12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures

PLASTIC BOTTLE PANELING: 5 CAUSES AND

CONTAINERS CLOSURES DECORATING CUSTOM LOGISTICS

GLASS CONTIN DECO ABOUT US CRASH

PLASTIC UOUS COURSE
METAL THREAD RATIN
INQUIRY CART

MISCELL CAPS G
ANEOUS (CT) A PACKAGI
CONTAI CHILD PROC CENTUR NG
NERS RESISTA Y OF RESOUR
UN NT CAPS ESS SOLUTI CE
PACKAGI (CR) ONS GUIDE
TAMPER SCREEN PRINTINGSERVICE VIDEOS
NG
PRODUC EVIDENT OFFSET PRINTINGPHILOS INFOGR
T METAL PRESSURE-SENSITIVE
OPHY APHICS
SPOTLIG CAPS LABELING O.BERK QUICK
HT DISPENS SPOT LABELING COMPAN QUESTI
ING HOT STAMPING Y / KOLS ON
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12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures
ING HOT STAMPING Y / KOLS ON
Paneling occurs when the pressure
CAPS PAD
inside a PRINTING
plastic CONTAI
bottle becomes less MONDA
than the ambient
DISPENS THERIMAGE / NERS
HEAT TRANSFER Y
walls of the bottle to partially collapse inward. The resultCAREER
is an aesthetically unappealing p
BOTTLE
ING ACID ETCHING
shape and badly puckered TAPS FROSTING
or wrinkled labels. S AT SHAPES
PUMPS SPRAY COATING O.BERK FRIDAY
SPRAYE O.BERK
SHRINK SLEEVE LABELING
RS VACUUM METALIZING ACADEM
MISCELL IC
MULTI-PROCESS DECORATING
ANEOUS SCHOLA
DECO RSHIPS
Research has shown thatCLOSURa consumer’s rst reaction to a bottle affected by paneling is oft
PRODUC
ES RATIN
wrong with it.” potentiallyPAIL
leading to a lose of business and T damage to the brand. Fortunat
G SPOTLIG
easy to identify and just LIDS
as easy to avoid. HT
PRODUC HOW-
T START A
SPOTLIG TOS QUALITY
HT CASE
HERE ARE FIVE COMMON CAUSES ANDPROCESS
SILK SCREENING THEIR CURES:
PS LABELING PROCESS

Cause #1 - Temperature / Pressure Change

When air is heated, it expands. Conversely, when air inside a closed container is cooled, it
pressure and triggering the conditions that can cause paneling.

This is most noticeable in the case of bottles that are hot lled and sealed before cooling.
and/or the air in the headspace contract, creating a negative pressure within the bottle. Th
the side panels to suck in to compensate for the loss of product volume.

FIVE HELPFUL SOLUTIONS

Allow the hot lled bottle to cool before sealing it.

Increase the structural integrity of the bottle walls through design mechanics mean
panels - think Gatorade bottle.

Reduce the headspace in the bottle by increasing the ll level.

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12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures

Ensure your bottle is of proper gram weight and consistent wall thickness to combat

Design the bottles so that paneling will result in the entire label being intentionally “
appealing surface.

One of the most effective solutions to combat panel sink is to improve the structural integ
changing the shape, from a cylinder to an oval for example. The design change adds struc
areas with a more rigid surface that can resist the pressure.

Cause #2 - Oxygen Absorption / Reaction

It is possible that oxygen in the headspace of the bottle is being absorbed in the bottle’s c
of the product.

Oxygen may also be reacting with one or more of the product’s ingredients. Since oxygen c
the volume of air, reducing its concentration can signi cantly reduce the bottle internal pr
paneling.

THREE HELPFUL SOLUTIONS

Reformulate the product to remove ingredients with which oxygen is reacting.

Purge the headspace with liquid nitrogen in order to remove oxygen before the bottl

Increase the ll level of the product to reduce the size of the headspace and minimi
absorption.

Cause #3 - Gas Permeation through Bottle Walls

It is possible that the walls of the bottle may be permeable to the vapor of one or more of t

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12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures

LDPE, HDPE and Polypropylene (PP), for example, are excellent moisture barriers but poor g
the density, the better their barrier properties. PET, on the other hand, is an excellent oxyge
vapor barrier. Any vapor permeation through the bottle walls can result in unequal pressu

FOUR HELPFUL SOLUTIONS

Reformulate the product to eliminate the problem ingredient(s).

Change to a resin with barrier properties that match the requirements of the ingredi

Consider utilizing a barrier, such as uorination or a multi-layer barrier resin in the

reduce the gas/vapor permeation of the product through the walls of the bottle. Fluo
chemical permeation, weight loss, odor emission, and avor or fragrance loss.

Explore the use of vented liners to equalize the inside/outside pressure on the conta
moisture to pass in or out of the container.

Remember, any change in resin would require elevated stability and compatibility studies
no adverse reactions between the product and container resin.

Cause #4 - Fill Processing

In some cases, machinery used to package to the product may pinch or compress the bott
volume (and the pressure) inside the container.

If the packaging machinery cannot be economically replaced, the solution may lie in rede
Effective design changes could include:

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12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures

Fillers should review their manufacturing and production processes for any possible
be causing panel compression (i.e. areas that rails may be constricting the containe
during packing).

Cause #5 - Environmental Conditions

To avoid paneling issues, environmental conditions, such as altitude, temperature and rela
taken into account.

When a product is packaged at an elevation of over 5,000 feet, for example, its internal pre
external atmospheric pressure, which is considerably lower than that at sea level. If the pr
difference in internal and external pressures can cause paneling – and this just one exam
conditions can affect this issue.

THREE HELPFUL SOLUTIONS

Explore the use of the vented liners recommended above - allowing gas and moistu
container will equalize the inside/outside pressure. This can be an excellent solution
high altitude and then ship to distribution at lower geographic elevations.

Pressurize the bottle slightly during lling to compensate for the drop in atmospher

Consider treating both the bottle and cap with a uoration process that will serve as
ingredient(s). (see Cause #3 above).

If your current containers are experiencing paneling or any other dif culties, give the pack
call. We ready to help identify the causes and nd the cures.

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12/5/2017 Plastic Bottle Paneling: 5 Causes and The Cures

Posted by Jonathan
on Mon, December 17, 2012

2 Comments Packaging Crash Course

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Devendra Yadav • 2 years ago

Sie we need to pack ghee (cow fat). We fill at 42 deg c and then cool it to 20 deg c. The paneling
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oberk Mod > Devendra Yadav • 2 years ago

We might need more information to help troubleshoot. What type of container (and the typ
of? That may yield some clue to the paneling problem.
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