When a label and package printer switches to tesa Twinlock, they can save 120 tons of landfill waste, the company states. These savings are representative of the weight of a Boeing 757-200 plane.

According to tesa, sustainability is a massive driver of innovation. The company recently changed its mission statement to further emphasize sustainability, and its website has been segmented into different green initatives. For example, tesa tape is focused on the reduction of emissions, responsible sourcing, the use of recycled and bio-based materials, circularity and reduction of waste, and enabling sustainability with its customers and consumers.

tesa Twinlock fits into the company’s sustainability goals. “We acquired Twinlock when we saw the sustainability contribution, print quality, and cost-saving benefits this product would bring to the market. It now fits perfectly in our flexographic printing portfolio and sustainability strategy,” explains Keara Wingert, regional market segment manager. “Simply put, tesa Twinlock is a reusable, self-adhesive, and compressible plate mounting sleeve. The printing plate can be directly mounted on the sleeve. After printing and plate removal, the tackiness can simply be reactivated and the sleeve is ready for the next job. tesa Twinlock eliminates the need for plate-mounting tape in packaging printing.”

Since the acquisition, tesa has modified the packaging to include recyclable materials. Additional benefits include ROI from cost savings and sustainability calculations. tesa has committed to numerous initiatives to track its goals. In 2006, the company signed UN Global Compact, and then in 2010 it started tesa® EcoLogo Assortment. Most recently, tesa introduced its Sustainability Agenda in 2020 and established a sustainability department and chief sustainability officer in 2021. The company’s Sustainability Strategy was further updated in 2022.

“We have improved our process by consolidating the operation into our facility in Sparta, MI, further ensuring we continue to meet the most stringent criteria for our customers,” says Wingert. “Having tesa Twinlock produced in the USA and centrally located between both coasts helps ensure operational security and reduce supply chain risk to our customers. Additionally, the plant is certified in accordance with the ISO 14001 environmental standard and the quality standards ISO/TS 16949 and ISO 9001, as well as being IATF certified. Plant Sparta in Michigan continues to expand and improve the sustainability of its manufacturing practices, particularly with the latest expansion it is undergoing.”

With tesa Twinlock, customers are reducing waste from plate-mounting tape and CO2 emissions caused by recurrent tape deliveries. Customers can eliminate the frequency of tape deliveries by using the reusable tesa Twinlock. Cutting down on the amount of deliveries also leads to cost savings in freight and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The special chemistry and thickness of tesa’s PU foam layer ensures consistent compressibility, eliminating the need for on-press machine adjustments. Additionally, the thickness tolerances of a standard sleeve and a standard plate-mounting tape add up, resulting in an even higher tolerance level compared to our one-sleeve solution.

“A printer may have weekly deliveries scheduled for stickyback tape (that could be up to 52 deliveries per year),” notes Wingert. “With tesa Twinlock, you have a one-time delivery. By reducing landfill waste from their production processes packaging printers can play an important role in helping CPG companies meet their waste reduction sustainability goals.”

For example, an average 18” roll of plate-mounting tape weighs roughly 10 pounds per roll, not including the corrugated packaging. Based on those figures, a current customer using 545 rolls per press, per year, would have approximately 5,450 pounds of waste. If this customer has 10 presses, that would equate to approximately 54,500 pounds of waste per year. According to Wingert, this can be significantly reduced by using tesa Twinlock, a self-adhesive, reusable and compressible sleeve. With tesa Twinlock, virtually no waste goes to landfill.  

tesa Twinlock has been engineered to help customers and brands meet lofty environmental goals throughout a variety of industries. P&G, for example, committed to achieve 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2030. They will also reduce global use of virgin petroleum plastic in packaging by 50% by 2030. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson pledged to use more recycled materials in packaging, reduce reliance on the single-use model and ensure that 100% of plastic packaging be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

“Companies across every industry are focusing on sustainability,” comments Wingert. “In a recent survey, more than four out of five CPG decision makers said innovative solutions that can help packaging printers reduce waste matter to their sustainability efforts. CPG decision makers also said that packaging printers can play an important role in partnering with them to help meet waste reduction sustainability goals. The bottom line – sustainability is important to CPG packaging decision-makers. This includes a focus on recyclability and reducing waste – as well as waste reduction during packaging printing.”

In addition to Twinlock, tesa Softprint is the company’s family of plate-mounting tapes, which are constantly evolving in order to fulfill all market needs. tesa Softprint bonds to sleeves, cylinders, and plates as securely as possible during printing, and, when the job is done, it removes easily.

“Our tapes provide the highest levels of both print quality and process efficiency because we don’t apply stress to the foam during our manufacturing,” explains Wingert. “Why is this important? Because when all of the foam cells are untouched and undamaged, the foam is better able to absorb bounce from the sleeves that can leave chatter, or gear marks. It’s also more resilient. Our foam will compress and return to the same thickness over and over and over – from the first impression to the last. That means you’ll get beautiful results, from fine screens to deep solid areas, whether the job is a few thousand or a few million feet.”