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Report: Innovative New Materials at PACK EXPO Connects

PMMI Media Group editors—covering a virtual event instead of an in-person exposition—divided and conquered to collectively take in as much of PACK EXPO Connects as possible. Here’s what they saw in the materials category.

Image #1 in the article text.
Image #1 in the article text.

NOTE: Materials wasn’t the only area of interest at PACK EXPO. Click the links that follow to read more about innovations in:

Pharma Robotics Controls Machinery

The Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) wants to ensure the health and economic success of the plastics recycling industry by providing critical guidance. The challenges of flexible packaging are pushing new innovations, and a number of these were touched on during a PACK EXPO Connects Innovation Stage presentation. During that presentation, Sandi Childs, Director of Film and Flexible Programs at APR , had this to say: “The entire supply chain has to work together to increase the supply of plastics available to be recycled, enhance the quality of the material that’s expected to go back into the marketplace, and ensure that there’s adequate demand for products made from recycled plastics.”

Childs also said that “a package doesn’t have to be ugly or brown in order to be ‘green.’ It can still be sexy and functional and lots of fun.” To that end the APR has created the APR Design Guide for Plastics Recyclability.

Recyclability is more than just resin numbers, and includes factors such as the polymer, the closure, the label, any inks that are directly printed, barrier layers, or other materials incorporated for product protection. Said Childs, “All of these features can interact with each other and can combine with the polymer to have a fairly significant effect on the recycling process.”

The APR has a recyclable classification program, which is met when all of the different features of a package are compatible with recycling, or, in the language of APR, “preferred.” These preferred features, according to Childs, include “standard workhorse additives; fully compatible; direct printing is preferred over labels. If a label is going to be used, it should be a polyethylene-compatible label. And for the widest range of end uses, the color should be a light color, a buff or a white color, for putting the material into more uses.”

With flexible packaging, said Childs, recycling compatibility can be a significant challenge because the entire recycling system for these materials is different than it is for rigid containers. There are also challenges in the collection channel, which is based on a store drop-off system, as opposed to a curbside system. Some of the recyclers use washing, some of them don’t, and there is no way to tell when a package might go to a recycler that uses a washing system or not.

Childs said another end-use question is that of circularity. “Can we design a system where a flexible package is recycled directly into another flexible package? I know there’s a lot of work going on in that area right now, and it’s becoming more and more top of mind to get that done,” she said.

PVC, PVDC, metal foils, and thick metal labels have a significant negative impact on recyclability, for both sorting and mill filtration. These detrimental features, however, are motivating a lot of innovation. Said Childs, “The metalized layers are getting thinner and thinner, and the metal detectors in the recycling facilities are being modified to not be so much of an issue. Darker colors are called detrimental, but there’s also beginning to be a recognition in the industry that those dark colored materials can absorb more post-consumer recycled material.”

There are many other materials and technologies that are used in flexible packaging that we don’t have guidance for yet. Childs said there is currently an APR work group working on nylon and EVOH, and different compatibilizers.

Childs was also joined by Rebecca Mick, PhD, Technical Sustainability Lead at Amcor Flexibles North America. Amcor has been active in testing and developing guidance and has received acknowledgement for sustainable design from APR. Mick said Amcor’s AmPrima PE Plus received APR’s Responsible Innovation Acknowledgement, recognized as a groundbreaking package that doesn’t impede mechanical recycling. The How2Recycle label also granted AmPrima PE Plus a prequalification for its store drop-off label for a variety of barrier and non-barrier specs, which allows Amcor’s customers to avoid having to test these films to get the store drop off label.

The next step, said Mick, will be to test the film against the newly released APR critical guidance protocol to prove that it is suitable for truly circular film to film recycling.

To see this Innovation Stage presentation in its entirety (available through March 31, 2021), go to pwgo.to/5843.

Dairy and yogurt focus
Klöckner Pentaplast, which goes by kp these days for short, used its demonstration time at PACK EXPO Connects to illustrate some recent improvements in their stable of food and consumer containers, particularly as it applies to dairy and yogurt applications.

A high-impact variety of PS, a material it calls HIPS, is a company standard for dairy due to its ease of thermoforming and moisture and oxygen transmission barrier properties. This tried-and-true product is available in a range of thicknesses, and transparencies from clear to opaque have been available.

But newer to the PS lineup for cultured dairy products, the kp Klearcup PS solution (1) is a lightweight application that brands can customize. The thermoformed cups provide significant benefits and still meet lightweight and durable performance needs by foaming the core of the film. With a 30% improvement in clarity over natural polystyrene and a 25% reduction in haze versus natural polystyrene, Klearcup allows brands to make their product the star of the show, and stand out on the shelf.Image #1 in the article text.Image #1 in the article text.

In terms of filling and sealing, no equipment changes from legacy cups are necessary, and the cups meet the same top-load requirements of the standard PS line. Multi-packs are fully snap-able to separate individual cups, so consumers don’t notice any functional difference in their interaction with the product. Just like the traditional PS line of cups, Klearcup comes in a variety of densities, thicknesses, and even colors if transparency doesn’t translate to your product. The lightweighting of the cup makes the product transport more efficient compared to other similar cups.

Optional additional barrier layers are available depending on the oxygen and moisture transmission needs of your application, with a common extra layer being a PE/EVOH/PE sandwich for enhanced barrier on top of PS’s already strong barrier properties.

Check out the many packaging solutions featured by Klöckner Pentaplast at their PACK EXPO Connects Virtual Showroom, found at PE.show/511.

Mono-materials are on the way
The move away from multi-material constructions in favor of mono-materials that fit more readily into existing recycle streams is well underway. Among the exhibitors at PACK EXPO Connects, at least five highlighted the progress they’ve made in this area. We begin with Amcor Flexibles
.

Image #2 in the article text.Image #2 in the article text.Having committed in 2018 to make all of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025, Amcor Flexibles has launched a line of polyethylene films—including both barrier and non-barrier—for flexible film packaging that has been pre-qualified for the How2Recycle Store Drop-Off label. “Today, a majority of our products are already designed to be recyclable, and our R&D teams are working in a globally coordinated fashion to push the limits even further,” explained Fabio Peyer, Sustainability Director at Amcor Flexibles. “By taking a platform approach, like we have for AmPrima, we are now able to offer a recycle-ready alternative for a number of applications and formats that are currently served by multi-material laminations.”

The AmPrima portfolio (2) was introduced in summer 2020 and was featured in Ampac’s PACK EXPO Connects Showroom. Said Peyer, AmPrima brings together under one brand all solutions and technologies that are compatible with the PE film recycling stream. “It is the culmination of many years of development work spearheaded by the Amcor global core R&D team,” he added.

The portfolio includes AmPrima PE and AmPrima PE Plus, both of which are available in ultra-clear and heat-resistant versions. As Amcor Flexibles Sr. R&D Fellow Otacilio Berbert explained, AmcorPrima PE is the company’s standard offer of non-oriented PE-based films, featuring both laminations and surface-printed coextruded options. The products under AmPrima PE are designed for applications with straightforward technical requirements, including pouches and bags, and vertical form/fill/seal or horizontal form/fill/seal applications. Image #3 in the article text.Image #3 in the article text.

The AmPrima PE Plus portfolio involves laminations with oriented recyclable films, designed for applications that require superior stiffness, shelf appeal, optical properties, and heat resistance. “All versions of AmPrima are available in barrier or non-barrier options, and AmPrima PE Plus was uniquely designed to match non-recyclable laminations in critical applications that require high packaging speeds, for example, flow wraps, or that demand heat stability when sealing attachments like spouts to the film,” Berbert explained. “It is also designed to survive typically abusive sealing processes, like sealing lidding to trays and cups, without seal distortion.”

According to Amcor, AmPrima employs a variety of technologies, including proprietary techniques unavailable elsewhere. “Amcor has creatively leveraged several technologies into the AmPrima portfolio,” Berbert said. “On the converting process side, those technologies include multilayer and multi-material film orientation, annealing, extrusion die design, and others. On the materials side, we have leveraged compatibilization technologies, barrier coatings and additives, and blends of high-performance polymers, among others. The result is a complete portfolio of products that allows Amcor to offer recycle-ready solutions with no compromise on performance.”

In late September, the AmPrima portfolio received prequalification to carry How2Recycle’s Store Drop-Off label, subject to conditions like product application and final package design. According to Peyer, a brand owner using the material still needs to submit their package to How2Recycle for approval, but their submission will be fast-tracked, due to the pre-approval Amcor secured by working with The Association of Plastic Recyclers and How2Recycle. “All brand owners need to do is to attach the prequalification letter to their submission,” he said. “This translates into lower costs, increased speed to market, and less risks in the development phase.”

Check out the many packaging solutions featured by Amcor Flexibles at their PACK EXPO Connects Virtual Showroom, found PE.show/124.

Image #4 in the article text.Image #4 in the article text.Also working hard on the mono-material front is the Italian firm ITP and they took advantage of PACK EXPO Connects to introduce a new monolayer PE specifically for frozen foods or for standup pouches. Called Monoflex, it’s a blown coextrusion that can be either five or seven layers. The film is coextruded with different types of PE. Even the tie layers used to marry the PE components together are PE-based. The only material that is not PE is EVOH, which is included for oxygen barrier purposes in pouches that are not designed for the frozen food chain. But the amount of EVOH is low and well below the levels allowed by European guidelines that determine what is or isn’t recyclable.

When asked if the PE resins used to make the film come from any special suppliers, ITP says some are conventional and some not so conventional. The not so conventional ones are considered proprietary. As for the machines on which this material will run, both vertical and horizontal form/fill/seal systems can be used. Apparently, pre-made pouches are not in the plans. In time, however,  a version of the material will also be developed for use as lidding material for heat sealing to trays. In the meantime, ITP said it has one commercial application in the detergent stand-up pouch sector.

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