Both companies will first launch two-litre beverage cartons made of composite material with attached caps, followed by other containers by July next year to implement the EU directive
Pfanner Getränke has partnered with ALPLA to include tethered caps in packaging. (Credit: ALPLA Group)
Austria-based packaging solutions provider ALPLA has supplied lightweight, resource-saving and optimally recyclable composite cartons to Fruit juice and iced tea producer Hermann Pfanner Getränke.
Based in Vorarlberg, Hermann Pfanner Getränke is launching a few containers with closures that remain attached to the packaging.
The packaging aligns with the new European Union (EU) directive which states that all caps on drink bottles or composite cartons in the EU must remain attached even after the bottle or container has been opened. The EU directive is effective from July 2024.
Pfanner Getränke has partnered with ALPLA to implement the directive and include tethered caps in packaging.
Both companies will first launch two-litre beverage cartons made of composite material, followed by other containers by July next year.
ALPLA IM global business development director Michael Feltes said: “Our sustainable closure solutions are suitable for a wide range of packaging types and formats.
“The container does not necessarily have to be a PET bottle, and our cooperation with Pfanner is excellent proof of this.”
ALPLA produces the caps at its Austrian plant in Fußach, which is near Pfanner’s headquarters in Lauterach.
The proximity of both sites will help to complete the project early and convert to the new plastic lids without any adaptation of the bottling lines.
The Fußach plant uses injection moulding to make the tethered caps, the packaging solution provider said. It also has the expertise to produce its own designs of lighter closures with a lower cost of materials than conventional solutions.
ALPLA has designed the customised click variant for Pfanner using its Soul solution. After opening, it can be bent by 160 degrees and locked into place after a click to stop the cap from springing back.
This technique enables the customers to pour – and drink – from the carton safely, ALPLA said.
Hermann Pfanner Getränke managing director Peter Pfanner said: “Tethered caps are a challenge for the beverage industry. We benefit from ALPLA’s expertise and flexibility, saving on the costs of time-consuming development and conversion.”
Additionally, the packaging company has three more tethered caps called Dance, Relax and Jazz for use with three litres of beverage containers.