FLEXIBLE PACKAGING | INNOVATION
blocked out some of the ‘lower’ layers.” Ceflex has launched a Design Check online tool for designers, packaging technologists, customers and suppliers of flexible packaging based on the D4ACE guidelines. The tool was developed in partnership with Recyda in response to users of the guidelines who requested a way to check if a packaging design or specification adheres to them, when assessing their packaging portfolios and developing new products with partners, suppliers and customers.
Online tool Graham Houlder said: “The Design Check tool makes our guidelines easier to use, providing a record to track improvements over time and helping the value chain continue to accelerate progress on circular design. It specifically responds to the particular needs of our stakeholders and wider flexible packaging market”. He adds: “The tool could also play a key role in implementation of an expected EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation conformity assess- ment procedure. This will require producers and importers of packaged goods to gather relevant technical information and declare that the packag- ing they place on the market meets legal design requirements.” The Design Check tool is based on the current
D4ACE guidelines, which cover mono-material PE and PP structures, as well as mixed PO, but it will be revised to reflect updates based on the extensive Ceflex testing programme and new materials. The recyclability of multimaterial film structures is the subject of investigation by companies active in the films sector. With the long shadow of the European Commission’s proposed PPWR looming large, BASF is pressing the case for acceptance of PE/PA film structures in design for recycling guidelines. In 2021, it announced that testing it had commissioned from independent certification facility Cyclos-HTP in Germany confirmed the recyclability of PE/PA multilayer films within existing PE film waste streams. This certification helped towards a decision in 2022 by Germany’s Stiftung Zentrale Stelle Ver- packungsregister (Central Agency Packaging Register) to recognise PE/PA film structures as mechanically recyclable. Rolf-Egbert Grützner, Senior Manager Technical Support for Ultramid extrusion polyamides at BASF, said the group appreciated the decision: “It was time to correct the categorisation of polyamide 6 and also the related PA6/66 co-polyamides and put them on a solid updated basis.”
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BASF’s work with Cyclos-HTP has continued and
most recently was extended to include testing of PE film structures with both PA and EVOH barrier layers. The subjects of the studies commissioned by BASF in 2023 were coextruded PE/PA6/EVOH high-barrier films and laminated PA6/PE films. The group said the studies demonstrated that these two film types are also compatible for recycling in the PE film stream. “The results show that PE film waste streams containing PA can be processed without significant adjustments to the recycling process. The certifica- tion confirms the standard market practice of PA-containing film waste already being recycled by film manufacturers today,” said Matthias Zorn, Senior Manager Market Development Polyamides for extrusion applications at BASF.
Barrier layers At the K2022 show, Windmöller & Hölscher partnered with BASF and Dow to demonstrate the recyclability of barrier PE films. In the project, several 9-layer barrier films containing PA6, CoPA, EVOH and PE were produced from virgin resins in the W&H technical centre. These films were then recycled and the use of compatibilisers was investigated. In a second step, the recycled material was incorporated into the core layer of a three-layer film for general packaging applications. The processability of the recycled material in the blown film process was very stable, said W&H. The optical and mechanical properties of the films were comparable to virgin formulations, even though they contained approxi- mately 16-21% of recycled content. Martin Backmann, R&D Director Business Unit Extrusion at W&H, said: “Flexible food packaging will always require high oxygen barrier. The results of this project prove the recyclability of multi-materi- al barrier films. Depending on the recycled content,
January/February 2024 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 19
Above: BASF says a broad portfolio of PA-containing flexible packaging can now be certified as recycling-com- patible
IMAGE: BASF
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