Adhesive applied to collated loads eliminates the need for stretchwrapping pallets

An American company has developed a natural, water based, non-toxic and biodegradable adhesive with high shear strength which can be applied to product packs in liquid form in order to stabilise palletised loads.

 

The adhesive has great lateral strength which makes it virtually impossible for treated packs to move sideways after they have been stuck together.  However, if a pack is lifted upwards the adhesive quickly releases with no damage to the associated packaging.   

 

The manufacturer has developed a number of variants for differing packaging applications including papers and plastics.

 

The adhesive can be applied by dedicated applicators either automatically or manually and in differing configuations depending on the nature of the packages to be treated. The manufacturer estimates that average pallets (72 paper cases in 5 layers of 12 cases) can be treated for around 30p.  For similar plastic configurations the cost would be around 10p.  This compares favourably with the cost of traditional stretch wrapping options. As the adhesive is fully biodegradable there is no impact on recyclability of treated cases and this technology has the potential to eliminate stretch wrapping of loads in certain circumstances.

 

The product is called Lock N' Pop and is marketed in the UK by Lock N' Pop Limited of Bedfordshire.

The greatest potential benefit of this technology is in eliminating the use of stretch wrapping material, either fully or partially depending on the load application. This saves on material and saves on energy required where the stretchwrapping process is automated, thereby significantly reducing carbon impacts.

 

Unlike "hot-melt" solutions this technology does not mark or otherwise affect treeated packs and the adhesive is fully biodegradable.

 

Current users either use the technology by itself to totally eliminate the need for stretch wrapping collated pallets or in less stable scenarios a single "top band" of stretch film is used to fully stabilise the collated pallets. 

Lock n’ Pop® is a registered trademark of ITW company USA.

This product is currently in use in the UK Food & Grocery industry but has so far not achieved widespread adoption having less than1% market share in the UK.  However, as product manufacturers and retailers strive to eliminate the impact of packaging in the supply chain this technology has the potential to drastically reduce the amount of stretch film used in load collation. The technology could also be applied in the home improvement sector and other supply chains.

 

Researchers should review other packaging reduction technologies contained within the REID database using search terms such as "light-weighting" and "light weight pallets".

David Barkway

Sales Manager

Lock N' Pop Products

Bond House

Hardwicke Road

Great Gransden

Sandy

Bedfordshire

SG19 3BJ

07834-462766