GERMANY – KHS, an international manufacturer of filling and packaging equipment for the beverage and food, has introduced new packaging line retrofits that wrap beverage cans in paper instead of film. 

In a statement, KHS noted that the newly launched paper wrapper allows beverage manufacturers to meet consumer demand for alternative, environmentally friendly packaging material. 

Customers can either opt for more flexibility by switching between film and paper packaging as required or permanently switch to paper. 

Since 2020 KHS has provided a facility on its packaging machines for wrapping beverage cans in paper, the new function however gives customers maximum flexibility by allowing a switch between the two materials.  

Whether wrap-around packs, packs on trays or pads with or without film or paper wrappers, the new system solution can process a broad range of secondary packaging, KHS said.  

 Paper may be a relatively new packaging material on the beverage market; especially as an alternative to plastic, however, this material is increasingly capturing beverage fillers’ interest.  

Countries around the world have enacted regulations in recent years to limit the use of plastics, forcing manufacturers to look for alternatives in paper and other materials. 

As not every beverage producer wishes to install a completely new machine, KHS notes that the paper wrapping unit is now also available as a conversion option.  

This means that bottling companies can quickly and easily react to marketing trends and consumer demands using existing Innopack packaging machines. 

KHS provides two retrofit options. If paper wrappers are to permanently replace shrink film as secondary packaging, all that needs to be done is to substitute two modules; the machine layout can stay practically the same. 

Here, the former film wrapping module is replaced by the newly developed module that can process paper. The shrink tunnel is also substituted by a module that folds and glues the paper. 

 Beverage producers who do not wish to compromise on flexibility when it comes to secondary packaging can retrofit the new KHS packaging system as an additional option on their existing machine.  

In this case, the paper wrapping unit is adapted and the paper folding, and gluing module is installed on the machine as an extra. 

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