Nov 8, 2007

Alternative WIne Packaging Popular in Canada - Packaging Innovations Weekly Wrap

Dempson has launched a new carry bag designed to make it easier for consumers to do the office coffee run. It combines cup holders with a bag for other purchases.

Ampac Flexibles has launched a new biodegradable film, while Cognis Oleochemical has released a new antifogging agent for food wrapping film.

As UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s launches its line of wine bottled in plastic rather than traditional glass, recent Canadian sales figures show the format is proving popular across the Atlantic.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) says sales of wine in Tetra Pak and plastic bottles has increased more than 300 percent in 2006-07 to reach sales of C$2.1m.

Plastic packages make up two percent of the wines sold in Ontario, with the figure expected to double to four percent by 2008.

LCBO says the retailer carries about 140 kinds of wine in non-glass containers.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY INNOVATIONS

UK printed bag supplier Dempson, in association with Portabrand, is launching a range of bags designed to transport both beverages and meals.

Portabag paper bags have a strong recyclable container board insert at the bottom, allowing customers to carry hot drinks and other purchases in the same bag.

This eliminates the need for bulky pulp cup trays and makes it easier for customers to transport multiple purchases Dempson says.

The Portabag folds flat and is made from pure kraft from sustainable forests.

It is available in the UK in two and four cup configurations.

Canadian company Earthcycle Packaging has launched a range of palm-fibre trays for the produce market.

The trays present an environmentally friendly alternative to Styrofoam, as palm-fibre is a renewable resource that takes fewer than 90 days to compost.

The trays, which are available in four sizes, do not have perpendicular angles due to the different production processes involved.

Ampac Flexibles, a unit of Ampac Packaging, has launched a new compostable film.

The Apex 3,000 sustainable film (SF) series is made from a proprietary blend with a high percentage of the renewable resource polylactic acid (PLA).

The film is naturally opaque but can be coloured or printed via rotogravure or flexography.

Ampac says the film is easier to process and has physical properties more in line with traditional films when compared to those made solely with PLA.

The film could be used for cereal bag liners, organic snack packaging or secondary packaging for biodegradable packaging materials, Ampac says.

INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS

Cognis Oleochemicals has released a new antifogging agent for food wrapping films.

Liquid-based LOXIOL A 4 is incorporated directly into plastics, transforming condensed water droplets into a continuous and uniform transparent layer of water on the film's surface.

Cognis says the agent has excellent antifogging properties in ESBO/polymeric plasticizer formulations.

The agent is best used in flexible PVC food contact packaging film as a combined lubricant and antifogging agent for semi-rigid and plasticized PVC.

Milliken Chemical has unveiled a new product it says represents a "breakthrough in clarity possibilities" for polypropylene.

Millad NX8,000 typically reduces haze in clear polypropylene by 50 percent when compared with the current industry standard.

Milleken says Millad NX8,000 improves clear polypropylene's ability to substitute clear materials such as plastics and glass in packaging.
Source: packaging-technology

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