GERMANY – Henkel Adhesive Technologies, in collaboration with Panverta CPP, has developed advanced films featuring an improved oxygen barrier layer.
These films significantly enhance dry food packaging while reducing the number of layers needed to protect products like flour, rice, and pasta.
When exposed to air, light, or moisture, dry foods are prone to spoilage and flavour loss. Therefore, their packaging must be airtight, light-proof, and moisture-resistant.
Traditionally, such packaging consists of multiple layers of different materials, which are often difficult to recycle due to the complexity of separating them.
Henkel’s partnership with PT. Panverta Cakrakencana, one of Indonesia’s leading film manufacturers, has resulted in significant innovations.
The improved oxygen barrier properties of metallized cast polypropylene (CPP) films now offer less than 0.5 cc/m²/day oxygen transmission, while CPP films with aluminum oxide (AIOx) coatings achieve less than 8 cc/m²/day.
These advancements allow dry food packaging to transition from multi-layer materials to mono-material polypropylene (PP) designs, improving recyclability without compromising performance.
Marcus Hengky, Sales Manager at Panverta, commented, “Henkel supported us throughout the process, from initial trials to ongoing production.
“This collaboration has added value to our product portfolio, allowing us to offer brand owners thinner, more efficient packaging solutions made from a single material, contributing to a more sustainable packaging industry.”
Henkel’s key contribution to this project is its recyclable Loctite Liofol oxygen barrier coating, which enables mono-material packaging solutions.
This coating significantly enhances oxygen barrier properties, allowing the use of just one material in packaging, reducing material consumption and improving recyclability.
The Liofol range offers offline and inline coating options. It has been certified recyclable by cyclos-HTP and recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) for meeting critical recycling standards for PE films and flexible packaging.
By eliminating the need to separate materials in mono-material packaging, recycling becomes more efficient in terms of quality and cost.
The oxygen barrier layer can be applied to OPP (oriented polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) films at high machine speeds of 150 to 200 meters per minute, with a weight of less than 1 g/m², using both flexographic and gravure printing processes.
The coating is also highly transparent, preserving packaging aesthetics.
Henkel will showcase the results of this collaboration at its booth 1C17 during Tokyo Pack 2024, which will be held from October 23 to 25.
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