environmental sustainability at FachPack 2021 with new machines for material versatility
30 Sep 2021 --- Syntegon Technology is presenting two new machines at FachPack 2021 – the SVE 3220 DZ vertical bagger and Elematic 2001 WAH case packer – to meet rapidly evolving industry demands for material versatility.
Live from the show floor, PackagingInsights talks with Torsten Sauer, Syntegon’s director of sustainable solutions, about how the releases cater to new environmental sustainability requirements and ambitions for the company’s customers.
“The new dimension we are targeting are the different needs our customers have. Some of them just want to change the types of materials in their portfolios. Others may look for more innovative solutions and new designs,” he says.
“The third pillar of sustainable packaging solutions is that often what is demanded by our customers is not readily available, which means they need consulting. Our customers want and need to be advised in this regard, and that’s what we call ‘from idea to shelf.’”
The vertical bagger
The SVE 3220 DZ vertical bagger can process mono-material solutions such as polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), enabling packaging manufacturers to improve the recyclability of their products.
Syntegon’s Elematic 2001 WAH machine.The machine also allows for paper production in various bag formats like block-bottom, pillow and doy bags.
“This machine produces all bag styles from one machine. We can make heat-sealed paper bags and on the same machine produce plastic packs,” explains Sauer.
The move toward paper-based options is being felt throughout industry at the moment as tighter legislation against hard-to-recycle plastics and consumer demand for more eco-friendly options grows.
Innova Market Insights highlighted this transition by pegging “Fiber-based Frenzy” a top trend for 2021, noting that paper-based alternatives in more technically challenging categories like confectionery bar wrappers and pouches are hitting the market.
Getting rid of glue
Syntegon’s paper-based cookie trays, produced by the company’s Klikok ACE machine, which is also on display at the trade show, is an example of industry innovations responding to more difficult to design confectionery packaging. 
Doy bags produced through the SVE 3220 DZ vertical bagger. (Image credit: Syntegon)
Using the machine’s heat sealing properties, the need for plastic-based adhesives is eliminated.
The cardboard case packer
Sauer also presents the Elematic 2001 WAH casing machine. “You might ask what you can do to improve cardboard casing, given that it’s already using fiber. However, this machine is using grass instead of wood fiber.”
The integrated packer is characterized by the use of renewable, raw materials. “This also shows that lower quality wood papers can be replaced,” Sauer continues.
This innovation helps packaging manufacturers meet the demands of anti-plastics regulations such as the EU’s Single Use Plastic Directive, but there is also more to it, he continues.
“Paper is about perception,” asserts Sauer. “When end consumers take a product from the shelves, they want to know it is environmentally sustainable. With plastics, it’s difficult to tell. Is it good plastic or bad plastic?”
Syntegon’s paper-based cookie packaging formed with heat sealing technology. (Image credit: Syntegon)
“This is one of the reasons our customers turn to paper-based fibers,” he says. “While plastics are useful materials, recyclability is a challenging issue and one that can be circumvented by switching to fiber-based packaging.”
Up to 100 different carton designs are possible with the Elematic 2001 WAH, including trays, trays with a hood, full wrap-around cases and ledge trays.
Pushing paper for pharma packs
Also on display at the trade show is Syntegon’s range of paper-based blister packaging. Designed to replace traditional plastic-based trays used for pharmaceutical products like pills, the company’s solutions for push-through tablets can be formed in any shape.
The solutions join a range of industry efforts to improve blister pack materials, including Amcor’s recent launch of a mono-material PP blister branded AmSky.
, reporting from FachPack 2021 in Nuremberg, Germany
By Louis Gore-Langton
