The aim of packaging manufacturer Etimex Primary Packaging is to combat food waste with improved packaging made from monofilm, for example. The company develops new products with a focus on sustainability. The polypropylene thermoforming films have recently been improved. They are now even thinner.
Thermoforming films made of polypropylene are not a new product in the packaging industry. The Baden-Württemberg-based company Etimex also offers its customers the 100 per cent recyclable material - and has now further developed the mono film. Thanks to an optimised production process, it can now already be from a material thickness of just 300 μm (previously the material thickness was limited to at least 400 μm).
Monofilm with improved barrier properties
Especially Food manufacturer of convenience products The aim is for products such as spaetzle, Maultaschen, pasta and sausages to benefit from further development - both in terms of sustainability and economic efficiency.
„The thinner thermoforming films open up new target groups and market segments for us that we were previously unable to serve, for example in the cheese and sausage slicing sector. The trend is moving towards thin films and we can now capitalise on another advantage by integrating an EVOH barrier into our thermoforming films, which ensures a significantly longer shelf life for food.“ Martin Rank, Sales and Marketing Manager Etimex
With the further development, the barrier properties have been further improved with a thinner material thickness and a massive Reduced oxygen permeability can be achieved. A benefit for end consumers: the extended best-before date allows food to be stored for longer, actively counteracting food waste.
By saving up to 25 per cent of the previous minimum thickness, the CO2-emissions. At the same time, with the currently smallest possible material thickness overall Less packaging material used and processed.
Retailers demand recyclable packaging
The thermoforming film made of fully recyclable polypropylene is already in high demand from food manufacturers. And retailers are also becoming increasingly consistent with their demands for environmentally conscious products: The first major retail chains are already demanding that suppliers switch from composite films to Fully recyclable product packaging.
Martin Rank: „For us, it's all about Reduce the use of plasticThe thinner the films can be, the lower the material costs. Thicker films are often not even necessary to provide optimum protection for food. And so we achieve three things with the new thermoforming films: We minimise the use of plastic, reduce food waste and optimise product quality.“
Sustainable packaging increasingly in demand in the pharmaceutical industry
Sustainability is very important in the food industry today, and now a new trend is slowly setting in. Rethinking the pharmaceutical industry one. This is also due to the fact that more and more consumers are making critical enquiries in pharmacies.
„For some time now, we have been noticing a Growing demand for our PVC- and aluminium-free single-material blisters made of polypropylene - a solution that we have had in our portfolio for years.“
Etimex has been producing films for packaging pharmaceuticals in a GMP class D clean room since 1988 and manufactures Recyclable blisters made from PP thermoforming film and PP push-through film made. The material is particularly suitable as a packaging material for pharmaceutical products: It offers an excellent water vapour barrier, is highly transparent and is characterised by good wall thickness distribution of the formed tablet blister.
From Interseroh Etimex pharmaceutical films were rated with a score of 19/20 (very good) in the areas of assignability to the collection system, sortability of the packaging and suitability for material recycling and provision of secondary products.
