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New generation of recyclable plastic films

The Polish packaging manufacturer Erg has invested for the first time in a 7-shift system with inline MDO (Machine Direction Orientation) from Hosokawa Alpine.

The Polish packaging manufacturer ERG S.A. has invested in a 7-layer line with inline MDO (Machine Direction Orientation) from Hosokawa Alpine for the first time. It will help the company to produce only fully recyclable plastic films and increase production capacity by 30 per cent. 

The Polish company Erg produces various types of films, including films made from PE composites or EVOH, fully recyclable films or full PE films. For the latter, Erg uses the new 7-shift system with inline MDO from Hosokawa Alpine.

More than 100 MDOs are already in use worldwide. Together with its customers, Hosokawa Alpine designs the respective MDO blown film line precisely for the desired film production, customised precisely to the customer's needs. The Alange at Erg is characterised by good workability, optimised flatness and no hanging edges. To achieve this, the MDOs from Hosokawa Alpine are equipped with three features: TRIO technology (Trim Reduction for Inline Orientation) for the best flatness and roll cylindricity, flexible adjustment of the stretching gap to reduce necking and vacuum technology for the best flatness and good process stability.

The Hosokawa Alpine MDO technology is based on monoaxial stretching of blown film. The film is drawn between two rollers that rotate at different speeds. Depending on the application, the film runs over eight to twelve rollers, two of which are stretch rollers. After heating up to the optimum temperature, the film is brought to the desired ratio in the stretching phase. The stretching process reduces the film thickness while improving the optical and mechanical properties. These include, for example, barrier properties, transparency or processability.

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"The Raw material requirements can be reduced with this technology in a resource-saving manner. and efficiency can be increased,“ explains Richard Hausner, Sales Manager Poland in the blown film division at Hosokawa Alpine. The stresses created during stretching are reduced in the subsequent annealing phase. Finally, the film cools down and equalises the thermal shrinkage.

„Our composite films based on MDO full PE films and a sealing layer made of LDPE - also in a high-barrier version for gases - fulfil all the requirements of a modern circular economy and are 100 per cent mechanically recyclable.“

Tomasz Gwizda, Commercial director of Erg

PE-MDO film replaces BOPET and BOPP films

One product manufactured using the MDO system that Erg offers its customers is the PE MDO film Premium. It is Depending on the version, a seven- or fourteen-layer film for printing and laminating. As an alternative to LDPE laminates with BOPET and BOPP films, it is 100 per cent recyclable as mono-material packaging. „Due to its unique mechanical properties, the film enables both surface and interlayer printing in flexo, offset and digital printing“, says Gwizda.

In addition, the MDO technology gives the film several properties with explicit added value thanks to the specific arrangement of the polymer chains: The new material offers higher rigidity, transparency and durability as well as lower permeability to water vapour and gases. Depending on the selection of raw materials, MDO PE films can be produced in different versions, which are also characterised by significantly higher temperature resistance. They are mainly used in food packaging.

With the new MDO system from Hosokawa Alpine and our own laboratory for research and development of new film types Erg believes that it is currently ideally positioned to meet the challenges of current future trends.

Source: Hosokawa Alpine

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