Mpact is Southern Africa’s largest paper and plastic packaging and recycling company. Its operations include recycling, paper fabrication and converting, and manufacturing plastic packaging for a wide range of applications, including food-contact materials.
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Innovation, sustainability, and resource efficiency play a pivotal role in the company’s activities. Mpact supports circular-economy principles and develops packaging solutions that meet clients’ performance criteria.
Trace-metal evaluation is a critical component of Mpact’s compliance activities. Across both paper and plastic, the lab must prove that certain trace metals in packaging materials do not migrate into food at levels above the thresholds set by applicable European regulations.
The challenge: A time-intensive manual cleaning procedure
Mpact must validate significantly low levels of regulated metals, including Al, Sb, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Eu, Gd, Fe, La, Pb, Li, Mn, Hg, Ni, Tb, and Zn, in adherence to Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and its amendments, as well as BfR Recommendation XXXVI for Paper and Board for Food Contact, which establishes specific thresholds for Pb, Cd, and Al.
At such low concentration levels, contamination control becomes a vital component of the analytical process. Any residual trace metal left on glassware or lab accessories could affect results and impair the lab’s ability to verify that packaging materials meet applicable limits.
Before adopting traceCLEAN, the lab depended on a traditional manual acid-cleaning process. Glassware and accessories required soaking for extended periods in relatively large amounts of concentrated acids before manual removal, rinsing, and drying.
This technique presented several key challenges. From a safety standpoint, lab personnel had to handle large quantities of corrosive acids and work near potentially hazardous acid vapors. Repeated transfer, rinsing, and disposal increased the likelihood of operator exposure, accidental spills, and contact with hazardous chemicals.
The process also involved considerable economic and environmental strain. The process also required large quantities of acid, while spent acid added extra costs for collection, treatment, and disposal. As hazardous chemical waste, it had to be managed according to stringent safety and waste-disposal protocols.
The manual process was also time-intensive and involved multiple handling stages, increasing the likelihood of recontamination during transfer, rinsing, or drying.
For these reasons, Mpact needed a safer, more controlled cleaning technique that could minimize acid consumption, reduce hazardous waste production, and safeguard laboratory personnel while delivering the cleanliness needed for dependable trace-metal evaluation.
Image Credit: Milestone™ Srl
The solution: Automated acid-steam cleaning with traceCLEAN
Mpact chose the Milestone traceCLEAN, an automated, self-contained acid-steam cleaning system engineered for glassware and accessories used in trace-element evaluation.
Unlike traditional soaking techniques, traceCLEAN uses freshly distilled hot acid vapors to clean laboratory component surfaces. During the cycle, the vapors condense on the items and remove trace-metal residues, which the system then collects in the lower section. This keeps the contaminants physically separated from the cleaned components.
The operator loads the items into the system, adds the required amount of acid, and starts the selected cleaning program. The entire process occurs inside a sealed chamber, reducing the need to transfer or manually handle components during cleaning.
Once the program ends, the laboratory items are completely clean. They can also remain inside the closed system until needed, protecting them from airborne contamination.
Results and benefits
The introduction of traceCLEAN has made the cleaning process safer, faster, and more cost-effective for the Mpact laboratory. One primary advantage is a substantial reduction in acid consumption.
Compared with the previous soaking technique, Mpact estimates an acid reduction of approximately 90%: cleaning a batch of glassware previously required about 5 L of acid, while traceCLEAN needs only around 500 mL. This has considerably lowered the cost of purchasing concentrated acids and the expenses associated with treating and disposing of them as hazardous waste.
The system is highly intuitive. Laboratory personnel load the glassware and accessories into the unit, add the required quantity of acid, close the system, and initiate the program. The cleaning cycle then operates automatically, without requiring constant operator supervision.
The cleaning process is also much faster. A full cleaning cycle takes about 90 minutes, allowing glassware and accessories to return to service once cooled to ambient temperature. The overall process is substantially faster than prolonged acid soaking.
The closed, automated process significantly reduces the likelihood of operator exposure to concentrated acid splashes or vapors during cleaning, transfer, and rinsing.
Since the components are cleaned inside a closed system, the likelihood of cross-contamination is significantly minimized. This is especially important for Mpact, where dependable trace-metal results are crucial for demonstrating adherence to food-contact guidelines.
Overall, traceCLEAN has provided Mpact with:
- Approximately 90% lower acid consumption
- Lower acid purchasing and disposal from about 5 L to 500 mL
- Less hazardous chemical waste
- Enhanced operator safety
- A simple, automated cleaning process
- Lower likelihood of cross-contamination
- Faster availability of clean laboratory components
By integrating safety, efficiency, and consistent cleaning performance, traceCLEAN has helped Mpact enhance its laboratory workflow while supporting the dependability of its trace-metal evaluations.
This information has been sourced, reviewed, and adapted from materials provided by Milestone S.p.A.
For more information on this source, please visit Milestone.