Mono-material PE pet food standup pouch developed for easy recycling
Plastrela, a Brazil-based converter, and ExxonMobil collaborated to create a snack size pet food standup pouch (SUP) for Adimax, for easier recycling.
Challenge of the new mono-material SUP
The project aims to replace conventional multi-layer structure consisting of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate and a polyethylene (PE) sealant with new mono-material PE//PE solution that could be easier to recycle.
However, challenge is posed on the formatting and machinability of the film in the cutting-welding equipment. The production of SUP packaging requires a high sealing temperature in the sealing bar. As a result, polyester film is usually used in the packaging structure.
Solution to the new packaging
With ExxonMobil’s expertise in PE solutions with sustainability benefits, Plastrela utilizes ExxonMobil’s Exceed, Enable and Exact product line to create the substrate and sealant films.
Plastrela uses PE solutions from ExxonMobil to create pet food SUP.
In the 5-layer PE substrate film, it is made of a blend of Exceed performance PE and HDPE in the external layers, and Enable performance PE and HDPE in the core and subskin layers.
For the 5-layer PE sealant film, it blends Enable performance PE and LDPE in the external layer, blends Enable performance PE and HDPE in the core and subskin layers, while using Exact plastomer in the sealant layer.
Both substrate and sealant films are processed using 5-layer Windmöller & Höschler blown extrusion equipment, before the substrate web is printed. The substrate web is laminated to the sealant web and then formatted into an SUP.
With the new PE//PE solution, the new packaging solution can improve the potential recyclability of the SUP, while performance criteria like package integrity and printability are maintained.
The films are all produced to the right dimensions at Plastrela, so there was no reliance on third-party films that may not be right size. As a result, production time and costs can also potentially be reduced.
