Covestro has partnered with SABIC to develop a heat resistant BOPE coating for Mono PE stand-up pouches. This development is expected to further enable single-stream recycling of flexible plastic pouches.
A new design made from SABIC BOPE polymer seeks to more efficiently replace traditional multi-material laminates, which are considered difficult, costly and time consuming to recycle. another. Reportedly, BOPE can be used to ensure that every layer of a flexible packaging design is manufactured from a PE polymer grade. That means they can all be recycled in the same stream.
Covestro’s heat resistant coating is said to counteract the lower heat resistance of BOPE pouches when compared to laminates containing PE or PA. packaging. According to the company, the sealing stage of the form-fill-seal process apparently prevents the heat-seal bar from adhering to the coating, resulting in a wider sealing temperature window and less wrinkling and shrinkage.
Covestro Sales Manager Roel Beckers said: “A global value that shares our mindset of contributing to a more circular plastic economy his chain Working with his partners will allow a faster switch to mono PE solutions and the use of his BOPE materials. It will be possible.”
New coatings are expected to be commercialized in the future to facilitate industrial-scale production of BOPE-based mono-material stand-up pouches on horizontal form-fill-seal lines.
Davide Reverdito Bove, Covestro’s Sector Marketing Manager, said: “Our circular economy strategy focuses on recyclable solutions that pave the way for closing material loops.
“At SABIC, we have found a professional partner. This close cooperation has enabled us to accelerate the engineering and testing process of new heat resistant coatings for BOPE, with clear benefits to product quality, our customers and the planet.” will be brought.”
A recent report on mono-material packaging by PreScouter identified coatings as a particular challenge in the flexible packaging sector, with silica/aluminum oxide, clay, and polyurethane-based solutions being more readily recycled than polymer resins. It is being developed as a replacement for
GL BARRIER, Toppan’s mono-material PE barrier product, is designed to package liquid products and offers both boil sterilization and improved drop strength.
In another area, PPG announced a new development in its line of acrylic internal spray coatings for aluminum beverage cans. It contains no bisphenol A or bisphenol starting materials and has improved application quality.
