A new report by PreScouter is said to discuss the latest regulations, market prospects, and areas of research and development focus regarding mono-materials packaging, as well as noting which industry players are believed to have adopted such packaging. It even predicts a rise in the popularity of monomers in the flexible packaging industry by 2030. Giulia Sequeira e Silva gives us a detailed account of the company’s results.
Given the growing concerns about sustainability, global efforts are focused on increasing recyclability towards a more circular economy. This is exactly where monofilament packaging comes in.
According to PreScouter Technical Director and report co-author Marija Jovic, “Single-material packaging is paving the way for flexible packaging in particular to be considered sustainable and circular packaging.” These packaging options consist of layers of one type of material, making them ready for recycling.
Sorting is a challenging part of the recycling process – separating different materials into cleaner streams, as each type of material requires specific process conditions for recycling. This presents a particular challenge for the flexible packaging sector, as packaging typically includes multiple materials, such as plastic and metal layers, that cannot be easily separated and sometimes make them unsuitable for large-scale recycling; Coatings are a widely used example.
Major materials reported include high and low density polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), biaxial PE and PP, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and many others.
Shift to single-material flexible packaging
The flexible packaging market alone is estimated to grow more than 4% in 5 years and show the greatest growth opportunities for single-material packaging in the personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries, specifically in the Asia Pacific (APAC) market. Research and development has shifted its focus to replacing the remaining 20-30% of its still multi-material production with single-material options.
Several initiatives such as the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX), RecyClass and BOPET’s Vita Nova consortium encourage this gradual shift, along with creating more specific production guidelines. However, this task is not trivial. Each layer of multi-material packaging has a specific purpose that must now be fulfilled by a single type of material, while maintaining the desired individual properties. Therefore, some of the major challenges faced by the R&D sector include access to adhesion, printability, processability, yield, heat-sealability, transparency, and food contact compatibility compared to those of multiple materials.
The basic requirements that the monolithic package must meet
Given these challenges, a suitable single-material packaging solution must meet some requirements to be considered suitable for replacing multiple material options.
For a start, they should have competitive pricing with consistent quality, especially for directed movies. This must be obtained while protecting products from contact with moisture and oxygen, allowing them to reach the customer at their best while providing the same known shelf life as original multi-material packaging options.
Processability is one of the main features to consider when developing new products. The capacity of the materials to be converted into films cannot be compromised and must be able to withstand the packaging machines already in use for multiple materials and single materials in facilities around the world, as their replacement and/or modification could result in significant undesirable costs. For this, the mechanical properties, especially the elasticity and toughness, along with the airtightness of the airtight layer must be improved.
It is also important to consider the role of paint on sustainable packaging, as it will usually include printing or labels. These coating resins can interfere with recycling of single-material packaging, so better alternatives such as silica/aluminum oxide, clay and polyurethane-based solutions are also being developed.
Another obvious challenge does not necessarily involve the manufacturers themselves, but the recyclers – assuming That 100% of the chips are already recycled. This relies on mechanisms for the efficient identification of streams of single materials and the separation of small parts by density differences between different types of plastics, as well as the comprehensive logistics of materials to be efficiently transported to recycling facilities.
Single-material packaging is primarily intended to replace the usual multi-layer and/or non-recyclable packaging, in applications ranging from food packaging to the pharmaceutical industry, including personal care products, and even clothing manufacturing.
The PreScouter report highlights commercially available solutions from eight companies globally. The companies recognized include big players like Sabic and Mondi as well as smaller players with innovative solutions like Nurel and Zotefoams.
Replacement of multi-material slides and non-recyclable materials
Sabic offers a biaxial uniaxial low density polyethylene (LLDPE) film production line suitable for both food and non-food packaging. It has great processability and is compatible with conventional PE mono streams.
Mondi has a versatile PE monofilament available in a wide range of colors with easy printability and great barrier properties – this is also suitable for non-food and sachets.
Nurel has interesting choices of monofilament sealable polyamide through barriers in the food industry, as well as the sole nylon 6 yarn made from 100% pre-consumer waste for garment manufacturing.
Huhtamaki offers non-recyclable packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, with low cost PVC-free mono options.
Klöckner Pentaplast also offers a similar option, along with a PE mono PET liner for fresh food packaging with great mechanical properties.
Overall, single-material packaging is an essential part of approaching a true circular economy, facilitating recycling, and providing growth for companies looking to replace residual multi-material packaging options, especially when focusing on APAC.
This also opens the way for gains by incumbent recyclers in terms of getting more materials for processing, as well as for those who supply and distribute the monomers.
Importantly, in relation to the ESG’s goals, some companies that have adopted single-material packaging report a 20% reduction in their carbon footprint compared to the industry average, as well as using more than 10 times less water. Hence, the widespread adoption of single-material packaging plays a role in significantly reducing the potential for global warming, bringing companies closer to their ESG targets.
“This is certainly a common topic in the chemicals and packaging sector,” notes Priscilla Carvalho, PreScouter Project Engineer and co-author of the report. “I see ‘single-material packaging’ being more and more included in the company’s sustainability reports as part of its initiatives.”
Solutions exist and this report presents a small sample of the possibilities.