Schütz refines its IBCs

PACKAGING MADE EASY

EQUIPMENT • LEADING IBC MANUFACTURER SCHÜTZ HAS INTRODUCED SOME NOVEL REFINEMENTS TO IMPROVE SAFETY AND PROTECT LADINGS FROM CONTAMINATION

TRANSPORTING LIQUIDS – ESPECIALLY chemicals – is a risky business. Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), while efficient and versatile, can still be subject to tampering and contamination, despite the traditional failsafe methods the industry is used to seeing. Schütz Packaging Systems, a global leader in industrial packaging, previewed two new components for its range of IBCs at the FachPack 2018 exhibition, held in Nuremberg, Germany from 25 to 27 September, that are designed to improve product security.

High-quality packaging does not only come into its own under extreme circumstances. The benefits begin much earlier during daily operations, helping users save time and money. To further boost these advantages, Schütz is constantly working to increase the overall performance of the company’s packaging systems. As well as application safety, the company focuses on the question of how handling in the supply chain can be made easier and more convenient for users.

In light of this, the company has introduced a new safeguard system for its IBC outlet valves that aims to reform the current methods of protecting originality. Schütz Ecobulk containers, the company’s flagship IBCs, are always transported and stored with a closed and secured outlet valve. In order to open the valve, the customer must first remove the screw cap and thus the red polyethylene disk so as to reveal the foil seal that acts as a concealed originality protection method.

SAFETY FIRST Until now, there have been two options to secure the outlet valve: a steel safety screw or a plastics safety clip. In day-to-day operations, Schütz believes both options are unsatisfactory. Use of a safety screw means that an additional tool is required to open the screw, along with the constant risk that the screw might get lost. The same applies when a safety clip is used, with the additional risk of the clip being dropped when the valve is opened, making it impossible to secure the valve at a later point.

Schütz’s new safeguard system consists of a yellow tab that is integrated in the valve between the casing dome and the handle. The tab is easy to use: the latch is simply pressed up with a thumb, requiring no tools. By pressing the latch up, the handle of the outlet valve is released and can then be turned to discharge the product. After discharge, the handle is moved back into its original position to close it and the tab can then be pressed down again, snapping into place to relock the outlet valve.

The option of reclosing the container quickly and easily is a great benefit, as up to now that process has been laborious and timeconsuming. This is especially beneficial from a regulatory standpoint as transport regulations demand that the container is securely closed, a condition that is also required under the terms of the Schütz Ticket Service when the container is collected after use.

Another of Schütz’s added features is its originality sticker, designed to provide additional protection. The sticker, which is attached to closed lock at the factory, breaks when the tab is pushed up for the first time, instantly showing that the valve has been opened. The originality strip protects the filling product from tampering, effectively

ruling out the risk of contamination and protects the original quality of the product. All of Schütz’s EVOH (ethylene vinyl alcohol) products – which are commonly used in foodgrade applications – have been fitted with the new safeguard system as standard and a final conversion of all other valves will take place over the course of the year.

TAMPER EVIDENCE To accompany its Safeguard system, Schütz has also introduced a new peelable foil seal. One of the key components used on outlet valves is the foil seal that usually has to be removed by cutting with a knife prior to initial discharge. These seals are quite fiddly and the potential for contamination cannot be ruled out if the product comes into contact with aluminium residue of the cut edges, a particularly serious problem considering aluminium reacts with number of regularly transported chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide and a wide range of acids.

This new, practical solution is made of several layers of high-quality materials – mainly polyethylene terephthalate – and brings together the benefits of increased quality and easy handling, says the company. The round seal is simply peeled off by hand without the need for additional tools and leaving behind very little – if any – residue. This new, optimised variant is ideal for packaging products that are sensitive to metal and has the added benefit of making it impossible for the filling product to accumulate behind cut edges.

The new seal also provides increased protection against contamination since it is impossible to discharge product without destroying the foil, meaning that it is obvious at a glance whether the outlet valve has already been opened.

The company will equip all outlet valves for the Foodcert and Cleancert lines with the new foil seal. STIR IT UP Elsewhere at the FachPack event, Schütz exhibited its Impeller, a device designed to safely stir viscous media. A stirrer can pose a potential contamination risk for sensitive filling products due to the residue of any previous products. Schütz’s single-use stirrer is connected to the screw cap of the IBC and is pre-inserted at the factory. The use of the Impeller as a disposable system means that risk of contamination can be reduced significantly, in addition to the savings associated with cleaning. The Impeller is available for all 1,000-litre and 1,250-litre Ecobulk IBCs with DN 150 and DN 225 filling openings.

Of further interest to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, Schütz was displaying its new Foodcert + Asepctic and Cleancert + Dualprotect IBC models at FachPack. Both models feature a UN-approved LDPE liner, sterilised with gamma radiation, that unfolds and aligns itself within the bottle during filling. This minimises conctact with oxygen both during filling and during transport. The liners are also ideal for use with adhesives, preventing premature curing and hardening.

Schütz, founded in 1958, is a leading international producer of high-quality transport packaging, employing more than 5,500 people at over 50 production and service sites around the world.

FachPack 2019 will once again take place at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 24 to 26 September 2019. HCB www.schuetz.net

SCHÜTZ ENGINEERS HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO

IMPROVE SAFETY IN USE AND PRODUCT PROTECTION

WITH SOME NEW FEATURES FOR THE COMPANY’S