Analysis of the development trend of plastic packaging in the food industry

At present, plastic packaging materials account for more than 30% of all types of packaging materials, second only to paper products. In China's food packaging materials, the amount of plastic application has exceeded 50% of the total amount of food packaging materials, ranking first among various packaging materials. So, what are the current development trends of plastic packaging materials used in the food industry? Please see below:

From rigid packaging to softer, more environmentally friendly flexible packaging

Modern food packaging not only provides physical protection for foods and contents, but also helps to extend the shelf life of foods, provide product information and display brand image, making it easier for consumers to use everyday. Compared with other packaging materials and forms, such as glass, metal and hard plastic packaging, soft plastic packaging is more environmentally friendly, saving raw materials and transportation costs, thus better meeting the needs of the modern packaging industry.

According to the survey agency Smithers Pira, the Asia Pacific region will become the fastest growing consumer soft packaging market in the future. PacXpertTM is the industry's leading packaging technology. It features a unique lightweight design. The ergonomically designed durable handles help the user to accurately pour. When empty, the bag can be flat and easy to store and transport. . Although called flexible packaging technology, the PacXpertTM package stands firmly and guarantees excellent storage performance, whether standing upright or sideways. Bags with PacXpertTM technology also have a large shelf display space, making it easier to “lock in” the consumer's view and create a purchase intention.

In addition, PacXpertTM technology delivers significant environmental benefits. It not only minimizes waste of package contents, but also reduces raw material consumption and increases product-packaging ratio. In addition to being sought after by customers, from 2013 to the present, Dow PacXpertTM technology has captured the eight strength awards of the global packaging industry.

Food composite packaging film tends to be multifunctional, light and thin

In terms of functional food packaging materials, China's R&D and production capacity are still relatively weak. In the future, the demand for functional films such as high barrier, retort resistance, UV resistance, light protection, antibacterial, ventilating and anaerobic will continue to increase. At the same time, there is a trend towards thinning.

At the 2016 K show, ExxonMobil introduced two new grades of ExceedTM XP to further expand its product range. These new grades are suitable for shrinking flexible packaging and food composite packaging, providing significant performance advantages to film processors and end users.

Since its launch, Exceed XP has been well received by the market, and customers have reflected that the performance level of the product has reached a new height. These new grades reinforce this positive impact. Exceed XP 6026 and Exceed XP 6056 have excellent processing properties that provide greater toughness, tamper resistance, heat seal performance, balanced shrinkage and good optical performance. For processors, the high melt strength of these polymers allows for higher bubble stability and increased throughput. Food packaging films (including large and small packaging) made with the new grades of Exceed XP have excellent toughness and heat sealing properties, helping brands to protect frozen or dry food, meat and cheese products from production to consumption. The melt strength and toughness of Exceed XP reduce film thickness while maintaining high performance. Processors can take advantage of the exceptional performance and processing capabilities of these Exceed XP grades to streamline product inventory and reduce costs.

As the public's awareness of reducing food waste and extending shelf life of products has increased, the demand for barrier films for food flexible packaging has begun to rise. Today, most barrier film products are often co-extruded through a blown film line, with 7, 9 or even 11 film structures. Polyamide 6 (PA6) has good barrier properties and mechanical strength and is an ideal material for the production of blown film grade food packaging films. However, the high crystallization rate of polyamide 6 limits its processing window. Therefore, processors need to make concessions in terms of production efficiency, or improve the processability by mixing polyamide 6 with a special amorphous polyamide or polyamide copolymer, but this will make the film cost-effective. Great discount.

Bio-packaging and biodegradable packaging have broad prospects

Consumers are paying more and more attention to environmental protection. How to reduce the use of fossil products from the source has become a topic of concern for enterprises. Among them, bio-based packaging materials have become an important choice.

Not long ago, Tetra Pak launched the world's first aseptic paper package with the highest level of certification – a 1 litre Lilefeng aseptic package with biomass plastic and a 30mm lightweight cover. The newly packaged plastic film and open lid are made of sugarcane extract. Together with the cardboard, the proportion of renewable raw materials in the whole package has reached more than 80%, and it has obtained four-star certification.

In another independent life cycle analysis report conducted by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, the carbon footprint of the new packaging was reduced by 17% compared to standard packaging. The 1 litre Lilefeng aseptic packaging with biomass plastic and a 30mm lightweight cover has been shipped worldwide, and customers have no additional equipment investment in switching to the new packaging.

NatureWorks launched Ingeo Biopolymer at CHINAPLAS 2016, exhibiting a new high-barrier flexible packaging film made by Italian metalvuoto using Ingeo materials, which is designed for processing food preservation. This is the first time that Ingeo has been used in the processing of food packaging bags for long shelf life.

NatureWorks extracts glucose from corn starch as a raw material for Ingeo. Through fermentation, separation and polymerization processes, the carbon and other elements of these natural sugars are converted into a range of Ingeo models. It is widely used in food rigid packaging, such as disposable tableware, yogurt, etc., as well as food soft packaging. Ingeo is the world's first low-carbon functional material, made from plants rather than petroleum, and is 100% renewable and resource-rich plant material. The corn starch currently used is the first generation of transitional raw materials. In the future, bypassing agricultural steps and converting carbon dioxide or methane directly into green substrates will be the direction of NatureWorks' efforts.

Packaging materials are mostly disposable products. In order to reduce the environmental impact of packaging waste, the reduction of waste has become one of the development directions of plastic packaging. In the process of reduction, biodegradable materials play a leading role. With the improvement of environmental protection regulations and the increasing awareness of consumers' environmental protection, the scale of domestic biodegradable plastic packaging market is also expanding. The biodegradable materials will usher in more development opportunities during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

According to ASD's latest research report, the market demand for biodegradable plastic packaging will maintain an average annual growth rate of more than double digits from 2013 to 2019. By 2019, the global market value of biodegradable plastic packaging will exceed $8.415 billion. The report predicts that food and beverage packaging will be the largest application area for biodegradable plastics, with polylactic acid and starch-based plastics continuing to dominate the biodegradable plastics packaging market, with biodegradable plastics for food packaging accounting for more than 70%.

Green, environmentally friendly and safe packaging auxiliaries are popular

With the enhancement of safety awareness and the improvement of environmental protection standards, consumers are paying more and more attention to the hygienic safety performance of plastic packaging. The greening of plastic packaging is not only reflected in the product itself, but also the volatile organic pollutants (VOCs) emitted during the production process are subject to increasingly strict restrictions. With the implementation of China's "Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan", plastic packaging and printing enterprises face severe challenges.

Printing inks have high requirements on formulations, especially for the packaging market, ink formulations must be high quality, reliable, and meet the requirements of various regulations. TEGO® Glide A 116 is a high-efficiency smoothing additive for Evonik Industries Group for solvent-based printing applications. It is easy to process and has good compatibility with other materials (especially

Conclusion:

In the past two years, innovative plastic packaging has increased dramatically and flooded the market. This article lists only a small percentage of material innovations from the perspective of suppliers of plastic raw materials and additives, and has some plastic innovation trends in the food and beverage packaging industry. Looking to the future, plastics will remain strong in the food and beverage packaging sector, not only relying on material innovation, but also on the improvement of food packaging design concepts and the development of new plastic processing technologies.