However, most flexible food pouches have a key drawback: they can’t be recycled. The use of non-recyclable packaging, especially plastic, is at odds with ambitious national and international targets on waste reduction.
The key benefit of EnviraflexPAK is that, unlike conventional food pouches, it is 100% recyclable.
EnviraflexPAK is a range of single-substrate films designed specifically for the manufacture of thermally-welded food pouches, bags and other types of packaging.
What is EnviraflexPAK made of?
EnviraflexPAK is produced using the Cellcoat T30 thermal laminator and is made by heat fusing two polyethylene substrates – a standard, food-grade PE liner (EnviraflexLAM) and an outer layer of engineered polyethylene we refer to as EnviraflexBASE.
Engineered Single Substrate
EnviraflexBASE is polyethylene that has been processed before use by stretching the plastic to align all its particles in the same direction. This gives the finished substrate high stiffness and gloss, and raises its melting point to around 135ºC. When laminated with EnviraflexLAM, this creates a film that is easy to recycle and that is also compatible with existing thermal welding technology.
Thermal Welding
Thermal welding is used to create plastic bags and pouches using heat instead of adhesive. This is conventionally done by creating a laminated base film with a polyester outer and a polyethylene liner. Polyethylene has a much lower melting point than polyester so when the pouch is sandwiched together and passed through a thermal welder, the inner layer melts and sticks together, but the outer layer remains intact and runs through the machine with ease.
However, once laminated together it’s virtually impossible to separate the two materials for recycling, and polyester itself is not widely recycled at all.
Enviraflex eliminates this problem by allowing manufacturers to create 100% polyethylene pouch films that are compatible with thermal welding processes and are also fully and widely recycled.
