Sustainability
Injection In-Mold Labeling and Decoration can be Sustainable
Bio-degradable, compostable, degradable, recycling, carbon foot print, are just some of the words we hear and read on a regular basis in magazine articles and conversations regarding sustainability. One of the components of sustainable efforts that can be overlooked is In-Mold Labeling and In-Mold Decoration (IML/IMD).
Sustainability, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development, is “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Many companies are more sustainable than they think. Over the last several years companies have changed to “zero landfill” facilities by reducing materials used, minimizing waste and recycling. Most companies have conserved energy by replacing lighting units, and incorporated energy saving equipment when replacing or buying new. Most of this was done to reduce cost with little thought regarding sustainability.
The Washington-based Ocean Conservancy estimates that plastic bags and plastic food containers or wrappers are the second and third-most common items in global marine debris. In general, because of the oil consumption related to plastics and its diminishing supply, as well as the fact that most plastics are sent to landfills, people have a tendency to focus on the perceived problems with plastics rather than the value plastic brings to society.
Many new bio-materials are being produced and more are in research laboratories under development. Much has been written about how some of these materials are bad for the recycle stream and are depleting or diverting plant material away from the food supply chain. The world is in the early stages of bio-resin development and, as with all new development, the knowledge learned with these new materials will make development of better products possible. The clock is ticking on this process as it is estimated that the world will run out of oil in 20 – 100 years.
IML/IMD has many benefits when it comes to sustainability. Over 20 years ago, when IML/IMD was being developed in Europe, little was thought about the sustainability of the process. By reducing secondary operations energy can be saved and the foot-print of the required operation can be reduced or repurposed. Some of the energy consuming equipment that can be eliminated at the molder include flame treaters, post mold printing presses (and associated pre-press equipment), wet or hot melt gluing operations, heat tunnels, post mold label applying and inspection equipment, and accumulators. IML/IMD also eliminates release liners used for pressure sensitive (PSA) and thermal transfer labels. A well designed IML/IMD operation typically will operate at 2 tenths of 1% scrap. These efforts alone result in a significant sustainable effort. When energy efficient injection molding equipment is used, like that displayed at the NPE show in recent years, the sustainable efforts are significant.
The most successful IML/IMD jobs start with putting together a team from the IML/IMD supply chain.
Basic Supply Chain for IML/IMD
The team can consist of members from each level of the supply chain, but the core team should consist of the Brand Manager, Printer, and Molder as this team is together during development and during the entire life cycle of the product.
During the design stage it is critical to implement the 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). Biomaterials or recycled and recycled content materials should also be considered where applicable. It is important that rather than looking at sustainability as limiting your creative capability, look at it as a chance to show creative solutions for the environment.
Reduce
The term frequently used to reduce resin content is light-weighting. Light-weighting allows for reduced material, saved resources, saved energy, less waste, and less transportation cost. At times, the IML/IMD label can become the entire content of a wall section without changing the structural integrity. Even the thinnest of labels can add structural integrity and increase mid-level oxygen barrier in food packaging. Care should be taken when light-weighting products to design appropriately for gating, resin flow, venting, cooling, and part ejection. Labels can range in thickness from 12 to 500 µm.
Typical IML/IMD Construction
Many of the substrate manufacturing companies are using recycled content and biomaterials to manufacture their products. A typical label, depending on requirements, can be manufactured with an over-laminate or coating. A significant amount of resin can be saved because the label displaces resin content. When virgin resin is required for the molded part, using recycled content for the label will improve sustainability.
µm Thickness |
Mm Thickness |
Mil Thickness |
4” X 6” Label Gram Weight |
2” X 4” Label Gram Weight |
50.8 |
0.508 |
2 |
0.7079 |
0.236 |
127 |
0.127 |
5 |
1.7698 |
0.5899 |
254 |
0.254 |
10 |
3.5396 |
1.1799 |
381 |
0.381 |
15 |
5.3094 |
1.7698 |
508 |
0.508 |
20 |
7.0792 |
2.3597 |
Using .9 grams per cubic centimeter density –
Add 0.059 grams for 12µm laminate for 2”x4” label - Add 0.177 grams for 12 µm laminate for 4”x6” label
Approximate Label Gram Weight
With all the options available, design and engineering staff should spend the time to educate themselves so they can incorporate recycling and/or biomaterials into products effectively.
Reuse
Designing a reusable product is important because it can extend the usable life of a product and decrease the demand for new materials. Again this will give engineers the opportunity to show their creativity. Care must be taken to not over design the product, negating the value gained by reusing the product. At some time the product will come to the end of its useful life and require recycling. Design so that the product can be recycled using energy efficient methods.
Recycle
A sometimes cynical debate revolves around recycling. It is estimated that no more than 5 – 7% of all resin is recycled. More products will have to be designed specifically to be disassembled for recycling. Concerns about how bio-resins will contaminate the recycle stream and the energy cost of recycling are being debated.
Most substrate manufacturing companies manufacture products with recycled content and biomaterials. Printing companies have developed the appropriate printing processes and die cutting techniques to use these materials. The major injection mold machine manufacturing companies have screws and barrels that are capable of processing recycled flake.
Cut in Place Labels
Cut in Place Labels (CIP) is a technique where the labels are shipped to the molder on a roll and die cut next to the injection mold machine as part of the automation. Problems with label curl and static are largely eliminated because of the automation handling techniques. The labels can be split into different width rolls to accommodate multiple versions of the same or different label. CIP was originally attempted in Europe several years ago. Because of the low volumes and lack of automation, printing, and molding technology at that time, the process largely did not catch on. CIP is a sustainable process because it minimizes the use of material to manufacture the label. The labels can be nested in a way to minimize the roll width and label placement pitch. Additionally, thinner materials can be used to manufacture the label. The amount of scrap associated with die cutting the label using normal cut and stack die cutting techniques yields considerable more scrap than CIP. This coupled with the fact that banding between 2 pieces of card board, packaging in boxes, and palletizing the labels is eliminated. Changing out labels at the molder is less complicated and cumbersome.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a very large subject. Starting with small steps will simplify your sustainable efforts. Changing existing projects to IML/IMD should be evaluated on a case by case basis. However, with planning, new projects are both cost effective and sustainable.
Greenwashing
TerraChoice Environmental Marketing released a study about greenwashing in April 2009. The article describes “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing”. TerriChoice defines greenwashing as “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service”. In the months of November 2008 and January 2009 researchers collected a few thousand products and it was found that 98% of the products committed at least 1 of the sins of greenwashing. The entire report can be downloaded at www.sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2009.
IML Solutions LLC assists Brand Managers and Product Manufacturers fulfill their requirements for decorated, cost effective, and sustainable plastic packaging and durable goods. IML Solutions specializes in in-mold labeling and in-mold decoration providing the highest quality in-mold labels and decoration. When required, IML Solutions can provide assistance with molds, automation, and molding through 3rd party associations.