A Look at New Sustainable Packaging Material Developments for VFFS

In recent years, innovations and new developments have emerged in the field of packaging materials for applications in vertical form fill and seal (VFFS) packaging machines. These developments have been driven by the corporate environmental commitments of large multinationals, as well as country-specific sustainability and recycling requirements.

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Strategic Value in the Pet Food Industry

Operating principle of a VFFS packaging machine: 1. Film unwinding, 2. Forming, 3. Film drive belts, 4. Longitudinal sealing, 5. Horizontal sealing, 6. Product filling, 7. Film movement, 8. Cutting, 9. Finished bag discharge.

In Latin America, new legislation has been enacted in this regard. Chile, for example, has been at the forefront of the region with the Extended Producer Responsibility Law, known as the "REP Law." This law requires manufacturing and importing companies to organize and finance the waste management of the products they sell in the country. Its objective is to promote recycling, minimize waste generation, and advance the circular economy under the Polluter Pays Principle. The rest of the countries in the region are following similar paths, each with their own particularities.

In Europe, legislation is advancing, though not without setbacks, mostly related to a lack of knowledge and clear definitions. Particularly in Germany, there is strong interest in paper-based applications. Packaging that maintains a 95% paper ratio can take advantage of the existing collection and recycling infrastructure. Along these lines, materials have been developed with various types of protective barriers against moisture, grease, etc. These solutions have been limited to dry products with minimal protection requirements, such as dry pasta, flour, grains, and cereals. Here, the inherent properties of paper—such as its insulation capacity, its tendency to tear, and its lack of elasticity—have tested the adaptability of both machinery and material manufacturers.

Success Story

Regarding polymer-based solutions, these are generally the most suitable for the interests of the global pet food industry. They offer the best product protection properties with a limited impact on the appearance of the packaging. Additionally, for varying barrier requirements, polymer-based solutions already exist that can replace even aluminum as an oxygen barrier. Within polymer-based solutions, two main currents can be distinguished.

The first seeks to use mono-materials. For example, the use of mono-films or laminates made from a single type of polymer, such as polyethylene-based materials. A recent successful application in Brazil sought to maintain the properties of an outer layer with a higher melting point using MDOPE (oriented polyethylene) and an inner polyethylene layer with additives to lower the melting point. These presented challenges arising from the internal and external friction coefficients of the film, which limited its machinability and resulted in a very narrow operating window regarding sealing temperatures. Through collaborative work with the film supplier, a formulation was found that modified the friction coefficients, allowing the material to be effectively driven by the drive belts, which had to be modified to minimize slippage. Sealing was resolved through electronically monitored sealing pressures, special jaw geometries and materials, and precise sealing times.

The second current encompasses solutions that seek to maintain composite laminates within the same polymer family, such as polyolefins, which allow them to be recycled together.

A typical application involves the use of polypropylene-based outer layers and polyethylene inner layers. Here the operating windows are also narrower compared to a traditional PET/PE film but tend to be wider than in mono-materials. The visual appearance of the film is also typically better, with greater gloss, although the greater tendency of polypropylene to tear up compared to PET must be considered. Again, these materials require careful attention to sealing pressures, jaw materials, and sealing times, which are not necessarily the same as those used for mono-materials.

Clearly, we are witnessing a constant evolution of new materials that highlights the need for collaboration among film manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and brands interested in adopting these new technologies in pursuit of sustainability.

A separate chapter is warranted for what is, at its core, the largest hidden obstacle of the problem: the lack of infrastructure in many countries, particularly in Asia and Latin America, to collect and recycle these materials. This renders the efforts of governments and companies meaningless. We are committed to seeing this change, and to successfully bringing to market sustainable products that genuinely reduce their environmental footprint.

By Clivio Solutions
Source: All Pet Food Magazine