Bio E Takes Barrier Coatings A Step Closer
Paperboard packaging alternatives have come as a welcome shift for various food and beverage brands eager to decrease their use of plastic and increase their carbon footprint. And while this has been a tremendous improvement in terms of sustainability, the wall coatings laminated on paperboard to protect food, proceed to be made largely from fossil fuel-based plastics.
A barrier coating that is made from 75 percent renewable raw materials, “The previous generation of bio-based barriers was made from about 30 percent renewable raw materials, so Bio E offers a big improvement. Additionally, Bio E has been approved for industrial composting,” says Per Berglund, Product Manager Value-added Products, Holmen Iggesund.
Bio E is an enormous move in the ongoing attempts to acquire entirely fossil-free barrier coatings that don’t compromise any of the robustness, safety, or functionality obtained with traditional plastic-based (PE) barrier coatings.
Liquid and grease resistant both these qualities in bio-based coating. It fulfills European and US FDA conditions for food contact, which makes it fit for all manners of food packaging. Bio E is also approved for use in microwave ovens.
Holmen Iggesund’s paperboards, “Now you don’t have to compromise on sustainability efforts with a PE-based coating when there’s a compostable alternative with Bio E.”
Their combination as blend or multilayer films could provide properties that are more adequate for packaging purposes on the basis of their complementary characteristics. The main characteristics of PLA and starch in terms of not only the barrier and mechanical properties of their films but also of their combinations, by using blending or multilayer strategies, have been analyzed, identifying components or processes that favor the polymer compatibility and the good performance of the combined materials. The properties of some blends/combinations have been discussed in comparison with those of pure polymer films.
For more details: www.iggesund.com
