SABIC plans to display an array of innovative packaging products and materials at the K 2016 trade show in Düsseldorf.
Despite all available modern technology, about one-third of food produced today for human consumption still is lost or wasted.
That’s equivalent to a staggering 1.3 billion tons of food every year, according to the Save Food report by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. An additional 4% of transported goods in Europe are damaged in some shape or form.
Add to that the ever-increasing consumer demands for new shapes, high transparency and easy-to-open packaging, along with impeccable surface appearance, attractive graphics, user convenience and the trend toward pre-packed foods. Brand owners are challenged to deliver all this, while at the same time lowering their carbon footprint and being good stewards of the environment. Packaging suppliers need to rise to the occasion.
SABIC is doing just that this fall at the K 2016 trade show in Düsseldorf, where it will display an array of innovative packaging products and materials at Stand D42 in Hall 6.
With a strong focus on sustainability and an underlying theme of “Chemistry that Matters”, SABIC will demonstrate options that advance the vital aspects of food safety, presentation, protection and preservation, as well as providing benefits for the packaging and safe shipping of goods.
Experts will be on hand to discuss some of SABIC’s latest and most notable packaging developments, which include the newest solutions and technologies related to rigid packaging and flexible films, caps and closures, protective foam packaging and foamed bottles, non-wovens, industrial containers, thin-walled packaging and renewable polyolefins.
“The need has never been greater to find efficient solutions to the challenges – especially in food packaging – that the world faces today. At SABIC, we’re proud to have the expertise and the broad product portfolio to help make a difference,” said Mark Vester, Business Director, Polyethylenes Europe.
The packaging solutions that SABIC will showcase focus on:
Reducing food and packaging waste, boosting efficiencySlimming down and lightweightingPurity and food safetyAdvanced processing technology with metallocene polymersRenewable solutions
SABIC offers services and material solutions, in both the flexible and rigid packaging industry, by developing products and technologies that enable stronger, safer, cleaner and more sustainable packaging options compared to traditional materials. Its innovations in flexible packaging already significantly contribute to minimizing food waste.
Shrink and stretch films made using SABIC’s multilayer and polymer blend technology, for example, enable manufacturers to reduce transport losses, optimize protection of goods and maximize pallet stability. These resins also facilitate down gauging, which can reduce film thicknesses by up to 20%, while still offering strength, toughness and fast processing speeds.
SABIC’s foam solutions, meanwhile; also help to minimize product damage during shipping, as well as potentially reducing the weight of the end-products. Its fast-converting low-density polyethylene foam grade for protective packaging, SABIC LDPE 2102FC foam can reduce the total cost of ownership. It offers up to 50% shorter degassing storage time at the foam manufacturer and 5% higher production efficiency, due to less manufacturing waste and better foam consistency.
SABIC’s new LDPE film grade, SABIC LDPE 2402H0 film, for example, offers excellent draw-down ability and runs stable with a reduced film thickness with up to 40% in the manufacturing of very thin-gauge packaging, as well as providing full compliance with stringent food-contact regulations for a broad range of applications.
Other options in the SABIC PE/PP portfolio also help reduce packaging weight for both food and non-food applications, for example in flexible pouches. The results include improvements in pouch stiffness, sealing performance and retortability. The use of fillable pouches can offer a huge environmental advantage, versus transporting prefilled, rigid containers.
Heightened consumer scrutiny and more stringent regulations are combining to make secure, safe food packaging more vital than ever. SABIC offers several flexible packaging solutions and services that focus on resin and packaging purity, and on organoleptic properties. These includes a new LLDPE grade with a nature-inspired, high-performance stabilization package, high-purity LDPE resins, and phthalate-free biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) materials.
SABIC also will display caps and closures made with its SABIC HDPE CC860V grade. This material meets the highest rating by OEMs for still water applications.
In addition, SABIC is introducing a new octene metallocene portfolio that includes SABIC SUPEER (mLLDPE), SABIC COHERE (polyolefin plastomer, or POP) and SABIC FORTIFY (polyolefin elastomer, or POE). These resins use a leading-edge technology that combines the bimodal solution process and proprietary metallocene catalyst to yield a state-of-the-art molecular design. The resulting materials offer a variety of very high-performance properties and can be typically used for manufacturing flexible (food) packaging and wrapping materials.
Meanwhile, the new SABIC PP FLOWPACT products are excellent candidate for thin-wall food packaging applications where a good balance of high stiffness and high flow is required. The resulting down gauging to lighter-weight rigid packaging can yield material savings of up to 9%, combined with lower processing temperatures and shorter cycle times.
SABIC offers various grades of polypropylene for cast-film food packaging (such as bread, pasta and pet food) that demands excellent optical properties, superior puncture and tear resistance, and temperature resistance for hot-fill applications.
SABIC HDPE ICP5506, meanwhile, is typically used for industrial packaging containers. It offers improved stress cracking resistance, and potential weight savings of up to 7%.
SABIC also at the K Show will showcase its renewable resins based on renewable feedstock sources. Elopak beverage cartons, for instance, feature a second-generation, renewable coating using SABIC materials. From sourcing to final production, SABIC’s renewable polyolefin resins require 84% less fossil fuel to manufacture than fossil-based materials, and are fully recyclable.
