“For this production site alone, a 1% reduction in production loss represents an annual value of €300,000.” That’s what a leading packaging manufacturer recently told us during a discussion about the implications of the PPWR.
What does production loss have to do with PPWR?
For many packaging manufacturers, PPWR requirements feel like an additional burden in a market that is already under pressure. The shift toward reusable and more recyclable packaging can put existing business models under pressure. Material efficiency, recyclability, and compliance require time and resources.
The main objective of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is to reduce the environmental impact of packaging by cutting CO₂ emissions, reducing energy and water consumption, and minimizing waste.
And it is precisely that goal that helps packaging manufacturers turn avoidable waste into measurable production value. How does that work, exactly?
Waste represents value
Every rejected sheet, every cleaning break, and every avoidable restart have cost raw materials, ink, energy, labor, and machine time. And even afterward, when such rejected material is recycled, transportation, de-inking, processing, and reprocessing consume resources and generate CO₂.
That is why material efficiency is a matter of producing saleable output as consistently as possible.
Requirements and challenges of circularity
The PPWR calls for recyclability and the use of recycled materials. For packaging manufacturers, these requirements have implications for daily production.
Even recyclable packaging must be produced efficiently. Recycled substrates must run smoothly through the corrugator, the printing press, or the converting line. At the same time, the end product must still meet the quality expectations of the brand owner, the retailer, and the end user.
What is the practical challenge here? Recycled substrates are essential for circular packaging. But at the same time, they make production conditions less predictable. Because during recycling, fibers shorten and bond strength decreases. In production, this contributes to more loose dust, fibers, and particles. These contaminants may seem minor, but their impact on productivity is significant.
The real cost of downtime caused by contamination
Dust and loose particles affect print quality in various ways. They cause print defects, such as spots, unprinted areas, uneven ink coverage, and contaminated ink.
Some manufacturers avoid this by printing solid areas twice, which increases ink use and operation costs. When contamination reaches a certain level, the resulting cleaning stops are accepted as part of daily production.
Cleaning stops have more impact than just the minutes during which the line is not producing. Printing plates may need to be cleaned, often for each color. Operators spend time restoring the required print quality. The production line must be restarted and allowed to stabilize again. Additional sheets and ink are wasted before the required quality level is achieved.
The hidden loss begins even earlier. As dust and particles accumulate, print quality can gradually deteriorate even before the shutdown is triggered. After cleaning and restarting, the same pattern begins again.
Why a 1% reduction in production loss deserves attention
The example of an annual value of €300,000 for a 1% reduction in production loss is not uncommon. Packaging production involves large volumes, high material throughput, and costly production time. Small percentages can therefore have major financial implications.
The actual value of reducing production loss depends on several factors:
- the annual production volume;
- the value of the substrate and the printed product;
- the number and duration of cleaning stops;
- the amount of waste generated during restarting;
- labor and energy costs;
- lost saleable output;
- customer complaints or rejected orders.
Many manufacturers record cleaning stops in their production data. This means that their annual impact can be calculated, as the manufacturer cited confirms. Once the number of breaks, their average duration, and the amount of waste generated during restart are known, the financial and material impact becomes apparent.
At this point, it becomes clear that recycling is not the solution to avoidable production loss, but that preventing rejection is far more valuable.
From production loss to process improvement
When contamination contributes to printing errors, cleaning stops, and restart losses, the most effective improvement lies before the moment when contamination affects print quality.
Web and sheet cleaning removes contamination directly from the substrate, before dust and particles accumulate in the printing press or are carried further down the line. As a result, cleaner material enters the printing process, quality remains stable for longer, and the need for interim cleaning is reduced.
The graphs below show this pattern over the length of a production run.
Without web or sheet cleaning: quality decline and repeated stops
With web or sheet cleaning: more stable quality and longer production runs
So we see that the difference isn’t just in the number of stops. It’s also about the stability of production between those stops. Consistent quality creates value by reducing waste before, during, and after cleaning interventions.
Results from installations at strategic production points, including Model Group and Adara Packaging, show the impact of effective cleaning in daily production:
- At Model Group, approximately 8 additional production hours per month per machine.
- At Adara Packaging, wash intervals on the printing units doubled after installing a Corrucleaner HE-90, followed by a 40% reduction in dust on the flexographic presses and a 46% reduction in cleaning time after additional sheet cleaning following the cut-off.
Less waste, more saleable output
In packaging production, sustainability, productivity, and print quality are inextricably linked. A stable production process helps minimize unnecessary cleaning interruptions, rejects, and restart losses. This results in less waste, more saleable output, and better utilization of materials, energy, and production time.
Would you like to know where dust-related losses occur in your production process, or how web and sheet cleaning can contribute to more consistent quality and fewer production losses?
Then contact Weducon for a practical assessment of your production environment, or request our brochure on PPWR, sustainability, and productivity in packaging production.
