According to research of the MacArthur Foundation (EMF), merely 14 percent of the plastic packaging used globally makes its way to recycling plants, while 40 percent ends up in landfill and only 1/3 in fragile ecosystems.
By 2050, it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans. Contributing to the transformation of global plastic packaging material flows is essential for each stakeholder of the plastics value chain. Based on this claim, a consortium of leading technology companies, comprising of BOBST, BOREALIS, EREMA and HENKEL, hosted a Circular Packaging Event and of last year at GEA in Weert, The Netherlands.
During this day experts from the industry presented the latest developments in The Full PE Laminate solution as well as other fully recyclable monomaterials and shared insights into recyclability properties and second life possibilities. One of the main innovations presented at the event is the brand-new barrier solution for fully recyclable monomaterial, suitable for flexible food packaging. The innovation was demonstrated on the GEA SmartPacker CX400.
Guest speakers from the European Organization for the Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN) and SUEZ, gave another dimension to the day and helped close the circle. Current challenges of flexible packaging As sustainable and recyclable packaging is becoming an increasingly important topic in the market for flexible packaging for both brand owners and end users, the plastics and packaging industries are looking for ways to ultimately move to monomaterial structure to facilitate recycling.
Current structures cannot be recycled because of the use of mixed polymers in the structure, such as barrier or printed substrates/films typically involving PET laminated to sealant substrates consisting of PE, OPP or CPP dependent upon the application. To deliver a full PE barrier laminate structure is not easy as the mechanical properties of PE are not optimized for web transportation, stability and conversion and the heat sensitivity of the film also creates additional challenges when using vacuum deposited barrier layers.
The Full PE Laminate solution by Borealis and Borouge is a step-change concept in flexible plastic packaging. It is based on the proprietary Borstar® Bimodal Polyethylene (PE) Technology in combination with machine direction oriented (MDO) processing technology. Packaging solutions of The Full PE Laminate are as efficient in terms of performance as other flexible packaging structures and serve as 100 percent substitutes for multi-material film solutions in pouches and packs.
