Mineral water is no stranger to consumers, but for a small bottle, it has complicated production and design links, such as water labels. From material selection to design to production, mistakes in any link will cause damage to the entire mineral water brand. Therefore, it is very necessary for the personnel engaged in mineral water packaging production to master some relevant common sense.

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of labels on mineral water packaging: shrink label and labeling:

1. Shrink casing

If it is a shrink sleeve label, there is no glue mark on the bottle body, the label is formed into a cylinder by glue after printing after the beverage is filled and sealed, the cylinder is cut into one by one by the equipment and sleeved on the beverage bottle, and the overheat shrink channel is heated to shrink and fix the bottle body.

The main materials for making water labels are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) film, PET (polyester) film, PETG (modified polyester) film and OPS (oriented polystyrene) film, and their performances are as follows:

(1)PVC membrane

The PVC film is currently the most widely used film material. Its price is extremely low, the temperature shrinkage range is large, and the requirement for a heat source is not high. The main processing heat source is hot air, infrared or a combination of the two. However, PVC is difficult to recycle and produces toxic gas when burning, which is not conducive to environmental protection. It has been banned in Europe and Japan.

(2)OPS film

As a substitute for PVC film, OPS film is being widely used. It has good shrinkage performance and is also conducive to environmental protection. This product has been in short supply in the domestic market. High-quality OPS films are also mainly imported, which has become an important factor in restricting their development.

(3)PETG membrane

PETG copolymer film is not only beneficial to environmental protection but also can adjust the shrinkage rate in advance. However, due to excessive shrinkage, it will also be limited in use.

(4)PET film

PET film is an internationally recognized environment-friendly heat-shrinkable film material. Its technical index, physical properties, application scope and application method are all close to PVC heat shrinkable film, but its price is cheaper than PETG film. PET film is the most advanced unidirectional shrinkage film at present. Its transverse shrinkage rate reaches 70%, the longitudinal shrinkage rate is less than 3%, and it is nontoxic and pollution-free. It is the most ideal material to replace PVC film.

2. Labeling

If the label is labeled, that is, after the label is torn, the bottle has traces of glue, then this general label material is PP material, and hot melt adhesive is generally used for bonding. PP in-mould labels have the following advantages:

(1) New and beautiful appearance: In-mold labels are widely used in cosmetics (such as shower gel, shampoo, conditioner labels, etc.). Food (long-term frozen food plastic boxes and plastic products, such as ice cream boxes). Pharmaceutical industry (such as labels of oral liquid and health products). Lubricating oil industry (e.g. lubricating oil rubber bottles, oil rubber bottles). The printing effect is exquisite and the colour is bright.

(2) Potential Cost Reduction Space: As the label is integrated with the plastic bottle, the label is not easy to be torn off and has good durability. No manual labeling is required, thus reducing the cost and improving efficiency.

(3) Popular anti-counterfeiting function: The anti-counterfeiting function of in-mould labels is one of the important reasons why many businesses choose it.

(4) Environmental protection advantage of convenient recycling: There are many kinds of materials for making in-mould labels. Common plastic containers are matched with in-mould label materials with the same composition. At the same time, because labels are combined with containers, the recycling rate of containers is higher.