This story focuses on one application for Lift-Label labels, which can be easily stuck on and then removed again at any time without leaving behind any scratches or residue.

It is no secret that our consumption-oriented world is moving faster and faster all the time – but it is a constant headache for product designers and cost calculators. A typical example is the beer crate. A stroll through a supermarket will enlighten you to the wide range of seasonal and regional beers available to beer enthusiasts. The problem is that designing a special crate for every Christmas brew or every “Oktoberfest” beer is not cost effective, but not even the finest brew will catch the consumer’s eye if it is not presented in an appealing form of packaging.

The Lift-Label Solution

One solution to the dilemma is to use labels marketed under the name Lift-Label manufactured by Nordenia Deutschland Pacimex GmbH, based in Mitterscheyern in Bavaria, Germany. With their adhesive coating of Bayer’s EVM rubber, Levamelt, the labels can be easily stuck on and then removed again at any time without leaving behind any scratches or residue. The crate is then available for the next sales campaign without having to undergo any complicated cleaning processes.

The newly developed adhesive bond consists of alkali-resistant, scratchproof polypropylene film - known as Tacklite film - that can be printed in several colors and punched out in any desired format.

“Nordenia Lift-Labels can be used for far more than just the decorative design of beer crates,” says Dr. Roland Parg, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany. It is Parg’s job to develop new ideas for the creative use of this rubber. “They could also be used for large-area advertising stickers like the ones used on cars and buses. With their outstanding, long-lasting adhesion, the possibility of adjusting their adhesive strength to a wide variety of different substrates, their weather stability and their ease of removal from the substrate, these films are ideal for advertising. They attract attention, can be used several times if necessary, and when they are no longer needed, can be removed without leaving behind any traces - except, of course, in the minds of consumers,” Parg adds.

The Nordenia application is not the first in which Levamelt-coated, self-adhesive polyolefin film has made its mark. For some time now, it has been used to protect the windows and paint work of valuable new cars when they are delivered to the auto dealers. Here, too, it was the reliable adhesion and ease of detaching the film afterwards that led to the choice of Levamelt.

The Levamelt Advantage

Levamelt is an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer with a vinyl acetate content of between 40 and 80 percent. It is manufactured by a special solution process developed by Bayer, and has a uniform structure and favorable molecular-weight distribution. Unlike the acrylic emulsions commonly used in the adhesives industry, all Levamelt grades can be mixed with one another in any ratio. This means that, with just two Levamelt grades in stock, removable adhesive coatings can be produced with very different adhesive strengths, ranging from very slight to very strong.

Other advantages of Levamelt over conventional adhesives are that ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers with a vinyl acetate content above 55 percent are completely amorphous, which means they do not become brittle, even at low temperatures. Adhesive coatings formulated with this raw material are environmentally friendly, as they contain no solvents, and can be used as hot melt or pressure sensitive adhesives or applied very homogeneously by the co-extrusion process. From layer thicknesses of 5 to 8 µm, they produce permanent tack, sticking immediately and evenly over a long period of time. Levamelt coatings are also transparent and, because of the saturated structure of the vinyl acetate polymer, are oxidation- and UV-resistant, and also insensitive to a number of everyday chemicals. “And being the ‘flexible’ form of conventional EVA copolymers, Levamelt adhesive coatings do not require any plasticizers that might diffuse into the substrate,” explains Dr. Parg.

There is certainly no shortage of new ideas at Nordenia, where the team is already looking into special coatings for digital and heat-transfer printing, inkjet printing, and the home-office segment.

For more information:

For more information on Levamelt EVM rubber, contact Bayer AG, KB UK, Building W 4, D-51368 Leverkusen, Germany; phone +49 214 30-58538; fax +49 214 30-66426.

For more information on Lift-Label labels, contact Nordenia International AG, Airport Center am FMO, D -48268 Greven, Germany; phone +49 (0) 2571/91 91 0; fax: +49 (0) 2571/91 91 91; or visit http://www.nordenia.com.