Companies across the entire spectrum of the packaging industry are pursuing innovative ways to improve the sustainability of their products.

While responding to consumer and regulatory demands for more sustainable packaging is certainly one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, the good news is that there is no single solution but rather a plethora of routes to a circular economy.

For this story, we decided to take a look at three unique approaches to more sustainable packaging: coatings that help reduce the environmental impact of paper-based packaging; a label adhesive solution that allows polyolefin filmic labels and polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) packaging to be recycled together in one stream; and Molded Fiber Labeling that results in 100% mono-material packaging that can be fully recycled or composted.

Paramelt Coatings: Reducing Environmental Impact of Paper Packaging

When designing packaging in today’s context of the circular economy, not only the mere functionality of the packaging, but also the environmental impact has to be considered. Sourcing and end-of-life scenarios for the packaging material have become decisive criteria.

This has led to renewed interest in paper-based packaging. In combination with suitable coatings, they can offer the required barrier and heat-seal functionality needed for many packaging applications.

Paramelt provides two key platforms enabling the creation of high-performance packaging papers while maintaining the benefits of this highly attractive substrate:

1. Paraflex Nowax — renewable vegetable-based coatings

Paper functionalized with the company’s Paraflex Nowax coatings yields barriers equivalent to polyethylene while remaining inherently biodegradable. Paramelt coatings are applied in the same way as wax coatings and can be used in a wide range of packaging applications. They offer a solution for all “end of life” scenarios, be that landfill, littering, recycling or composting.

Paramelt has now certified its Paraflex Nowax range under EN 13432 Home and Industrial compostability.

When combined with equally certified papers and inks, Paramelt’s targeted customers (converters) can hence speed up approval processes of their final packaging materials.

2. Aquaseal — waterbased polyolefin dispersions of conventional extrusion-grade plastics

Although 10-12 gram of plastic per square meter of paper is often enough to achieve heat-seal and barrier performance, it is difficult to consistently apply such thin layers with extrusion techniques. A thinner, water-based coating, which can be applied using conventional coating and printing techniques, will inherently yield a lower overall MVTR, but this is frequently sufficient for the target application. The heat-seal functionality remains, but more importantly, the packaging material remains fully repulpable and recyclable via existing waste streams using appropriate processes.

In addition to the recyclable polyolefin-based coatings that Paramelt has offered for several years already, the company is now introducing a range of compostable polyester dispersions, both biobased as well as synthetic.

This new range offers converters the possibility to create fully recyclable and compostable paper-based packaging structures.

Breakthrough hotmelt label adhesive eases recycling

Dow and Avery Dennison have co-developed an innovative and sustainable new hotmelt label adhesive solution that enables polyolefin filmic labels and polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) packaging to be mechanically recycled together in one stream.

The adhesive is the first of its kind on the label market and is approved by Recyclass for recycling in the HDPE colored stream — Class B.

Hotmelt adhesives offer excellent performance in labels for chilled applications (such as food), but standard hotmelts reduce the usability of recycled PP/PE material. Because this new olefinic hotmelt is based on the same chemistry as PP/PE packaging, when it is combined with a polyolefin facestock, the label and packaging can be treated as a mono-material and recycled together. It therefore offers better recyclability than standard hotmelts without compromising performance.

The new adhesive’s development was driven by Avery Dennison’s design-for-recycling thinking and made possible by Dow’s polymer science expertise. It is based on AFFINITY™ GA Polymers from Dow and sold by Avery Dennison under the name CF3050 in the Europe, Middle East, North Africa region (EMENA) region.

“The joint launch of this new olefinic hotmelt is a great example of how collaborating with partners across the supply chain, like Dow, is key to deliver innovations that help reduce waste, enable the circularity of plastics, and advance the circular economy,” says Jarkko Pitko, senior research associate at Avery Dennison Materials Group EMENA.

“It is Dow’s goal to deliver 3 million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030,” adds Imran Munshi, global marketing manager, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics. “Collaborations like this will help accelerate our contributions towards a circular economy for plastic packaging.”

About Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics: Packaging and Specialty Plastics (P&SP), a business unit of Dow, combines core strengths of R&D, worldwide reach, broad product lines and industry expertise to deliver high performing technologies for end-use markets in food packaging, personal hygiene, infrastructure, consumer goods and transportation.

About Avery Dennison: Avery Dennison Corporation is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company that provides branding and information labeling solutions, including pressure-sensitive materials, radio-frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags, and a variety of converted products and solutions. The company designs and manufactures a wide range of labeling and functional materials that enhance branded packaging, carry or display information that connects the physical and the digital, and improve customers’ product performance. Learn more.

Joining forces with MFL automation partner Pagès Group, MCC Verstraete showcased the versatility of Molded Fiber Labeling at the interpack trade show in May.
Courtesy of Pagès Group

Molded Fiber Labeling for Round Fiber-molded Tubs

MCC Verstraete, known as the world market leader in polypropylene in mold labels for plastic packaging, has expanded its product range with a sustainable paper label solution for fiber-molded packaging.

Molded Fiber Labeling™ (MFL™) was showcased in collaboration with Pagès Group at interpack 2023 in May. The live demos during the fair in Düsseldorf represented the world premiere of MFL for round fiber-molded containers.

Mono-material fiber molded packaging: Molded fiber packaging is gaining interest from FMCG brands all over the world. As this type of packaging deserves a sustainable decoration method, Molded Fiber Labeling was developed in close collaboration with Pagès Group.

A glue-free label solution, Molded Fiber Labeling ensures a strong fusion with the fiber-molded packaging. As packaging and label are made of compatible fiber materials, the result is a 100% mono-material packaging that can be fully recycled or composted. MFL is applicable to both wet and dry fiber molded packaging.

Live MFL demo at interpack 2023: Joining forces with MFL automation partner Pagès Group, MCC Verstraete showcased the versatility of Molded Fiber Labeling at the interpack trade show.

For the very first time, Molded Fiber Labeling was applied live on round fiber molded containers. Fiber technology for the round tubs was provided by Kiefel.

About MCC Verstraete: MCC Verstraete has over 30 years of experience in offset-printing labels for injection molding, blow molding and thermoforming. In-depth understanding of materials, innovation and sustainability has made MCC Verstraete a world leader, producing over 60 million in-mold labels every single day for numerous segments within the packaging industry.