Smurfit Kappa has partnered with a leading Belgian craft brewer to provide an innovative and sustainable end-to-end packaging system, TopClip, which is a 100% paper-based alternative to shrink wrap for bundling beverage multi-packs.
BeerSelect, experiencing significant growth and investor interest, sought a packaging solution that aligned with its sustainability goals and an automated machine system to produce the solution in-house efficiently.
After a thorough review of BeerSelect’s operations, Smurfit Kappa recommended and installed its Mid-Speed TopClip machine at BeerSelect’s green-field brewery, which can handle 30,000 cans per hour and is flexible enough to bundle four, six, and eight-packs of cans.
TopClip, with a 30% lower carbon footprint than shrink wrap, is 100% renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. It also presents products more effectively than traditional wrap-around solutions used for canned drinks.
Co-founder of BeerSelect, Kasper Peeters, stated, “In TopClip, we found a solution that aligns perfectly with our sustainability mindset. The most tangible benefit is using a packaging solution that will not harm the environment, and the implementation of a tailor-made machine system has made a big difference to both the ease and speed of production.”
According to Koen De Winter, European Project & Machine Systems Manager at Smurfit Kappa, “The TopClip automated system designed for small and medium-sized breweries has been very successful. We knew that TopClip was the ideal Better Planet Packaging solution to meet BeerSelect’s needs, and through building the machine for them, it became an even more effective and holistic solution.”
