LANGGUTH AMERICA Ltd. April Blog

The green movement in the packaging industry.  

We hear many things out of all different corners what to do to reduce waste or our carbon footprint. We at LANGGUTH AMERICA Ltd. must be ahead of our time. We believe that for years we have started at the basics. If a machine is idle, we have implemented power saving possibilities which include the heaters going to a power saving mode and other motors can be switched off during the idle time. This no doubt, cuts down electricity consumption.  Another way to save on electricity is to have the proper size motor for the load it has to carry. Oversized motors may seem good but can be very costly over the lifetime of a machine.

Reducing waste is another area of interest. We have often been praised from our customers that it is so easy to set up our machine and that they do not waste labels during set up. Waste is expensive and will get even more expensive in the future as we run out of places to dispose of it. 

In some areas, packaging designers go overboard to come up with fancy styling and use shrink or pressure sensitive labels where a paper label would do the job just fine.  The cost of applying a shrink sleeve is very high and the energy it takes to shrink it to the surface is enormous. Steam or heat is created to shrink these labels onto the surface.  Yes, it makes sense in some areas but not in others and the same is true for pressure sensitive labels.

We should all look at the options we have and decide on what makes sense and not on what is possible. The payback is often substantial  when we start at the bottom such as fixing leaks in air lines,  shutting  off machines not in use and switching off lights not needed all day.

Look at the whole package when buying new equipment and ask the right questions. A good deal can get very expensive over the lifetime of a machine if areas of consumption are not considered.

To save the environment is not free, but it will pay back for all of us in the long run.

Dieter Vogelsang

Sales and Engineering Director

LANGGUTH AMERICA Ltd.