Keith Smith, CEO of Vonco Products, recently had a conversation with Packaging Strategies to discuss plastic commodity pricing and foil replacement.

Smith discussed the challenges and considerations involved when making the decision to replace foil with plastic in packaging, in addition to some success stories from Vonco when it came to this practice.

“The biggest area to consider is really the barriers that foil brings,” explained Smith. “Foil is close to a perfect barrier for oxygen and moisture, and that certainly is the biggest variable to consider in changing away from foil.”

A notable achievement of Vonco regarding foil replacement is the development of plastic packaging for Enteraloc, the company’s innovative enteral feeding system that makes the process simpler and safer.

“Not only is it good to find foil alternatives [for Enteraloc], but it’s also a more sustainable product; meaning single style plastic, not multi-laminate structures, so you have the opportunity to return to store and recycle as well.”

Smith also touched on plastic commodity pricing, explaining how companies like Vonco navigate the fluctuations in cost when making the switch in materials, noting the advantages of localized supply chains.

“Most of the foil is coming out of Asia, and the additional tariffs that have been put on to foil has caused a lot more open-mindedness to shorten the supply chain and look at reshoring, so you see more stability in domestic supply chains, and our polyethylene supply chain is primarily domestic,” said Smith. “So as we can move closer and closer to things like a metalized polyethylene, we now have barrier options that are subject to a short supply chain; and albeit it’s still subject to commodity pricing, it’s a domestic supply chain that seems to have way more stability.”

Listen to the full podcast interview below to learn more.