Dow (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) and plastic closures manufacturer Menshen (Finnentrop / Germany; www.menshen.com) have jointly developed a new “Reverse Spout Sealing Technology” that easily seals spouts in more heat sensitive, mono-material structures made from polypropylene and polyethylene. This technology allows converters to address the recycling criteria for flexible packaging. Rather than traditionally applying the heat from outside the pouch forming film to melt the seal layer and the spout, the latter is pre-melted at its base before insertion into the pouch and sealing.

The two companies are currently working with manufacturers of pouch-packaging machines to commercialise the technology. For packaging applications that cannot compromise on content preservation, Dow combines this technology with barrier solutions in structures that are designed for recyclability.