Packaging Solutions
Siegwerk has announced the successful development of a fully recyclable mono PE bag for dry pet food using its Cirkit functional coatings. Together with printing machine manufacturer Windmöller & Hölscher and bag making and machine producer B&B, the company jointly produced a new high barrier mono-material packaging, which not only offers the same packaging and process performance as the multi material structure commonly used for dry pet food but is also fully recyclable.
With all its new regulations and directives, the EU is increasing the pressure on brand owners and packaging manufacturers to rethink the design of packaging towards circularity. ‘New approaches are needed to meet the upcoming regulatory requirements for circular packaging,’ said Belal Habib, head of brand owner collaboration at Siegwerk. ‘The challenge is to find a recyclable design that also meets the respective performance requirements of the packaging.’
For example, pet food packaging does not only have to be food safe, but also requires certain barrier properties, such as resistance to oils and fats, to keep the food fresh and maintain the packaging's structural integrity. For this purpose, complex multi-material structures with a metallised layer have commonly been used so far. ‘The problem: they are not recyclable,’ added Belal. ‘This is where innovative barrier coatings applied in thin layers and in line with regular printing inks can help to switch from an incompatible multi-material structure to a fully recyclable mono-material solution in the sense of a circular economy.’
By using Siegwerk’s Cirkit GreaseBar, an innovative in line printable grease barrier coating, and Cirkit HeatGuard, a coating for high end sealing process efficiency (heat resistance on film surfaces) that can also be applied in line with regular flexo or gravure machines, the newly developed recyclable mono PE bag achieves the same packaging performance as non recyclable complex multi-material systems but with the decisive advantage of being fully recyclable. Both coatings are solvent based, fully deinkable after delamination and can be printed in line without any loss in print performance.
Samples of the new pet food pouch will be available at B&B’s stand 4A-413 in hall 4A, at drupa , at W&H’s booth A51 in hall 15, and on request from Siegwerk via rethinkpackaging@siegwerk.com.
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