MATERIALS | PLASTIC POUCHES


Mono-PE development At K2025 last year, Dow, Macchi and ITP showed a mono-polyethylene (mono-PE) pouch containing over 50% recycled plastic content from chemical recycling. This enables increased uptake of recycled content into technically challenging or regulated applications like food packaging, minimising reliance on virgin resources. The method also ensures that packaging materials are safe for direct contact with food products. The pouch proactively addresses the upcoming


Above: Masterpress is part of the Before project to develop recyclable, high-barrier pouch film


Before project Polish label and packaging specialist Masterpress is a partner in a pan-European research project called Before – to develop recyclable, high-barrier pouch film. The consortium brings together partners from


Belgium, Germany and Poland. Masterpress participates through Natureef, a Polish association bringing together companies from the packaging, food production and recycling sectors under joint research projects. High-barrier packaging plays a key role in


protecting sensitive products. Traditionally, structures rely on complex multi-material combina- tions that cannot be recycled in today’s mechanical recycling systems. “High-barrier flexible packaging has historically


Right: Dow, Macchi and ITP have


developed a mono-PE pouch with 50% recycled content


been difficult to recycle, but this project demon- strates how collaborative R&D can accelerate real change,” said Jakub Pędziński, pouches business development leader at Masterpress. “By testing our single-layer pouch within this consortium, we are contributing to innovations that keep materials in the loop and support Europe’s transition toward sustainable packaging.” As part of Before’s work on high-barrier, co-extruded polyeth- ylene (PE) stand-up pouches, Masterpress contributes one of the project’s key plastic case studies – its single-layer, non-laminated stand-up pouch for liquid soap. Masterpress’s pouch is made


from a single mono-material PE/ EVOH structure. It is engineered to sort correctly in recycling facilities and work within existing PE recycling systems.


22 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | July/August 2026


EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) recycled content quotas, which mandate specific recycled content targets for all plastic packaging by 2030 including 10% for food contact- sensitive applications. ITP managed film substrate selection, printing,


lamination, and pouch making; Macchi provided multilayer extrusion technology; and Dow supplied polyethylene (PE) resins that combine processabil- ity and functional performance. Separately, Dow has teamed up with Zermatt


and Nature’s Variety on a pet food pouch that includes 10% chemically recycled content. “With our combined innovation, we are deliver- ing a solution that meets legislative requirements and advances sustainability in the pet food packaging segment,” said Antonio Barrasus, commercial director at Zermatt.


Downgauged film Also at K, TotalEnergies and SML showed new downgauged films that enable material savings in stand-up pouch and deep-freeze bag applications. The first film, for re-sealable barrier stand-up


pouches, combines polyethylene (PE) with a thin ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) layer for a superior oxygen barrier. It enables downgauging of over 30% compared to PE/PET structures without affecting performance. The 60-micron film works with or without lamination. When used alone, it simplifies recycling. The second film, for deep-


freeze bags, is an unlaminated MDO-PE cast film that allows downgauging of 35-50% com- pared to conventional structures – and avoids an energy-consuming lamination process.


IMAGE:


“By combining our polymers with SML’s high-performance cast film technology, these new films


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IMAGE: MASTERPRESS


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