TECHNOLOGY | PACKAGING
Foams and recyclate in sustainable packaging
Packaging moulders are increasingly required to incorporate post- consumer recyclate in new products and technology suppliers are stepping up with solutions that support their sustainability efforts. By Peter Mapleston
New variants on the injection moulding process are helping make production of all sorts of packaging products more sustainable. Processors can choose from different ways of introducing microcellular foam into parts, injection compression, an innovative low-pressure technology, and further improvements in process control in plain vanilla injection moulding. MuCell technology from Trexel relies on cell
growth to uniformly pack the entire cavity. “Local- ised packing force from within the cavity unlocks processing and design freedom otherwise unob- tainable through conventional holding pressure,” claims the company. In recent years, Trexel has been putting a stronger focus on the use of its MuCell technology in packaging applications; it is already established in technical applications such as car components, where its lightweighting potential is particularly appreciated. The P-Series SCF (supercritical fluid) delivery system that Trexel introduced at NPE 2018 was developed with packaging applications particularly in mind. Then at K 2019, it demonstrated the results of further developments in its dosing system, which allows mixing in a shorter area than previously possible, and enables standard screws to be equipped with a special screw tip for dosing SCF. “This design doesn’t limit plasticising output like
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our traditional screw design does,” says company president Brian Bechard. A small yogurt cup was moulded on Trexel’s
booth at NPE 2018, while at K2019, injection machine maker BMB demonstrated production of a rectangular butter container. Both parts featured StackTeck’s Thin Recess Injection Molding (TRIM) technology, which enables extremely thin-wall parts. StackTeck says: “This unique light weighting technology selectively thins out portions of the plastic part to maximise weight savings, maintain uniform filling of the part, while preserving an acceptable part strength and minimising the increase in moulding requirements, most notably clamp tonnage.” Bechard says any increased clamp force require- ment due to the very thin walls – the yogurt cup had a 0.2mm wall and the butter container had 0.25mm wall – is negated by MuCell. “So MuCell enables a moulder to process thinner parts on the same machinery normally used with conventional parts.” Earlier this year, Trexel introduced the NC-Series
Nitrogen Booster, which can provide a reliable supply of supercritical nitrogen to multiple satellite dosing units. Bechard says it is ideal for operations running multiple high-speed injection machines – something not untypical in the packaging sector
July/August 2021 | INJECTION WORLD 15
Main image: Engel’s new coinjection technology makes it possible to concentrate recycled material in the component’s core and encapsulate it with virgin material
IMAGE: ENGEL
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