Secondary packaging company TrakRap has secured a contract with consumer healthcare manufacturer EM Pharma to replace its existing packaging system with a sustainable solution.
UK-based TrakRap will replace EM Pharma’s existing shrink wrap heat tunnels with a new stretch wrapping packaging system said to deliver “significant energy savings” and lessen EM Pharma’s environmental impact, with no capital expenditure.
New to the market, the TrakRap system has secured the company contracts with customers of varying sizes across sectors including food, drink and pharmaceuticals.
The TrakRap system uses bespoke 100% recyclable polymer film to wrap products and bond the pack together.
Removing the requirement for heat tunnels the system is said to use 90% less energy than traditional shrink wrapping, also making it more suitable for ambient, chilled, frozen or volatile products.
Innovative TrakRap trays, developed with ReelVision, work with the film and allow for up to 40% less cartonboard to be used, resulting in “lighter weight, 100% recyclable” retail ready packaging (RRP) for retailers.
“Secondary packaging for the pharmaceutical sector presents a unique spread of challenges,” says EM Pharma MD Kevan Abley.
“Constant new product development means that new lines can be added on a weekly basis and the breadth of our product range means that our machinery has to adapt to different pack sizes and configurations.”
Increasingly, Abley adds, major retailers are discouraging the use of RPET trays for sustainability reasons: “So we had to find a method of packaging which protected the product, presented it on the shelf and ticked the sustainability box,” he says.
“Our heat tunnels consume huge amounts of energy and contribute to an uncomfortable working environment with soaring temperatures and noise.
“We were also very aware that we were wasting large amounts of film when wrapping smaller packs.
“This led us to stretch film wrapping, which completely eliminates heat from the wrapping process. It allows us to be very responsive, and is easily configured to different pack sizes – eliminating film waste.”
