The rise of the resealable can end
Ryan Stevens, senior product engineer at Top Cap Holding, explains the development process of the Click Cap resealable innovation for beverage cans
For nearly a century, the experience of drinking from cans has remained unchanged. Originally, beverage cans in the 1930s required a church key to puncture the can end, creating an opening for consumption. Subsequent developments, such as the pull ring introduced in the 1960s and the modern stay-on-tab from the 1980s, enhanced the ease of opening cans, but did nothing to improve the experience of drinking directly from an exposed opening.
Recent innovations have primarily focused on reducing aluminium content to decrease production costs, a change beneficial for sustainability but one that has inadvertently favoured the plastic bottle industry as consumers gravitate towards more convenient packaging solutions.
Enter the Click Cap, an innovative resealable can end merging the recyclability of aluminium cans with the convenience of plastic bottles, offering a sustainable alternative without compromising on user experience.
The development journey
The Click Cap development began in 2009, with a prototype that combined standard beverage shells with a complex plastic closure designed to reclose the can. Although these early versions were neither airtight nor watertight, they successfully laid the foundation for the future.
In 2017, the Click Cap project took a significant turn when Gregor Piech acquired the patent, driven by his desire to build a more sustainable future and reduce plastic waste. Piech understood that while people care about the environment, they often prioritise convenience. Instead of pointing fingers, he decided to act and create a better solution himself. Under Piech’s leadership, the development accelerated, and by 2018, the team was able to produce prototypes that featured tamper-evident capabilities, an innovative internal polypropylene foil, and a dependable watertight seal.
By 2021, the Click Cap closure had been polished to optimise the drinking experience, hold 2 Bar of internal pressure when resealed, and refined for mass production. Despite these achievements, the team aspired to produce an even better product and opted to redesign the Click Cap from the ground up, applying their learnings from the beginning.
The launch of Click Cap 2.0 in early 2023 marked a significant milestone. This version introduced a single-piece closure that vented upon initial opening, was suitable for pasteurisation, and enhanced the overall drinking experience. The design was further refined and adapted to the CDL-E shell geometry to improve sustainability and compatibility with filling equipment, making the Click Cap a standout in the industry for convenience, ease of implementation, and environmental impact.
For consumers, the new Click Cap offered substantial benefits, including an intuitive and reliable reseal mechanism, a venting system, and improved openability, setting a new standard in the industry for convenience and sustainability.
Construction
The Click Cap consists of just three parts: a lightweight polypropylene closure (1.35g), an aluminium shell in any geometry, and an internal foil (0.45g) that prevents flavour loss and contamination. These components are easily assembled through induction welding. With all technologies already scaled, production remains straightforward and efficient.
The assembled Click Cap is then delivered to fillers ready to use in the same sleeved format as standard can ends.
Click cap at the filler
One of the critical challenges for any new product in the beverage industry is ensuring compatibility with existing infrastructure. The Click Cap is compatible with any standard shell geometry, facilitating its integration into existing filling processes with minimal adjustments needed.
In its 202 CDL-E configuration, the Click Cap has undergone rigorous evaluation by Ferrum, a leader in canning technology. The Click Cap was capable of being filled at standard filling line speeds of 1,500 cans per minute, requiring minimal modifications to standard seamers, ensuring a smooth transition from standard to resealable ends.
Performance
The Click Cap has exceeded every industry standard performance test it has faced, from buckle strength to oxygen permeation to pasteuriseability, while setting the standards in terms of resealability with reseal buckle strength comparable to unopened standard ends and best-in-class carbonation loss prevention.
The internal foil improves both the beverage holding capability of cans and the flavour of beverages. The foil eliminates any risk of metal exposure from the end, providing a more draft-like experience for beers and a truer flavour for waters and cocktails. The foil also effectively replaces the compound liner eliminating the risks associated with compound gapping.
For consumers & brands
Consumer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Market research conducted across Europe and North American shows a clear need for resealable cans in the market. The Click Cap addresses common concerns such as spillage, flavour preservation, and protection from contamination. It has been exceptionally well-received in various settings, including outdoor activities requiring on-the-go hydration and protection from wasps, festivals – where spike prevention is paramount – and home use, where preservation of flavour and carbonation enhances the entire drinking experience.
The Click Cap offers significant branding advantages. With its eye- catching design, the Click Cap provides brands with instant differentiation
in the marketplace and opens new promotional opportunities. In competitive convenience settings, where the landscape has evolved dramatically in recent years, the ability to stand out at the point of sale and execute engaging promotions is crucial for capturing consumer attention.
The resealability of the Click Cap facilitates market expansion for brands. It allows the introduction of larger can sizes, as consumers can enjoy their drink at their own pace. The added convenience gives consumers a practical alternative to plastic bottles, promoting sustainable consumption practices.
Recyclability
Handling plastic is nothing new for the process of recycling used beverage cans (UBCs). The plastic introduced by sticker/shrink wrap labels, other resealable can ends, and widgets contributes significantly more contamination to the waste stream and is significantly more difficult to remove than the Click Cap. During processing, most of the polypropylene closure is easily separated and recovered using blow offs or flotation. The small fraction of polypropylene that is still bonded to the aluminium constitutes less than five per cent of the can’s total weight and is consumed during the melting process, reducing energy requirements.
Moving forward
For us, the Click Cap represents a game-changing advancement in beverage packaging, offering substantial consumer benefits over traditional cans. By combining consumer-friendly features such as resealability with the sustainability of aluminium cans, the Click Cap gives consumers the opportunity to cut plastic usage by over 90 per cent every time they choose a resealable Click Cap can over a plastic water bottle.
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