Developments in Specialty Films

Combined with commodity plastics, micro-layers of high performance plastics can provide the optimum qualities for the wide range of packaging requirements from oxygen and vapour barrier to extend shelf-life to product protection from rough handling in the retail environment. As the layers are so thin, material use is minimised. There are new developments this year in the use of bioplastics in multilayer films – a big breakthrough. Film production has to be expertly handled so that layers are evenly distributed and quality control is high. Top manufacturers are involved in this high technology industry. These speciality films add value to products and by preserving food help to reduce waste. AMI’s international conference on Multilayer Packaging Films 2008 (24-26 November, Maritim Hotel, Cologne, Germany) brings together top experts in barrier film technology to discuss the latest in markets, technology and materials. Andrew Reynolds of AMI will set the scene with a paper on the trends in specialization in flexible packaging markets. Klockner Pentaplast has developed new multilayer PET-based films for active packaging. Amcor Flexibles Food has studied high barrier laminates. Food safety has been tested by companies such as Fabes which has modelled migration and compared the theory with test results. Keller and Heckman provides the legal expertise to advise on responsibilities for food contact safety throughout the supply chain. In terms of manufacturing, Davis-Standard has new forming and quenching technologies for multilayer cast barrier films. Reifenhäuser Extrusion also supplies equipment for multilayer film production. Windmöller & Hölscher is renowned for its expertise in layered film and has carried out a comparison of blown- and cast film 9-layer barrier film. Extrusion Dies Industries has developed new die and feedblock technology. Quality is paramount and companies such as Isra Vision Parsytec and Honeywell have worked on optimization of multilayer film production. High barrier materials are being developed by companies such as Marubeni Europe, which has used vacuum deposition to add a silicon oxide layer to a base film such as OPET. The films could be used in place of foil in some applications. BASF has polyamide for barrier film, while Topas Advanced Polymers produces cyclic olefin copolymers for multilayer packaging. In an exciting innovation, Innovia Films has developed multilayer bioplastics solutions. FkuR Kunststoff supplies bioplastics into this market. Polyolefins are the core material in many multilayer films: Dow Europe has developed copolymers, Nippon Gohsei Europe has worked on orientable and shrinkable EVOH, and SABIC Europe has looked at high performance PE-based films. The barrier film industry is meeting at Multilayer Packaging Films 2008 in November in Cologne to debate business trends and improvements in materials and properties.