Metal Packaging

Tinplate – turning cans around

Oliver Rompf, Hanover

The manufacturers of tinplate packaging have opened up widely different fields of application for their material. They also achieve the highest quotas for recycling, including the recycling of dangerous goods packaging.

On October 10th 2002, the tinplate information centre (IZW) and the association of metal packaging (VMV) held their third discussion seminar about tinplate utilisation in the Technology Centre in Bochum. Speaking within the framework of the motto "Tinplate – secure packaging" expert speakers from industry, trade, marketing and regulatory bodies spoke from very different perspectives about tins, cans and canisters.

Five litre self-tapping cans of beer, metal buckets and cans for packaging dangerous goods – the product range of Huber Verpackungs GmbH &+ Co. KG in Bottrop is a very broad one. The firm, which says it is the third biggest of its kind in Europe, processes more than 50,000 tons of tinplate a year and manufactures tinplate and plastic packaging at seven locations across Europe.

Manufacture...: the packagings enclosing dangerous goods range from 50 millilitres to 33 litres. The firm makes containers in accordance with ADR/RID regulations (Codex 0A1 or 0A2) and UN regulations (Codex 1A1 or 1A2). Manufactured from tinplate with thicknesses of from 0.22 mm to 0.35 mm, cans are subjected to excess pressure to test their tightness immediately after welding. Décor, warning notices and dangerous goods information, as well as danger labels, can be printed on the cans during the production phase.
www.huber-verpackungen.de

... and application: DuPont Performance Coatings in Wuppertal know just how to get dangerous goods into their cans. The automobile paint manufacturer operates a string of filling plants. Safety here is a matter of course – potential hazards like cigarette lighters, matches and mobile phones have no place in this production process. The wearing of protective glasses is obligatory. Suction plants with solvent recovery creates an atmosphere in which there is no danger of explosion and which not only protects the environment but also the health of employees. DuPont is working feverishly to create paints which require ever-fewer solvents – a situation which could make the dangerous goods safety adviser redundant, but which would warm the hearts of environmental protectionists. These so-called 'high-solid paints', which have a much smaller solvent content than conventional paint systems, along with water-based paints, are being manufactured increasingly here and are being improved all the time.
protectivecoatings.dupont.com

Dangerous goods promote sales: the opposite has however been determined by consumer research expert Günther Birnbaum. The market researcher investigated the links between consumer attitudes, packaging offers and legal requirements (e.g. ADR 1.1.3.1./free carriage permitted for private individuals). He determined that the use of environmentally friendly paints and lacquers had declined strongly, a sad development indeed. Demands for lower prices and better quality have forced environmental considerations into the background.

Checking material tolerances: Prof. Karol Wiesner of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is an expert in the approval and testing of dangerous goods packaging in general and tinplate packaging in particular. He has emphasised that the most refined of plate packagings, which can get an ADR/RID Codex 0A1 or 0A2 permit for use on European road and rail transport, are a novelty in the dangerous goods sector. In addition to getting official permission, dangerous goods packagings also have to be tested by their packers for suitability with regard to their designated purpose, transport conditions and contents. In this respect controversial demands that packagings should undergo vibration testing, something already the rule in the United States, are under debate.
www.bam.de

Integrated recycling: Franz-Joseph Thiele of Kreislaufsystem Blechverpackungen Stahl GmbH (KBS) illustrated the development process in the recycling of fine metal packagings. In the meantime, the return quota for tinplate cans has risen to well over 80 percent. KBS is just one of many who recycle all kinds of tinplate and steel packagings, as required by packaging regulations. The firm has also created the "KBS eXtra" re-collection system for goods which are defined by packaging regulations as "filled products which contain damaging substances" (a category that can also include dangerous substances, which are however not dangerous goods). This system takes into account not only recycling regulations but also the conditions governing waste disposal and those concerning dangerous goods.
www.kbs-recycling.de

(Der Gefahrgut-BEAUFTRAGTE 12/2002, originally published in German)

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