March 2011
How innovative closures open up new market opportunities
The tube industry has strengthened the tube’s position as a packaging material in the competitive European packaging market still further by introducing novel closures and creative system solutions that offer precise application and exact dosage, convenient opening and easy handling and, last but least, enhanced security. The members of etma, the association that represents European tube manufacturers, have introduced a range of new developments that are notable for their remarkable combination of tube and novel closure and dispenser system.
A shining example in the truest sense of the word is a closure solution from CTL Packaging/Tuboplast Hispania that consists of an airless dispenser system attached to a co- extruded plastic tube. The tube body has a special head to make sure the airless metallic pump fits accurately. The upper jet of the dispenser ensures precise dosing and clean application. A plastic cap complements the metallic closure system but the metallic character is maintained by use of a specially developed colour. The CD logo is applied to the top of the cap by hot foil embossing. The closure system, which is functional and visually appealing in equal measure, thus harmonises with the elegance of the tube body, which achieves its visual impact by use of two special inks. The outer layer develops the lustrous sheen with an additional pearl effect. The Capture Total Dior tube is particularly impressive thanks to the successful combination of functionality and the exclusive elegance of the closure system and tube body.
Switzerland-based Neopac has launched a child-resistant version of the conventional Twist’n’Use single-dose pack. According to the company, the laminate tube has the sector’s smallest certified child-resistant closure. The new Twist’n’Use CR closure (CR stands for child-resistant) offers a combination of disposable tube and tamper-proof seal. The closure consists of an inner and an outer cap. The outer cap is free to turn but when it is pressed downwards it engages the inner cap. If it is then turned, it releases an inner pin and opens the tube at a predetermined point of rupture. The contents can then be applied precisely without contamination thanks to the special ergonomic tube aperture. The cap stays on the tube body throughout use.
German tube manufacturer Linhardt has launched two innovative solutions. With its aluminium Dispenser-Tube, an airless dispenser system is forced onto the tube. When the consumer uses the dispenser, a special valve creates a partial vacuum. This dispenses a precisely defined quantity of the contents and at the same time the external air pressure compresses the tube slightly. The aluminium tube thus offers the benefits of an airless pack: the contents of the tube have no contact with the ambient air and so cannot become contaminated, and this means significantly less preservative is required. An added benefit: the dispenser functions in every position, so it can also be used upside down and is thus particularly user friendly.
Linhardt’s plastic tube with RIBBONTIP applicator is the result of a co-operation with Seaquist Closures. The applicator enables the contents of the tube to be applied smoothly and precisely. Due to its slanted tip, which resembles a marker pen, the contents can also easily be applied over an area. The applicator virtually prevents any contamination of the contents of the tube by oxygen or other gases or by other substances. Considerably less preservative is therefore needed.
"Combining innovative and intelligent closure and dispenser systems like these with the well- established benefits of the tube will open up new applications and markets for the tube as a packaging material,” says etma secretary general Gregor Spengler confidently. “The European tube industry will continue to focus on close co-operation with its partners in the supply chain in future in order to jointly develop trend-setting packaging solutions and product ideas.”
