Stretch-sleeve films agreement inked between CCL and Krones

With their high levels of elasticity, TripleS stretch sleeves are capable of decorating the entire surface of contoured containers, comparable to conventional shrink-sleeve applications. The stretching capability of the TripleS film, at 55%, is said to be more than twice as high as with conventional stretch-sleeve films. As a result, TripleS sleeves can be smaller, using less material and thus falling on the PROPER side of the carbon-footprint equation. Also, no shrink tunnel is required to apply these, since TripleS labels, by virtue of their elasticity and recovery properties, fit snugly against a bottle's contours.

For CCL (Toronto, ON) the agreement lets it focus on making and marketing labels, and gives it a powerful ally in Krones, one of the world's largest manufacturers of beverage bottle-filling equipment. Krones plans this year to launch a new bottle labeler designed specifically for TripleS sleeves.

The licensing agreement specifically gives Krones (Neutraubling, Germany) the right to develop and market, for a one-time fee (the price will not be publicized), TripleS stretch-sleeve applicator systems for the two companies' common global customers in the soft drinks market. CCL Label will continue to supply TripleS sleeves to customers adopting the technology.

Guenther Birkner, group VP of CCL Label's food and beverage business, commented, "This license will allow us to accelerate the deployment of our technology much faster than with our own resources and leaves CCL to focus on its core business of label supply." CCL employs approximately 5600, spread across 60 production facilities around the world. Its CCL Label business is the world's largest converter of pressure-sensitive and film materials for label applications. CCL Container and CCL Tube are processors of aluminum aerosol cans, bottles, and extruded plastic tubes for consumer packaged goods customers in North America. —[email protected]