New packaging materials are attracting more and more attention in the effort to reduce plastic waste and establish a circular economy – “particularly as the goals of the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy” require all plastic packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030. BASF and the Swedish packaging manufacturer BillerudKorsnäs have jointly developed a home-compostable paper laminate for flexible packaging. The laminate is made of three components: ConFlex® Silk paper by BillerudKorsnäs, a sealing layer made of the certified home-compostable and partially bio-based biopolymer ecovio® by BASF and BASF’s Epotal® Eco 3675 X water-based adhesive, which binds the film layer to the paper.
All components have been approved for use with food products, meaning that the film (with barrier properties individually tailored to the contents) can be used not only to package, for example, biscuits, ice cream, muesli bars and dairy products, but also to wrap fish, meat and cheese at supermarket service counters. The laminate is made of a high proportion of renewable materials. As it can be biologically recycled, it adds to the reprocessing options for multi-layered flexible packaging. The material has the same performance characteristics as conventional multi-layered packaging: it is puncture-resistant, offers good printability for the design, and has excellent heat-sealing properties. Additionally, the laminate can be processed on standard packaging machines.
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