Modern Plastics Worldwide - October 2007 - dae uptlax

MARKET
UPDATE
Pliable wrapping
flexes its muscles
By Robert Colvin
Why the increase? Bullock says the
food sector wants to offer better
convenience (peelability and re-closing
technologies) and appearance, longer
shelf life and freshness, and changes in
sizes to satisfy smaller families and an
aging population.
Flexible packaging will continue to
conquer new applications supported by
barrier-property improvements and a
favorable environmental balance, says
John Thompson, marketing manager
film and fiber, at polymer producer Borealis
(Vienna, Austria). He cites retortable
and nonretortable standup pouches for
dried and chilled food, demand for
which in Western Europe is growing at
8%/yr, and flexible confectionary packaging
growth in Southern, Central, and
Eastern Europe where traditionally
sweets were sold loose. Pouches and bags
for bread and fresh food are also showing
healthy increases in Russia and other
Eastern European countries.
Rolf Scherrenberg, manager technical
marketing at polymer producer Sabic
Europe (Geleen, Netherlands), says coex-
Akulon XP nylon 6 provides a wider
processing window for demanding
food-packaging applications than
previous grades.
trusion is continuing to grow due to
downgauging advantages compared to
competitive materials. In some markets
environmental initiatives of major retailers
(Marks & Spencer, Wal-Mart) are
pushing a “less-material, less-packaging”
move that should benefit flexible packaging.
Thompson says environmental pressures
are still less evident in the U.S.,
which tends to be more price-sensitive
than other markets.
Although the environmental drive by
some retailers is high profile, says Simon
Balderson, director of packaging processor
Sirane (Telford, England), “It is
important not to overplay the environmental
drivers. Most consumers are still
looking for shelf appeal, shelf life, safety,
branding—and convenience above all.”
Although polyethylene (PE) remains
the dominant flexible packaging resin,
with more than 50% of the total, Kraft
Foods (Glenview, IL) sees polypropylene
(PP) as the flexible material offering the
best future. “PP is the lightest of all known
commodity thermoplastics—34% lighter
than PET—and [therefore] offers the
potential for lightweighting,” says Surendra
Agarwal, senior technical consultant at
the company. “It has lower cost/volume
than HDPE, LLDPE, LDPE, high-impact
polystyrene, and PET. It is retortable,
microwaveable, and sterilizable.”
Kraft says PP can successfully replace
competitive resins. “PP offers the performance
of engineering plastics at the
cost of commodity plastics. [It] is the
poor man’s engineering plastics,” Agarwal
says.
Analyst Horst Maack, president of
Maack Business Services (Au, Switzerland),
also sees more PP replacing PE,
especially in flexible, modified-atmos-
Flexible packaging demand is rising
at up to 6%/yr with products
becoming more sophisticated in
structure to meet retailers’ and
customers’ requirements, says Paul
Bullock, sales manager cast film at
Reifenhäuser (Troisdorf, Germany).
Extended shelf life to protect bakery
goods from dehydration and mold
growth is are provided in this
PE/nylon coextruded film from
processor Wipak (Bomlitz, Germany).
phere packaging (MAP) solutions. Also to
be watched will be nylon 6 barrier material
with up to 4% nanoclay. This, he says,
allows the package to stay sealed for storage
and microwave heating as the top barrier
film separates from the self-venting
film, regulating the excessive pressure
buildup without rupturing the web.
Reifenhäuser’s Bullock says at the
moment that supply-side problems with
bioplastics and their high price are holding
up major developments in this sector.
Despite these difficulties, film processor
Alcan Packaging (Kreuzlingen, Switzerland)
sees high potential in biodegradable
films, at least in developed regions,
and has introduced an SiOx-coated polylactic
acid (PLA) film under the Ceramis
40 OCTOBER 2007 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE modplas.com