A unique and innovative heat-sealed, recyclable solution for Mitsubishi Pencil Co UK’s Uni-Ball writing instruments brand. The brief was delivered by Mitsubishi to FACER, a World Land Trust certified folding carton and blister card manufacturer in Leeds, and Novaplas, a plastic thermoforming and contract packer in Essex. The primary objective was to create a plastic-free alternative to their widely adopted conventional blister card retail packaging solution. A conventional “direct seal” or “face seal” blister card utilises a clear single-use plastic blister often made of RPET or APET which houses the product and is then heat-sealed to a printed blister “backing” card.
Whilst both components are recyclable, there is naturally a growing difficulty in justifying single-use plastic for nonperishable FMCG products to national stockists. The brief was to meet a companywide directive at Mitsubishi to achieve plastic-free packaging across their product portfolio. Mitsubishi were also keen to explore ways to avoid defaulting to any commonly used “me too” folding carton formats, whilst retaining the speed of packing, security and shelf presence of the pre-existing blister card and associated packing operation. After extensive prototyping and production testing FACER and Novaplas delivered a solution that met all objectives of the brief. Luke Wilson, Managing Director at FACER commented: “Mitsubishi’s brief had a broad range objectives beyond simply removing the single-use plastic component of their existing packs.
FACER worked extensively to deliver a solution that met all of the peripheral desired objectives whilst maintaining their successful heat-seal packing operations and the added benefits that a heat-seal pack offers. FACER are one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of heat-seal blister cards, but we recognised very early, the importance of eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic for non-perishable FMCG products where a more sustainable alternative can be successfully implemented. The added beauty for brands considering alternatives to conventional blister cards, is that we have a host of plastic-free alternatives that retain all of the pre-existing retail planograms as the packs are engineered to the same dimensions of previous blister card solutions.
We have dedicated hundreds of hours of R&D toward structurally engineering highly creative and sustainably led plasticfree packaging alternatives in recent years. Some that utilise specific heat-seal chemistry, others that are more conventional folding carton formats but with a highly creative approach to their structural design and functionality. FACER’s commitment to sustainably manufacturing packaging has seen us adopt vegetable oil based inks, a completely chemical-free prepress system & press technology that enables ultra-fast production setups alongside alcohol-free printing with the minimal necessary use of water. On top of this we’ve recently become World Land Trust certified carbon balanced and a Living Wage Foundation certified Living Wage Employer.”
Luke Wilson. Managing Director. Direct. +44 (0)113 457 4876
Mobile. +44 (0)7917 138 490
Office. +44 (0)113 258 2551
Email. l.wilson@facerprinters.com