Innovia targets confectionery with green packaging
business has been launched by Innovia Films.
The company is anticipating strong demand for this new packaging, which it claims offers both excellent performance and environmental benefits.
This is because biodegradable and recycled packaging may soon become viable alternatives for more food companies as the increasing price of plastics begins to be passed on by suppliers.
NatureFlex NM builds on the long-standing performance of cellulose film, and has been designed to overcome the various issues commonly associated with polymeric films.
The film is also static-free regardless of climatic conditions, contact with machinery or sugar dust. Not only does this mean that no static reduction equipment is required on line but it also prevents wrapped sweets clinging to one another and to conveyor systems, which can often lead to unwrapped sweets.
This anti-static performance combined with the inherent stiffness of the film also gives enhanced bag-fill as sweets do not slump to the bottom of a bag.
Innovia says that NatureFlex NM has been run on a comprehensive range of twist machines and has given consistent performances each time. It has also been tested on a wide range of sweet shapes, including those with sharp edges and has been proven not to puncture or tear.
There is also the green aspect. Innovia claims that NatureFlex NM is the only metallised biodegradable film suitable for home composting because the level of metal is so small: less than 0.02 per cent.
This slows the film's degradation by a matter of days but does not interfere with its biodegradability in any other way.
NatureFlex NM is a unique cellulose-based film, manufactured from renewable wood pulp and metallised in-house. The film is printable using both solvent, water-based and UV inks and has an excellent lustre and sheen for pack presentation.
Innovia says that it has been tested to, and passed, the strict protocols of EN13432 and ASTM D6400 and has also been tested for ambient compostability, which means it will also be suitable for home composting.
