Downgauging

The European Standard EN 13428 provides the prevention by source reduction, this means the minimisation of packaging weight and/or volume from their planning stage.

Crocco has always been pursuing this goal, since the observance of the norms brings financial benefits both to the producer and the user. In general, the reduction in weight and volume is achieved through the optimisation of the films’ width, but mainly through downgauging.

An effective reduction of the packaging thickness requires the involvement of Crocco R&D team to identify new high-performance polymers, capable of compensating the quantities used, to develop or change the technology used in film production which normally requires major investments and to check if the customer’s machines can work with a low thickness film which is more critical in terms of performance.

Therefore, it is a process that necessarily involves the whole supply chain. The downgauging requires an accurate and constant maintenance of both the production plants and the processing machine, since the inherent tolerances and the margins for manoeuvre are very limited.

If those requirements are fulfilled, the reduction of packaging thickness will be measurable and economically effective for the whole system. The reduction of the packaging thickness results in a lower film quantity for every packaged unit and leads, as a consequence, to a reduction of CO2eq emissions.