The Chetan Jain Column: Magnetic coatings for sustainability

Sustainability has become such a common term that just naming it can cause a flood of ways for plastic sustenance in our ecosystem. Even school-going children nowadays know feasible options. Sustainability in packaging seems no different to sustainability in general. 

However, the nuances of sustainability matter a lot in the packaging industry, no matter how technical. This blog includes a point that can be a turning point for packaging in sustainability.

I have been working on sustainability for years in my organisation. Taurus has implemented substrates that act as a catalyst in recyclability or support sustainability. It has been a good 17 long years working in the packaging industry and trying to make viable changes in recyclability. 

My second book – 5 Myths about Sustainable Shrink Sleeve revolves around a similar intention. All four of my books have this topic descriptively or briefly.

What is supposed to be the minutest improvement in printing can become a game-changing movement. For all packaging industries, the ease of manufacturing matters a lot more than sustainability. Since, sustainable products require more time and effort, working on them seems to be difficult and technical. Lack of prior experience and new technology makes it almost unapproachable for budding organisations. Hence this new technique was also regarded as “too technical to implement.” However, this is a significant move.

Usually, bottle and shrink sleeve substrate are kept in combination with PET and PETG. Bottles are separated from shrink sleeves by de-labellers. This process is tiresome and fast work can produce ineffective results. Magnetic coating provides a solution to this extensive work. 

This coating is applied over shrink sleeves and then separated through magnetic sorting. This process is noted to improve efficiency by 98%, which is exceptional. Brand’s artwork is unfazed by this coating and it also ensures no colour bleed occurs during this washing process. 

Organisations working on this technology are praise-worthy for such brilliant outcomes which significantly support sustainability. I would like to congratulate all organisations that are working on new technology for their significant contribution. 

There are more out-of-the-box ways that support sustainability within reach of execution by everyone.