For branded goods, the need to establish sustainable packaging solutions on the market has become significantly more important. Bobst has therefore teamed up with several partner companies to jointly develop recyclable packaging made from mono-materials.
„What we have seen in the past 18 months is a huge change compared to the past. In the past, sustainability was mostly seen as a marketing issue. But in reality, there has been little progress in this area. Now the pressure has become so great that the industry has actually changed tack and companies are investing considerable sums in research and development in order to achieve sustainable, biodegradable and recyclable packaging,” explains Eric Pavone, Business Development Director in Bobst's Web-fed division.
Together with partner companies, Bobst is therefore introducing new Monomaterials with a high barrier effect that are recyclable. As part of the project, various monomaterial structures with a high barrier effect were tested to ensure that they fulfil all of the industry's requirements for Processability, barrier effect, safety and visual quality offer.
The partners include Dow, a supplier of resins for the first step in the production chain, Brückner Mechanical Engineering for the production of biaxially stretched polypropylene and polyolefin-based films, Hosokawa Alpine for the production of MDO LDPE, Elba for the further processing of the finished rolls into bags and Constantia Flexibles for the production of metallised stand-up pouches made of LDPE with a high barrier effect.
„Of course, sustainability is currently a top priority for brand manufacturers, but not at the expense of the visual appearance of their product packaging. Accordingly, the challenge for us is to achieve 100 per cent recyclability without having to compromise on their visual impact. For example, we need scratch-resistant materials, the production of which from mono-materials is a real challenge,” explains Eric Pavone.
What comes next?
The development biodegradable plastics, The search for sustainable materials that can be used flexibly in packaging processes is a major challenge for the entire industry. In addition, paper is currently attracting a great deal of interest in the industry. However, it does not offer the required high barrier effect that plastics and comparable materials offer. Current research and development is therefore focussing heavily on this, a high barrier effect with paper to make this possible.
„With increasing pressure to increase their environmental impact, the complete sustainability and recyclability of packaging is becoming an equally important priority. With the current pace of innovation, it may not be too long before we achieve this goal,“ says Eric Pavone.
More to the Bobst appearance at K 2019.
Source: Bobst
