WestRock adds to paper can collar line

Atlanta-based WestRock Co. has announced an expansion of its CanCollar line of beverage multipack holders with the introduction of CanCollar X, which it calls “a fiber-based solution for sustainable large format canned beverage packaging, enabling as much as 50 percent material reduction compared to fully enclosed traditional packaging.”

“With CanCollar X we have an opportunity to significantly reduce materials when compared to fully-enclosed cartons and replace hard-to-recycle plastic shrink wrap with recyclable fiber-based packaging, improving circularity at impressive scale,” says Chris Davidson, vice president of sustainability with WestRock.

Part of the wider CanCollar Fortuna line, CanCollar X uses a similar fiber-based, glue-free design which WestRock says is comfortable for consumers to handle and “optimizes the use of material to bundle multipacks for larger formats.”

“Whether it’s beer, soft drinks or sparkling water, across the globe large multipacks of cans are packaged in shrink film,” Davidson says.

The company says its CanCollar is being produced with a newly patented beverage packaging machine that uses a series of star wheels and metering screws along with a linear drive system to “seamlessly move containers through a travel path in the machine, resulting in unprecedented accuracy of can orientation at high speeds.”

John Perkins, West Rock vice president of global packaging systems, says, “It’s through our unique integrated position in the industry that we’re able to innovate with an expert perspective on all aspects of the process—from fiber sourcing to recycling—to arrive at thoughtful product design, make positive contributions to the circular economy and deliver on WestRock’s promise of a more sustainable future.”

WestRock describes itself as a provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions with employees and operations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.