Advancing the Reuse of Glass Containers: Premium Wash-Off Labeling for a Premium Water Brand

Advancing the Reuse of Glass Containers: Premium Wash-Off Labeling for a Premium Water Brand

The Challenge 

Zurich-based water brand Lokales Wasser needed a packaging solution that better reflected its values. Improved sustainability was crucial, and the bottle also had to convey a sense of pure, premium contents.As a locally sourced and distributed product, Lokales Wasser was already meeting several criteria for sustainability. But a key ingredient was missing. Despite Zurich’s well-established system for collecting returnable bottles from hotels and restaurants, Lokales Wasser was still being sold in single-use bottles.

Consulting on a Solution

For a returnable bottle to function in the returns system, it had to withstand being rinsed and reused up to 30 times. Labeling technology was a critical issue. The label could not compromise re-use, and it had to deliver maximum visual appeal for Lokales Wasser’s premium product. Specifically, the company wanted a clear, minimalist, “no label” look, which requires adhesive that can repeatedly undergo washing and reuse without discoloring.Lokales Wasser’s label converter, VollherbstDruck GmbH, approached us in search of the right materials. We recommended our wash-off PET19/PP50 CLEAR W7600-PET23 applied to a glass bottle.

Clear Results

VollherbstDruck CPO Stefan Vollherbst described the outcome: “This is a material with very high clarity, and that clarity is retained after lengthy immersion in water or in humid, chiller-cabinet conditions. Adhesive and facestock performance and printability were great, and we were able to achieve a bottle design that looked as if it had used direct print, with an almost invisible label material.” Urs Grütter, Lokales Wasser’s CEO, also was delighted with the look and the reusability of our solution: “We have a bottle that properly reflects the quality of our water and one that gives our customers in restaurants and hotels the image they need. The sustainability gains we have made are tremendous. This is a solution that gives us everything we were looking for.”