Page 60 - Plastics News Issue May 2025
P. 60
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
dead-fold angle in packaging applications. The work by Stieglitz, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian
Hopmann and his team supports broader goals
Specifically, as foaming increased, the dead-fold in the plastics industry to create circular packag-
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angle worsened—rising from 84 in unfoamed ing solutions. It provides an innovative strategy
films to over 110 at 5% CBA. However, the re- that combines material science and process en-
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searchers adjusted the outer layer composi- gineering to tackle the recyclability challenge of
tion and mass ratio to regain some of the lost complex multilayer films.
dead-fold performance. As a result, the final op-
timized film achieved 0.857 g/cm density and Looking Ahead
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86.5 dead-fold angle, balancing recyclability and
functionality effectively. Furthermore, the film’s While lab-scale results are promising, the re-
specific tensile strength in the machine direction searchers acknowledge that further industrial-
reached 14.58 MPa/(g/cm ), ensuring suitability scale validation and recycling tests are needed.
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for demanding packaging needs. They plan to evaluate how these foamed films
behave in post-consumer sorting and repro-
A Step Toward Circular Packaging cessing systems.
This study demonstrates a viable method for Nonetheless, their approach opens the door to
converting non-recyclable high-filled films into new design pathways for sustainable packag-
sortable, recyclable materials without compro- ing—ones that do not compromise on quality
mising essential packaging functions. By incor- or functionality. By making recyclability a design
porating foamed structures, manufacturers can feature, this research brings the industry one
maintain the visual and mechanical characteris- step closer to a closed-loop system for flexible
tics needed for consumer packaging while meet- packaging materials.
ing recycling standards based on density.
Source – Plastics Technology
60 PLASTICS NEWS May 2025
