THERMOFORMING | PROCESSING
Recent developments in thermoforming include moves to use more sustainable materials, making machines more user friendly and new sheet for medical packaging applications
Press coverage: recent thermoforming advances
Like all plastic processing operations, thermoform- ing is under pressure to become more sustainable. While initiatives such as recycling skeletal waste are now largely universal, there are still many areas for improvement. As an example, Neste and Illig plan to develop
more sustainable thermoformed packaging through a series of demonstration products that use renewable and recycled materials. The prod- ucts aim to verify the drop-in nature of alternative materials for demanding applications. The project combines Neste’s knowledge of
providing alternative materials for polymers production with Illig’s thermoforming expertise. The demonstration products show that plastics made from more sustainable raw materials can be processed within an existing infrastructure – lead- ing to products of equal quality but with a lower carbon footprint. Last year – in partnership with LyondellBasell
and Fernholz – the participants ran a feasibility study to turn renewable Neste RE feedstock into polypropylene with measurable C14 bio-based
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content. It showed that further processing steps – including cracking, polymerisation, sheet extrusion and thermoforming – could be performed without any deviations from processing fossil raw materials. The project – including a live demonstration of the thermoforming – was presented at K2022. “Renewable and recycled raw materials are being used today to reduce the sector’s reliance on fossil resources,” said Jeroen Verhoeven, vice president of value chain development at Neste’s renewable polymers and chemicals business. “It’s now a question of scaling up their share to make a bigger positive impact.” As part of the new agreement, Neste and Illig will develop similar case studies to promote the use of renewable feedstock – especially in de- manding applications such as packaging for food contact or technical applications such as consumer electronics. These could look at the manufacture of packaging with varying measurable C14 bio-based content, or that made with recycled raw materials. Processes, facilities and machinery will be moni- tored and analysed to provide insight into the
Main image: Kuhne’s Triple Bubble blown film lines can be used to make ultra-thin thermoforming film
March 2023 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 13
IMAGE: KUHNE ANLAGENBAU
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