verpacken-aktuell

Driven by the discussions about recycling targets for plastic packaging, mono-material packaging structures are receiving more and more interest: for example, biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) or polyethylene (BOPE) films. Reasons for this are a better sortability of the packaging and an improved quality of recycling materials. With mono-material structures the question of barrier solutions and their role for recycling comes up. If one looks at traditionally used aluminum metallized films or aluminum foil, future packaging designs demand a transparent barrier solution like AlOx, SiOx or EVOH.

Here the inline coating technology offers decisive advantages for BOPP and BOPE applications. Brückner’s newly developed technology is installed between the machine film orientation (MDO) and the transverse film orientation (TDO) process: A wet chemical treatment applied there directly inline provides a tailored base-layer (primer) for the subsequent AlOx / SiOx metallizing step and can be used at regular 3-layer BOPP or BOPE film stretching lines.

The metallization layer is a perfectly bonded, very homogeneously distributed over the complete film width and shows outstanding oxygen and water vapor barrier values – comparable even to high-barrier films such as metallized BOPET or aluminum foil. Since the coating material is water-based, transparent and in nanometer scale (typically < 100nm), the environmental impact and effect to the recyclability is minor and thus within the strict laws and regulations. It is even superior from an economical point of view to any barrier solution with EVOH. Besides this, the treatment is long-term stable without decay.

Most important: the inline coating technology is not only available with new Brückner film stretching lines but can also be upgraded on used lines.

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