Collaboration drives quality and safety for over 30 years

Emballator Metal Group has been leveraging the expertise of Henkel Adhesive Technologies to ensure safely sealed metal and plastic packaging for over three decades, supporting the production of paint buckets, tins and lids. The most recent advance in this long-standing partnership has been the switch to a phthalate-free sealant, strengthening the company’s commitment to more sustainable, efficient and safer packaging solutions.

Emballator Metal Group is a leading producer of industrial packaging made out of metal and plastic. With a workforce of 900 employees in total, and annual sales of 250 million euros, the company operates eleven plants in the UK, Sweden, France and Finland. Its products are sold in many European countries and are shipped around the world. At four of its sites, the company produces metal buckets, tins and lids in sizes ranging from 125 millilitre to 25 litre that are mainly used in the paint and construction industry, as well as in the food and chemical sectors.

The company has to meet high quality and safety requirements for its packaging solutions in the production phase. To ensure packaging integrity is maintained under various conditions, the products need to exhibit low permeability and strong adhesion to tinplate. High chemical resistance and elasticity are also required to ensure the packaging retains its function after coming into contact with aggressive substances.

Additionally, the chemicals need to be resistant to solvents. The hermetic seal in particular plays a key role since it performs a number of important functions. It keeps micro-organisms out of the package, prevents seepage of the pack from the can, prevents leakage of liquids or vapors into or out of the packaging, and maintains the desired vacuum or pressure inside.

Industrial sealants are used to seal the seam channels of the double and triple seams. The Emballator site in Tampere, Finland, and the Emballator site in Ulricehamn, Sweden, has been using Darex products from Henkel Adhesive Technologies for this purpose since the 1990s. The PVC compound Darex COV 53 was used to seal pails. This process involves the lid being punched out of a coil or pre-pressed sheet metal as part of an automated process. The sealant is then applied to the lid with the aid of what is known as a liner. It then needs to be cured in an oven in order to reach its final strength and fully activate the sealing function.

“Our collaboration with Henkel plays a key role in driving the quality and safety of our packaging solutions,” says Jim Petersson, Product Developer at Emballator. “The process ensures that the packaging meets the strict requirements of our various target industries.” Alongside COV 53, Emballator also utilizes other solutions from Henkel's Sonderhoff polyurethane-based portfolio, which are halogen-free. This qualifies them for usage in products bearing the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

In 2024, Emballator started to replace the PVC compound COV 53 with COV 73, marking a major step forward in the company’s efforts to boost sustainability, health and safety. COV 73 was specifically developed for nozzle application and is specially formulated for use as a sealant in pail lids. The company decided to make the switch in order to move away from phthalates, which are traditionally used in sealant formulations as plasticizers. These chemical compounds can harm the human body and cause infertility, for instance. COV 73’s phthalate-free formulation improves the health and safety conditions for users and production staff, while also eliminating the risk of phthalates finding their way into the environment.

Switching to COV 73 and utilizing more environmentally compatible sealant materials form an integral part of Emballator’s strategy to launch more sustainable products on the market. These efforts are in step with the strict requirements of the EU REACH legislation, with the use of the phthalates DEHP, DBP, DIBP and BBP banned in a variety of products since July 2020. In addition, Emballator and Henkel are also adopting a proactive approach in response to future restrictions.

“Together with Henkel, we are taking responsibility for people and the environment while also responding to growing demand from customers and the market for safer, more sustainable solutions,” says Petersson. Another objective of the collaboration with Henkel involves the development of additional solutions. The proactive formulation and implementation gives Emballator a competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, enabling it to meet requirements both now and in the future.