Three are the adjectives that underlie the concept of sustainability of packaging for food and personal use items: reuse, reduce and recycle. The concept of being reusable does not apply to flexible packaging. The concept of reduction is understood as a decrease in the thickness or density of the films, and therefore less use of plastic.

There are two different approaches for recycling: mechanical and chemical recycling. The former does not currently apply to food packaging, whereas the latter promises important industrial developments. For instance, the post-consumer waste treatment carried out in special pyrolysis plants allow to obtain industrial oils that become raw materials for the production plants of materials for plastic films that make up the flexible packaging.

In order to optimize these recycling processes, it is necessary to adopt single material packaging laminates made with the same polymeric origin.

With this in mind, Ticinoplast has been recently focusing on the research of solutions that reduce packaging weight by decreasing the thickness of more technical films and the density of foams. Such research has led to the development, together with its international partners, of bi-oriented polyethylene films, suitable both for printing processes and upgrade through coating and vacuum processes, that guarantee gas, aroma and water vapor barrier.

This has led Ticinoplast to manufacture products that meet the requirements of the circular economy.

Such solutions translate into the production of films designed to create compostable and renewable mono-material packaging. In June 2020 the NEXTFILMbyTicinoplast line was launched: a new generation of films for packaging, that conveys the company’s commitment towards circular economy and the environment.