Page 56 - Plastics News June 2019

PRODUCT NEWS

Dow and Menshen’s ‘Reverse Spout Sealing’ system

ow and Menshen, one of the world’s leading and the spout, the new technology allows to easily seal
Dmanufacturers of caps, closures and single-serve spouts in more heat-sensitive, mono-material structures
capsules, have announced he new transformative Reverse made from all polypropylene or all polyethylene packaging
Spout Sealing Technology that enables the production layers. Dow said that it has tested the reverse spout sealing
of spouted pouches made of mono-material films. This technology at its Pack Studios in Horgen, Switzerland, with
exciting technology allows converters to address the Menshen spouts sealed in mono or laminate film structures
recycling criteria for flexible packaging and can help containing Dow solutions.
brands meet their sustainability packaging goals. The
P&G to test recyclable refill pods

for Olay brand

rocter & Gamble (P&G) is planning to test recyclable
Prefill pods for its skincare brand Olay in an effort to
reduce plastic used in the beauty category. In a pilot
starting in October, the company will introduce Olay
Regenerist Whip moisturiser with a refill pod. The pilot
will run through the end of the year.If adopted, this

reverse spout sealing technology, which is the result of a is expected to cut more than 1,000,000lb of plastic.
three-year joint development between Dow and Menshen, P&G Skin and Personal Care sustainability and brand
enables production of spouted pouches made of mono- communications associate director Anitra Marsh said:
material films. Suitable for most pouch sizes and for a wide “The ultimate goal is to find and adopt many more
range of applications, the technology allows converters to sustainable packaging solutions, and the refillable Olay
address the recycling criteria for flexible packaging, while Regenerist Whip package is the first step of that journey.
helping brands meet their sustainability packaging goals. “It’s really important for us to get it right because only
Dow’s packaging and specialty plastics business global then can we bring this concept to market at scale.”
application technology leader Dr Peter Sandkuehler said: The new refillable
“We basically reversed the idea of where and when the Olay Regenerist Whip
heat needs to be applied during the spout sealing process. moisturiser will be
“By transferring the heat from the pre-melted spout base available to customers
directly to the sealant layer of the film, we’ve solved two on Olay.com in the US
challenges at the same time: how to easily seal spouts to and UK and at select
mono-material films, and how to prevent the hard spout retailers online for a
ribs from cutting into the film.” To put the new sealing three-month period
approach into practice, Dow and Menshen are working for testing. Consumers
with a number of partners on technology integration. They can buy the refillable
are also working with manufacturers of pouch-packaging package featuring
machines to commercialise the technology. Menshen one full jar of Olay
business development officer Sarah De La Mare said: “It Regenerist Whip and one refill pod of moisturiser. The
is actually more logical to apply the heat from the inside pods are recyclable. The company will deliver the
rather than from the outside, whether you use mono- package in a container made of 100% recycled paper.
materials or not. “We are currently working with several In addition, Olay intends to know how consumers are
machine manufacturers to ensure that this technology can interacting with refillable products in beauty. It will then
be integrated into new and existing spouted pouch making evaluate the results of the pilot for future packaging
lines.” Unlike the traditional way of applying the heat innovations. The skincare brand also plans to introduce
from outside the pouch forming film to melt the seal layer the refillable packaging option separately in the future.

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