THIN WALL PACKAGING | MATERIALS
Pressed into action: thin wall packaging
Speakers at AMI’s Thin Wall Packaging conference presented ideas on sustainability, design for recycling and many applications of new material grades – especially polypropylene (PP)
Thin wall packaging – whether injection moulded or thermoformed – is used widely in food applica- tions. Recent developments in materials – espe- cially polypropylene (PP) – have helped to improve performance and recyclability. Some of these were seen at the last Thin Wall Packaging conference, organised by AMI and held in Cologne. Jordi Garriga, senior innovation manager for rigid films at Klockner Pentaplast, told delegates about design for recyclability (D4R) . This can include approaches such as using more recylate, making products more recyclable – such as by using single materials – and reusing materials in identical applications. An example of the latter is KP’s ‘Tray2Tray’ material – which sees PET tray flake used to make new trays. The company’s products are used in a wide range of applications, including fruit, bakery and meat packaging. However, there are many challenges to D4R – in- cluding: a lack of common standardisation; different approaches in different countries; and many technical challenges for APET. “It is not a minor step,” he said. Technical challenges include multi-layer compo-
sitions, colours, removing difficult-to-recyle elements (such as labels), sealability and heat treatments. In sealability, he said that the company’s
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MonoSeal PET sealable rigid film has a 20°C wider sealing window than conventional PET – as well as having a high sealing efficiency on contaminated surfaces. In addition, its KP Elite trays are 100% PET – with fast sealing times and relatively low sealing temperature, which delivers energy savings. For low-density food-to-go packaging, it offers its Infinity range of expanded PP, which he said has equivalent performance to EPS for water and acid/ alkali resistance. “It’s the best choice for single-use packaging
where EPS has been banned,” he said. It also offers Hotfill – made from PCR PET – for high temperature filling applications up to 90°C. “A design for recycling approach increases the quality of the thermoforms in the recycling streams,” he said. “This must be taken by the full supply chain, from plastic packaging converters through to brand owners.”
Hot stuff Staying on the subject of hot filling, Jivan Ibrahim, business development manager at Perstorp, said that this is a key capability for PET, and can be achieved with the use of suitable design. He said the company’s Akestra – an amorphous copolyester – can be combined with PET to create co-extruded sheets for hotfill packaging based on
November/December 2024 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 39
Main image: KP’s ‘Tray2Tray’ material uses PET tray flake used to make new trays
IMAGE: KP FILMS
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