PLASTIC POUCHES | PROCESSING
Single minded: pouches shift to mono materials
Plastic packaging companies are under pressure to improve sustainability. Switching to all-PE or all-PP designs helps them boost recyclability while keeping physical properties
Delegates at the recent Innovation in Pouches conference – organised by AMI – learnt the importance of mono-material designs to sustainability. Design for recyclability (DfR) is a key concept in sustainable packaging, and has many elements according to Peter Niedersuess, senior applica- tion marketing manager at Borealis Consumer Products. The typical approach is to choose a mono-
material solution – though this still involves several layers with differing properties. For pouches, a top film might need thermal resist- ance, high-quality optics and printability; a lamination layer needs to be compatible with mechanical recycling; and a sealant film needs easy processability and stiffness/toughness. The company applies its PE and PP materials to
this, with processes such as biorientation, MDO stretching and the addition of an EVOH layer. He highlighted a new product called Borpure,
which offers good sealing along with high stiffness and toughness. Its RE539MF grade has been used as a sealant film, while RB787MF has the necessary optical properties for use as a top film. In addition, its Borstar and Borshape products have been used to create laminates based on blown, cast and MDO film. Borshape FX1003 has been used as a functionalisable surface material for a skin layer – with strong bonding to barrier coatings (such as metallisation), adhesives and inks. It can also add to laminate strength and raise barrier properties – having up to seven times the moisture barrier and 375 times the oxygen barrier of uncoated film, he said. In one example of a pouch product, it replaced
a three-layer PP/Al/BOPET design with an all-PP version. In another, it created a three-layer PE- based product: a 20-micron MDO film that is
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IMAGE: BOREALIS
surface- or reverse-printed; a lamination layer; and a 60-micron sealant film including Borshape and PCR-based Borcycle M in the core layer.
MDO for pouches Susanne Zobel-Reusch, head of business develop- ment at Polifilm in Germany, also highlighted new PE- and PP-based mono-material solutions for pouches. Here, an outer layer of MDO-PE – with an EVOH barrier layer if needed – can replace a traditional PET layer. This is available as a 25-micron layer as standard, but with an 18-micron ‘ultra-thin’ version. PP can also be used in the same way. In one
example – a project with Interzero and B&K – the company helped to create a recyclable coffee pouch. It used a white 120-micron layer with a barrier to create a flat-bottom pouch. “The film is also suitable for many other prod- ucts and packaging formats,” said Zobel-Reusch. “It can be customised to the required properties – such as with or without a barrier.”
Main image: Borealis is one of many companies offering grades to make mono-material packaging
� July/August 2025 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 23
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