MULTILAYER PACKAGING | MATERIALS
The nature of multilayer packaging is changing, with new approaches that must balance high barrier performance with increasing requirements for recyclability
Showing the benefits of multilayer packaging
Multilayer packaging is critical to many industries – especially food – and advances in materials and processing techniques continue. Delegates at the recent Multilayer Flexible
Packaging event – organised by AMI – heard about advances in film stretching, the creation of all-poly- olefin structures and the use of bio-based materials. Steve DeSpain, vice president of Reifenhauser in the US, told delegates that polyolefin film stretching can help to create new types of recycla- ble packaging.
He pointed to corporate goals – in which many
brand owners aim to boost the recyclability of their packaging – and laws such as Europe’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) as key drivers towards this. “Brand owners will be forced to design packag-
ing for recycling,” he said. He added that combining all-polyolefin lami-
nates with barrier polymers such as EVOH could be fully recyclable – while a typical multilayer structure
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combining PET and polyolefin would be “banned from 2030” under PPWD. Machine direction orientation (MDO) helps to
raise the gas and moisture barrier of PE, even without a barrier layer, he said. This can help to reduce the cost of packaging through downgaug- ing, material replacement and process improve- ment. However, combining this with EVOH can further raise barrier properties. According to DeSpain, a sustainable barrier can be created with less than 5% EVOH in a packaging structure. “Machine builders and manufacturers have been pursuing the same goal for some time: not to use more material in fully recyclable all-PE solutions than in conventional PET-PE laminates,” he said. This is done by replacing 12-micron PET film with a 16-17-micron MDO-PE film. “With the reduction to 18 microns, we have
taken a significant step in this direction – with further downgauging potential for the future,” he added.
� September 2025 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 25
Main image: Kuraray’s Eval SC has replaced PVDC in vacuum packaging for meat
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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