Haso Ltd, of Japan, is rolling out its innovative paper flip top lid to the wet wipe industry. With a global launch expected to culminate with a presence at the World of Wipes conference this year, Haso is bringing a sustainable solution to the wet wipes industry with a paper-based product.
At a recent industry conference, Jonathan Bourget of Apis Rex Ltd. and Kikuo Yamada, CEO of Haso Ltd of Japan, met with Mr. Edward Gravel, the event organiser to discuss the HasoCap.
EG: Mr. Yamada, you are the founder of Haso Ltd. Can you tell us a bit more about your philosophy and what drove you and your innovation teams to develop HasoCap?
KY: At Haso, we’ve always upheld a philosophy of bringing products to the market that met unfulfilled needs and respect the necessary balance between nature and mankind, while providing a solution that puts comfort and harmony first. This is reflected in all our products, from airlaid wet wipes to adult incontinence products, and now with HasoCap.
EG: The HasoCap solution seems to fit that philosophy quite well…?
KY: Yes. We need to urgently address plastic waste issues and eliminate or replace non-sustainable and non-renewable materials wherever possible. This is global responsibility upon which current and future generations rely. The HasoCap is in harmony with nature because it’s a paper-based product which is the best renewable material available for this type of application.
JB: The HasoCap is also a very effective replacement to plastic lids because it offers the same performance when it comes to moisture barrier. Customers love the feel of the paper cap. Also, its stiffness, which is almost identical to plastic, makes it very durable.
EG: These are impressive credentials, what other advantages can HasoCap offer over plastic?
KY: Brand owners have been reluctant to move from a plastic flip-top lid to an adhesive label closure as it degrades their brand equity. HasoCap is the solution for brands and converters to maintain the exclusive look of their product while reducing non-renewable sources of packaging.
JB: Customers who adopt HasoCap can reduce their packaging plastic by up to 80%. That’s huge in a market where consumers are demanding less plastic waste! Also, because it’s essentially paper, the big advantage HasoCap has over plastic is it can be printed in any colour with any design, rendering adhesive labels obsolete. That’s another cost saving for converters.
EG: That’s brilliant! So, would you say HasoCap does everything a plastic lid does… only better?
KY: That’s a good way of putting is.
JB: And it gets better still! Did you know that every year, over 14’000 tonnes of polypropylene waste is generated from wet wipe packaging flip-top lids? Because HasoCap, contains only 1.5% of plastic, it is actually considered recyclable.
EG: Really?
JB: Absolutely – many if not most of the municipalities in Europe have put a maximum threshold of 5% of plastic contaminant for waste paper to be considered recyclable.
EG: Does this mean the HasoCap can be detached from the flow-pack and disposed of with any household paper waste?
KY: That’s the idea. We wanted a product that would meet or even exceed the regulatory standards. HasoCap does that well. Some customers are developing adhesive solutions that allow for easy separation of the HasoCap after the wet wipe pack is used.
EG: Is the adoption of HasoCap a complicated process for a converter?
JB: It need not be. In fact, HasoCap was designed to be a “drop-in” solution. We use a BOPP laminate for the underside so that converters can use the same adhesives as they currently use for polypropylene lids. Also, the HasoCap design we are rolling out will fit most converting lines with only minimal adjustments.
EG: Again – impressive! What would you recommend interested parties to do?
KY: first, I’d recommend they explore our mini-site at www.hasocap.com and perhaps learn more about Haso by visiting our corporate site at www.hasoltd.com. Customers can reach us through the HasoCap website, where we list all our locations. We have offices to serve customers in every region: Bangkok, Shanghai, and Tokyo for APAC; Atlanta for North America; and, through Apis Rex, Geneva for the EMEA region.
EG: This is very exciting. I’m sure this will be a hit with customers and brands everywhere – good luck and congratulations on a brilliant product!
