PLASTIC POUCHES | MATERIALS


contribute to innovative packaging solutions,” said Olivier Greiner, vice president for polymers, Europe & Orient, at TotalEnergies. Made with Total’s Lumicene


Supertough, both films are suitable for existing recycling streams and allow cost-efficien- cy through downgauging. “SML’s cast MDO technology shows its full strength when combined with resins such as Lumicene Supertough polymers,” said Elias Mayrhofer, product manager at SML. TotalEnergies has also joined forces with Windmöller & Hölscher (W&H) to develop a pouch to package oil and lubricant. It features a recyclable PE/PA multi-layer structure made of PE from Total’s Lumicene and Lumicene Supertough ranges. It also incorporates 35% recycled polymer, thanks to the use of Total’s rPE 2206, a mechani- cally recycled post-consumer grade. Using Aquarex water-quenching technology, the new pouch achieves a thickness of 170 microns – an 83% reduction in material use compared to the standard 1-litre HDPE rigid container that is typically 1mm thick. The innovation builds on a previous collabora-


tion, which showed the feasibility of a recyclable high-barrier stand-up pouch for food applications. The pouch was seen at K2025, while the films were processed during W&H’s in-house expo. “This shows our integral approach to polymer development,” said Olivier Greiner, vice president of polymers for Europe & Orient at TotalEnergies. “We rethink the use of plastics by designing recyclable materials, reduce their impact by reducing thickness, and foster circularity by integrating recycled polymers.” Torsten Schmitz, managing director of extrusion


at W&H, added: “This pouch is a tangible example of two megatrends: designing packaging for recyclability and integrating recycled materials into new products.”


W&H also showed a range of MDO-PE packag-


ing at Interpack this year, including a frozen food pouch for extreme conditions, packaging with printed or extruded barriers, and a 35% PCR stretch film.


“MDO still has the reputation of being difficult,”


said Torsten Schmitz, managing director of the extrusion business unit at W&H. He said that many film-producing companies


www.filmandsheet.com


have explored MDO in recent years but “not taken the final step”. “We have worked intensively on MDO and have made its handling increasingly simple,


reliable, and economical,” he said. “Customers who have taken this path with us are producing MDO films today.”


Material gains IMAGE: TOTALENERGIES


Colines of Italy has created a cast MDO PE film “recyclable pouch” on a seven-layer blown film line – using


materials from ExxonMobil Chemical. The challenge was to make a stiff, tough


laminated pouch designed for recyclability, that met converting and end-use requirements with a substrate film made using cast calender MDO technology. Necessary characteristics included easy printing, lamination and pouch production on existing converting equipment. This meant integrating advanced materials and MDO technol- ogy to meet packaging requirements for both food and non-food applications. The solution used cast calender MDO technol- ogy to make a low-gel substrate film, combined with a tough seven-layer blown barrier sealant film. Key components included: a 30-micron MDO substrate film made from Exceed HD 6107 and Stiff+ m 2025 ML; and an 80-micron sealant film made using 7- or 9-layer blown barrier film extrusion, with materials including Exxtra Seal POP 2008.MK (for a broad sealing window) and Exceed m 2018 MA, for good adhesion to the substrate.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.amiplastics.com � www.lyb.com � www.cflex.com � www.reifenhauser.com � www.suedpack.com � www.hesser-packaging.com � www.sn-packaging.com � www.masterpress.com � www.dow.com � www.macchi.it � www.itp.it � www.totalenergies.com � www.sml.at � www.wh.group � www.wuh-group.com � www.colines.it � www.exxonmobilchemical.com


July/August 2026 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 23


Left: TotalEnergies and W&H have developed a pouch to package oil and lubricant


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38