MATERIALS | BIAX FILM
“This investment is a strategic step to
strengthen our market position and drive sustainable growth,” said Vinod Kumar Gupta, CEO of JPFL Films. “With this expansion, we are enhancing our ability to meet and exceed customer expectations with a range of high- performance films.”
BOPE approach Another approach has been to increase the use of bioriented polyethylene – or BOPE – which, say suppliers, offers superior physical properties to traditional PE. “Packaging recyclability is impacting consumer purchase decisions,” said Rob Clare, applications development specialist at Nova Chemicals. He was speaking at the recent Multilayer
Flexible Packaging conference, organised by AMI. He said that key properties of high- performance, recyclable packaging include
Above: Innovia trialled its new VL40 film grade at its site in Poland
stiffness, superior optics and heat resistance. He cited examples of packaging that uses Nova’s Surpass resin to achieve this. Orientation can help to boost stiffness, optics
and heat resistance, he said – helping it to replace PET in certain applications. He cited the example of a pouch with an all-PE design. This combines LLDPE with higher-performance grades – such as Surpass and Nova’s Astute plastomer – to create a high-barrier package. He added that improvements in converting lines have helped to turn BOPE packaging into a reality – with aspects such as more efficient cooling and sealing. He said that oriented PE films combined with a non-oriented PE sealant web in a laminate can allow removal of nylon layers for a mono-mate- rial forming web. EVOH can be included to provide an oxygen barrier.
Ice cream wrapper Innovia Films has developed a white, ultra-low density BOPP film for ice cream flow wrap packaging. The new film grade, VL40, was trialled and launched at Innovia’s site in Plock, Poland. “The film is a high-gloss white coextruded OPP film with a very wide heat seal range,” said Piotr Piasny, general manager at Innovia Films in Plock. “We made some significant changes to our extru- sion lines to be able to deliver this specific grade.” Its features include high puncture resistance – which is important to preserve the product and prevent food waste. The printability of the product helps to achieve superior graphic appeal, and the film provides an easy-to-open package.
38 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | October 2024
The films are largely unaffected by climatic conditions but should not be stored above 40°C. Under suitable storage conditions, the film can be stored for six months without risk of deterioration.
PCR BOPP Brazil-based Vitopel has developed its VPlanet brand, which it says is a new generation of BOPP film that enables recycling and the possibility of reusing materials within BOPP itself. For this reason, the VPlanet PCR line was developed, standing out by using post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. With these PCR films, Vitopel enables a reduc- tion in the product’s carbon footprint and inte- grates the use of recycled materials into both the secondary packaging market and also for self- adhesive labels and tags. Vitopel is certified to work with BOPP packaging for food contact, using resins made by chemical recycling through pyrolysis. It says it complies with regulations including FSSC 22000 and ISCC Plus. In addition, the company has invested in new equipment to boost production of flexible metal- lised barrier films. The Bobst Expert K5 – which, it says, is the first to be installed in Brazil – expands its range of solutions for new product categories. Products that will benefit include dairy products – such as processed cheese and milk powder – as well as oilseeds (like peanuts and hazelnuts) and coffee powder. Vitopel forecasts a 40% increase in its annual
production capacity of metallised films, which will help it expand its exports to key markets in Latin America and North America. The metalliser, which can operate at speeds up to 1200 m/min, is expected to begin operation in the second half of this year. It will allow production of new metallised flexible BOPP films that can replace multi-material structures with a mono-ma- terial design that is more easily recycled. n AMI’s Biax Film Asia conference will take place in Bangkok, Thailand on 19-21 November. For more details, contact Annabel Kerr on +44 (0) 117 314 8111 (
annabel.kerr@
amiplastics.com).
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.brueckner.com �
www.sml.at �
www.ineos.com �
www.hosokawa-alpine.com �
www.jindalpoly.com �
www.novachem.com �
www.innoviafilms.com �
www.vitopel.com.br �
www.amiplastics.com
www.filmandsheet.com
IMAGE
: INNOVIA
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