From the beauty and cosmetics industry to automotive care, many sectors make heavy use of wet wipe products. They are a vital part of everyday life for millions of consumers and professionals. However, the traditional packaging solutions for this essential product are far from perfect.
As consumers are faced with a binary choice between bulky rigid lids and weak peel-and-reseal labels, neither of which are effective at retaining moisture inside the pack, there is a huge gap in the market for a better solution.
Introducing SKYLARK and TLC technology
Here at OPM, we have developed that solution. Thicker Label Closure (TLC) provides a generational leap in peel-and-reseal technology for the flexible packaging and wet wipe markets. And now, following significant interest from around the world, we’ve partnered with New York-based packaging stalwarts Macaran Printed Products and Syracuse Label & Surround Printing to form SKYLARK. SKYLARK is our transatlantic joint venture bringing TLC to new markets in the USA – you can learn more about it here.
TLC is set to be the future of wet wipe packaging on both sides of the Atlantic, offering huge benefits to many markets, including the beauty and cosmetics, pharmaceutical, medical, mother and baby, and industrial sectors. Here’s why we’re so proud to reveal this innovative reclose label.
The problem
Wet wipes have a reputation for causing significant amounts of waste. Part of this problem is down to the fact that they cannot be recycled once used, but another part of the issue is the fact that many wet wipes are never used in the first place. Many users do not get to the bottom of a pack of wet wipes as the wipes dry out before then.
Current resealing solutions are not capable of solving this problem. Traditional flexible peel-and-reseal labels are not durable enough and will often curl away from the packaging or lose their adhesion and fall off entirely. Meanwhile, rigid plastic lids only provide minimal protection even when working properly. Once the initial hermetic seal is broken, closing the plastic lid does not repair it, even when the lid is clicked shut properly.
So, what’s the solution? Wet wipes are too important to too many industries to simply be phased out, meaning the only other alternative is to use an innovative resealing solution that minimises the waste from each pack. This would have sustainability benefits and reduce costs for consumers by ensuring they got the most value for money from every pack of wipes.
The issue is that this solution simply did not exist – until now.
The solution – TLC
The TLC solution fixes all of the above issues and offers performance and cost benefits across the board when compared to incumbent technology. It delivers maximum product functionality, consumer utility, and efficiency, ticking every box for flexible packaging converters.
TLC is made using a thicker, semi-rigid label that creates a hermetic seal around the pack opening. This locks in moisture for the entire cycle of the pack, giving each one a significantly longer lifespan once the initial seal is broken. But the benefits of TLC technology don’t end there.
The label sits flush with the pack and weighs just 1.8 grams. It’s less bulky and significantly lighter than a rigid flip-top lid, which weighs around 8 grams on average. This means more packs can be delivered in fewer loads, reducing fuel emissions, optimising storage space, and further increasing sustainability up and downstream in the supply chain.
Naturally, a more compact, lighter-weight solution also translates to increased efficiency during production. It uses less material and can be applied on standard packing lines. Again, compared to rigid plastic lids, which require specific application lines for hot melt and glue application, TLC offers massive throughput gains.
TLC offers superior performance for brands and retailers, too. It can be printed on both sides, effectively offering twice the marketing real estate of a standard peel-and-reseal label. This can be used to promote marketing messages, cross-sell other product lines, or simply offer helpful usage instructions and reminders to end users. The only thing limiting these design possibilities is your imagination!
To learn more about how TLC technology can improve sustainability, efficiency, and customer satisfaction for your wet wipe packaging range, get in touch today at sales@opmgroup.co.uk.
