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Airshield uses powder additive to extend shelf life of packaged foods
Performance Packaging of Nevada has introduced its Airshield technology, which it says can extend the shelf life of packaged foods. The process is designed to
chemically remove oxygen from rigid and flexible packages such as pouches. It has been developed over the last two years, and uses
compounds considered GRAS (“generally recognised as safe”) by the US. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company expects it to be available to food processors and packagers by early 2017. “Airshield provides oxygen
scavenging and an oxygen barrier all in one product,” explained Rob Reinders,
president of Performance Packaging. “It includes a polymer-incorporated, powder-based additive which removes the oxygen that is trapped during the filling process – then acts as an enhanced barrier to keep the oxygen out of the container.” Its first applications will be in flexible pouches that use the
High growth for high barrier Confectionery 7%
Others 12%
Meat and fish 32%
Bakery 8%
Dehydrated foods and cereals 8%
Dairy 14%
Beverages 9%
Snack foods 10%
High barrier films for food packaging are set for robust growth, says a new report from Applied Market Information (AMI). Global demand for food packaging films reached nearly 17 million tonnes in 2015. While high barrier films – defined as a film with an oxygen permeability of less than 10cc – represent only 8% of the flexible food packaging market, it is far higher in value
terms. Meat and fish packaging accounts for almost one-third of all demand for these films. For more information, contact Elizabeth Carroll (
ec@amiplastics.com) on +44 (0)117 924 9442. ❙
www.amiplastics.com
company’s patented Pouch- Pops and SipP pouch technolo- gies. Its first development is for the pouch baby-food industry. The components are
constructed so that they do not start working until food is placed into the package – be- cause Airshield facilitates oxidation in the presence of moisture. In flexible packaging,
Airshield can be applied to a low-cost polyolefin and provides an oxygen environ- ment equal to foil. This would reduce packaging costs, allow the consumer to see in the package, and provide an environmentally friendly alternative to foil. Dpending on the laminate, the package could be recyclable or totally biodegradable, says the company. ❙
www.pplv.co
Biopolymers resist thermal treatments
A pan-European research project is developing biodegradable polymers that can resist thermal treatments such as pas- teurisation and sterilisation – making them of potential use in the dairy industry. Materials developed under the
Biobottle project will be used to make monolayer bottles and caps, and multilayer bags.
These types of package are
currently made from polyethylene, which – though easily recyclable – of- ten ends up in landfill due to the odour problems caused by the product’s waste contents. Using the new materials, the packaging could
6 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | October 2016
be thrown away together with the organic waste, and turned into compost under composting conditions. The project, coordinated by Aimplas of
Spain, has seven partners from five different countries. The partners aim to determine that packaging made with the new biopolymers have the required mechanical and thermal properties. The products are monolayer bottles and caps and multi- layer bags that can resist tempera- tures up to 95°C. The researchers have used reactive extrusion to modify an existing commercial material. The researchers say that new
As well as bottles, the project will make
multi-layer biodegradable film
materials would add no more than 10% to the cost of the final packaging, compared with polyethylene. ❙
www.aimplas.es
www.filmandsheet.com
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