Compostable packaging solution developed for condiment sachets
Collaboration creates bio-degradable alternatives for hard-to-recycle liquid pouches used for food, sauces, and personal care creams.
Compostable film producer, Futamura, flexible packaging converter, Repaq, and machine manufacturer, GK Sondermaschinenbau, have announced the launch of a fully compostable sachet packaging for liquid products.
The small plastic envelopes are used to dispense condiments, sauces, personal care creams, and other liquids. To preserve product shelf-life, these typically involve complex layers including polyolefin, aluminium, and polyester, to act as a barrier against moisture and oxygen, which make the packs difficult to recycle. This is made more challenging by their small size and the fact that they often remain contaminated by foodstuff after use.
The new compostable laminate uses Futamura’s NatureFlex technology to introduce a barrier cellulose film layer that seals to the packaging, preventing any gases or liquids from entering or escaping.
The bio-film technology allows the packaging to be biodegradable in a waste-water environment, as well as being suitable for anaerobic digestion. Futamura confirmed that the sachets are also compostable in both industrial and home settings.
Explaining the benefits of the packaging, Sven Seevers, Technology Manager at Repaq, said: “Our packaging offers excellent product protection and significant ecological benefits at the same packing speeds. For liquids packaging we achieve an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of 0.5 at standard conditions of OTR … with a shelf life of up to 12 months. In the long term, it is the best end-of-life scenario for this packaging and many others.”
So far, testing of the packaging has confirmed it meets the required shelf life and protection for a range of sauces, when produced through GK Sondermaschinenbau machinery, according to the company. The first commercial sachets are expected to enter the market ‘shortly’.
Nico Merkel, Sales Director at GK Sondermaschinenbau, commented: “We are very pleased that our machinery has been involved in this project and shown to contribute to the production of these unusual and progressive packaging solutions.
Currently, there are over 855 billion sachets used globally, according to environmental group, A Plastic Planet, the majority of which are incompatible with traditional recycling methods.
Joachim Janz, Regional Sales Manager at Futamura, added: “Small-portion sachets have always been the tricky ones for recycling, so this success in compostability is good news to be shared.”
