International. Innovation paves the way for simple, single-flow recycling of flexible plastic bags, marking an important step on the road to achieving a circular economy for packaging.
Covestro develops a proof-of-concept heat-resistant coating for use in mono-PE stand bags made of Sabic's biaxially oriented polyethylene polymer (BOPE).
The coating facilitates the industrial-scale production of single-material stand-up bags in horizontal forming, filling and sealing (HFFS) lines.
Covestro and Sabic will continue their collaboration to further improve and eventually commercialize this product and bring its benefits to brand owners and consumers.
BOPE can be used to manufacture flexible packaging in which all layers are manufactured from PE polymer grades. This packaging can be recycled in a single stream.
However, BOPE-based single-material stand-up bags are difficult to manufacture at scale on FFS lines due to their low heat resistance compared to laminates containing PET or PA today.
To solve this problem, Covestro designed a heat-resistant coating for BOPE-based mono-PE foot bags. This increases the heat resistance of the bags so that they can be manufactured on high-speed FFS production lines while maintaining high visual and performance qualities.
Thanks to Covestro's new coating, Sabic's BOPE polymer can be a viable alternative to replace PA- and PET-containing multi-material laminates for flexible plastic packaging.
Covestro's innovative heat-resistant coating enables brands, retailers, film producers, and others in the value chain to create new high-performance yet recyclable single-material packaging, supporting the drive to achieve a circular economy for flexible packaging in Europe and beyond.
Although the coating is currently in the proof-of-concept stage, Covestro and SABIC are excited about developing this innovative solution into a commercial product, helping brands and consumers achieve their sustainability ambitions.
"We take our responsibility to create low-impact packaging seriously. Our circular economy strategy focuses on recyclable solutions that open paths to close the materials loop," explained Covestro's sector marketing manager, Davide Reverdito Bove.
"At Sabic we found an expert partner. This close collaboration will allow us to accelerate the engineering and testing process of our new heat-resistant coating for BOPE with clear benefits for product quality, the customer and the planet," added Bove.
Covestro's heat-resistant coating has several benefits for packaging manufacturers. It prevents heat sealing bars from sticking during the sealing stage of the HFFS and VFFS process, allowing for a wider sealing temperature window and eliminating wrinkles and shrinkage. This enables the creation of flexible, single-material, high-performance stand bags with simple, single-flow recyclability.
"Thanks to this heat-resistant coating solution for flexible packaging, manufacturers can meet the challenges in processing, without compromising the properties and machinability of the packaging," said Covestro sales manager Roel Beckers.
