Japan-headquartered Toppan has expanded its GL Barrier range of transparent barrier films with a polyethylene (PE) mono-material barrier packaging for liquids. Until now, it has been difficult to achieve the properties required of packaging for liquid and high-moisture contents with PE mono-material structures, the company said.
The new packaging, said to be suitable for boiling sterilisation, delivers a barrier performance that is superior to that of existing PE mono-material packaging. According to Toppan, the film combines outstanding drop strength for liquid product use with the recyclability of a mono-material structure.
The enhanced barrier performance of the product and its suitability for boiling sterilisation have been made possible by a high-grade vapour deposition layer, original barrier coating, and converting techniques developed based on GL Barrier technologies. These technologies involve the lamination of an inorganic vapour deposition barrier layer and a coating barrier layer onto a base film. The combination creates a layer structure that is easy to print on, laminate, and process in other ways, and also provides stable barrier performance. Using this proprietary technology, Toppan said it was able to overcome the difficulty of vapour deposition on PE to create this newest recyclable mono-material packaging. The development, the company added, is a response to rising demand in Europe, where all packaging must be reusable or recyclable by 2030, and in North America for mono-material solutions, and can be used for a wide range of contents. In light of the film’s drop strength, this includes refill pouches containing products such as detergents and shampoo.
With this latest addition to the GL Barrier family, Toppan can now offer GL Barrier films designed with PET, PE, and BOPP substrates.
The new film is directed at manufacturers of food and personal care products, as well as customers in a wide range of other industries. Samples will be available globally from spring 2023, with sales targeted for launch within the same year.