SAICA
Launch of recycle-ready mono-PE pouch laminates / More than 50% rLDPE content for non-food applications
 The material is currently being adapted and tested for home, personal care and dry-food products (Photo: Saica) |
Saica Flex, the flexible packaging division of Spain’s Saica Group (Zaragoza; www.saica.com), has developed a range of monomaterial pouch laminates as part of its “Greenheart” portfolio that it said offers a ready-for-recycling alternative to conventional pouches in a variety of food contact and non-food applications.
In the case of non-food applications, customers have the possibility to produce mono-polyethylene laminates using more than 50% recycled material. This development, said Saica, marks the first time that reclaimed material has successfully replaced virgin material in a ready-for-recycling monomaterial pouch, at more than 50% by weight.
The material has already been successfully tested in form-fill-seal lines for detergent monodoses and is currently being adapted and tested for other home, personal care and dry-food products.
Saica said the laminate has not required any modifications at filling lines and has also achieved similar results in terms of packaging performance and filling speed compared to conventional unrecyclable multimaterial pouches, including the use of reseal zippers and laser scoring for ease of opening.
Made entirely from PE, the pouch laminate is designed to be recycled according to both Ceflex (Brussels / Belgium; www.ceflex.eu) and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) guidelines. The recovered PE used to make the pouch laminate is produced by Saica Natur, the group’s waste management and environmental services division. Saica Natur operates an rLDPE plant in El Burgo de Ebro in Spain, where capacity doubled to 25,000 t/y in 2020. The division’s “Natur Cycle Plus” resin produced there is validated by European certification scheme EuCertPlast (www.eucertplast.eu) as 100% post-consumption recycled.
In 2019, Saica Flex launched a detergent tablet pouch that contained up to 45% by weight of rPE (see Plasteurope.com of 08.07.2019). In March 2021, UK’s JM Packaging (Malton; www.jmpackaging.com) had started producing recycle-ready, monomaterial, stand-up pouches made entirely of polypropylene (see Plasteurope.com of 12.03.2021), while France’s BBC Cellpack Packaging (Illfurth; www.packaging.cellpack.com) introduced recyclable, monomaterial, PE stand-up pouches in April 2021 (see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2021).
In the case of non-food applications, customers have the possibility to produce mono-polyethylene laminates using more than 50% recycled material. This development, said Saica, marks the first time that reclaimed material has successfully replaced virgin material in a ready-for-recycling monomaterial pouch, at more than 50% by weight.
The material has already been successfully tested in form-fill-seal lines for detergent monodoses and is currently being adapted and tested for other home, personal care and dry-food products.
Saica said the laminate has not required any modifications at filling lines and has also achieved similar results in terms of packaging performance and filling speed compared to conventional unrecyclable multimaterial pouches, including the use of reseal zippers and laser scoring for ease of opening.
Made entirely from PE, the pouch laminate is designed to be recycled according to both Ceflex (Brussels / Belgium; www.ceflex.eu) and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) guidelines. The recovered PE used to make the pouch laminate is produced by Saica Natur, the group’s waste management and environmental services division. Saica Natur operates an rLDPE plant in El Burgo de Ebro in Spain, where capacity doubled to 25,000 t/y in 2020. The division’s “Natur Cycle Plus” resin produced there is validated by European certification scheme EuCertPlast (www.eucertplast.eu) as 100% post-consumption recycled.
In 2019, Saica Flex launched a detergent tablet pouch that contained up to 45% by weight of rPE (see Plasteurope.com of 08.07.2019). In March 2021, UK’s JM Packaging (Malton; www.jmpackaging.com) had started producing recycle-ready, monomaterial, stand-up pouches made entirely of polypropylene (see Plasteurope.com of 12.03.2021), while France’s BBC Cellpack Packaging (Illfurth; www.packaging.cellpack.com) introduced recyclable, monomaterial, PE stand-up pouches in April 2021 (see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2021).
28.04.2021 Plasteurope.com [247491-0]
Published on 28.04.2021