AUSTRIA – Austrian chemical company, Borealis has partnered with Vibac Group to design a new BOPP-based film for food packaging, reportedly designed for easy sorting in PP recycling streams.
The ‘V-Fresh’ film is produced with a grade from Vibac’s Bornewables portfolio, which consists of circular polyolefins derived entirely from waste and residue streams.
These grades claim to provide the same performance properties as virgin PP while reducing its carbon footprint.
The new packaging is supposedly compatible with mechanical recycling, where it is thought to be ‘easily sorted’ into PP waste streams, and with existing conversion machinery.
It is hoped that, by utilizing BOPP, the film will be cost- and resource-efficient and will extend the shelf life of the food products it contains.
“Together with Vibac, we have been able to develop yet another packaging solution that exemplifies our EverMinds ambition, which is advancing plastics circularity by way of innovation and value chain collaboration,” says Peter Voortmans, global commercial director of Consumer Products at Borealis.
“Offering high quality and cost-efficient alternatives to fossil-based feedstocks is what we mean by re-inventing essentials for more sustainable living.”
PP is widely used in the flexible packaging industry due to its cost and resource efficiency, says Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions.
When used for food-safe packaging formats such as bags and pouches, for fresh products and cut vegetables, the protective properties of PP help extend the shelf life by retaining freshness and minimizing unnecessary food waste.
Film converters are also looking to improve the environmental sustainability profile of their packaging film solutions.
To lower CO2 emissions and help address the issue of climate change, converters can now rely on the grades in the Bornewables portfolio of circular polyolefins.
Derived solely from waste and residue streams, Bornewables grades are drop-in solutions that offer the same performance properties as virgin PP, yet with a substantially lower carbon footprint.
Alberto De Paoli, general director at Vibac, concludes: “The combination of our BOPP film expertise with the polyolefins and recycling expertise provided by Borealis enables us to satisfy consumer demand for more climate-friendly packaging.
At the same time, we can still deliver the safety, freshness, and top-notch organoleptic qualities shoppers have come to expect.”
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