Page 44 - Plastics News April 2022

switch to more sustainable packaging. Circular Economy for Flexible Packag-
Fitting a wide range of packaging needs, ing (CEFLEX) guidelines and is certi- Lanxess Expands Tepex
the versatility of AmPrima demonstrates fied by the Germany-based Institut cy- Flowcore Composite Range
our commitment to ongoing innovation clos-HTP for recyclability. New in April
and finding more sustainable solutions 2022 is AmPrima PE PLUS for roast
where they previously did not exist.” and ground coffee. “Suited for all typical
The company sees the new products as coffee pack formats and sizes, [the] full
in line with an upcoming EU packag- PE packaging is treated for thermal sta-
ing directive, and with Amcor’s 2025 bility, allows easy transition on existing
pledge to develop all its packaging to be filling machines, and has an innovative
recyclable or reusable and to increase the barrier coating for product protection,”
use of recycled content. AmPrima, says says Amcor. According to Amcor’s anal-
the firm, is recycle-ready in most flexible ysis, AmPrima PE PLUS has the poten-
PE packaging recycling streams. The tial to replace over 200 current non-re- anxess has expanded and opti-
AmPrima range is designed according to cyclable coffee packaging specifications. Lmized its Tepex flowcore thermo-
plastic composite range for compres-
sion molding. The new composites
are designed as alternatives to ther-
Econ Core Launches Innovative New moset sheet molding compounds
Thermoplastic Honeycomb Sandwich Panel (SMCs), offering similar mechanical
performance but with enhanced duc-
as sandwich panels. In 2020Flaxco ap- tility, recyclability and processability.
proached EconCore suggesting com- The novel, plate-shaped composites
bination of thermoplastic honeycomb are offered with a matrix based on
technology with Flaxco’s flax fibre tech- polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6
nology. The polypropylene honeycomb (PA6), polyamide 12 (PA12), ther-
material produced by EconCore offers a moplastic polyurethane or flame-
high-performance-to-weight ratio along retardant polycarbonate. The matrix
with efficient energy absorption. This is is reinforced with long fibers rather
achieved through the materials synony- than the continuous fibers found in
mous honeycomb shaped hollow cells Tepex dynalite. The fibers are up to
which support sandwich sheets to pro- 50 millimeters in length and are dis-
vide levels of high rigidity with minimal tributed throughout the matrix as cut
weight. Pioneering the use of flax with fibers of constant lengths. Tepex flow-
honeycomb technology, the partnership core is offered with either glass or car-
con Core, world leader in tech- sees Flaxco’s flax fabric composite skins bon fiber reinforcement. In suitable
Enologies for economic honeycomb combined with EconCore polypropyl- processing conditions, Lanxess claims
sandwich production, has collabo- ene core to produce sandwich panels. components made from the light-
rated with partnerFlaxco®, to develop In order to generate high level of stiff- weight materials can exhibit almost
and manufacture an innovative new ness, sandwich cores require surface the same flexural stiffness as their
thermoplastic honeycomb sandwich layers, like the neatly woven layers that Tepex dynalite range equivalents,
panel. Flaxco established themselves in Flaxco have the means to create. Once and have much higher strengths than
the early 1850’s and have 150 years of created the panels can be thermoformed injection-molded materials, which
experience in flax weaving, used in a thanks to their thermoplastic proper- are usually reinforced with short fib-
range of applications including cloth- ties. This is typically done by means ers. Depending on processing meth-
ing, upholstery and decoration. This has of short cycle compression mould- od and component design, the fib-
evolved into manufacturing flax fibres ing. Achieving a product with well- ers can be arranged in one preferred
for the composites industry, typically balanced characteristics, required pre- direction or at complete random.
found in semi-finished products such pregs of 0.5-1mm thickness to be used.

44 PLASTICS NEWS April 2022