100% polyethylene packaging

F. SCHREURS PACK4SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE

November 10th 2020

100% POLYETHYLENE PACKAGING

2

Classification: General Business Use

INTRODUCTION

4th largest Chemical Company in the world

- Founded in 1976

- 25% Public, 75% Saudi Aramco

- Polymers & Chemical Supplier

- Global footprint

- E.g of resins PP, PE, Polycarbonate, PET

Global Headquarter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

European Headquarter in Sittard, the Netherlands

Technology and Innovation in Geleen, the Netherlands

Operations in EU: Wilton (UK), Geleen (NL) Bergen op Zoom

(NL), Gelsenkirchen (D) and Cartagena (ESP)

Started in 2012 at SABIC

- Material Development

- Plant Support

- Trial run coordination

Application Development & Industry Solutions

Focus on Flexible Packaging

- Technical support to

(internal/external) customers and

value chain partners

- Development new applications with SABIC portfolio

[email protected]

SABIC Fons Schreurs

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TRUCIRCLE™ INITIATIVES AND CASE STUDIES

DESIGNFOR REUSE /

RECYCLABILITY

MECHANICALLY RECYCLED PRODUCTS

CERTIFIED CIRCULAR

PRODUCTS

CERTIFIED RENEWABLE PRODUCTS

CLOSING THE LOOP AND CREATING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR PLASTICS

SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services for circular solutions

TRUCIRCLE™ August 2020

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FLEXIBLE PACKAGING VALUE CHAIN

Raw Material Film producerConverting

(lamination/printing)

Filling & Packing of

product

Shipping / Displaying

Consumer

Collaboration

MonofilmTrend to replace BOPP by PE Downgauging (= less plastic)

LaminatesMonomaterial alternatives for multi-material laminates

Packaging Building blocks:

PP: Cast PP, BOPPPET: BOPETPA: BOPAPE: Blown PE, Cast PE, MDO PE, TF-BOPE

> In every part of the value chain there are challenges going from multi laminate to mono solutions

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NEW PE BUILDING BLOCKS: ORIENTED FILM

Stretched in one direction

• Inline / offline stretching of blown/cast film

• Established technology (breathable/cavitated film)

• Relatively new for packaging films

• Multiple PE grades suitable

LLDPE/MDPE/HDPE

Stretched in two directions

• Dedicated BO machine (Tenter Frame, LISIM©)

• Established technology (BOPP, BOPET)

• New for PE

• Not all PE grades suitable:

• SABIC BX202 (and competition)

Machine Direction Oriented PE (MDO PE) Tenter Frame Biaxially Oriented PE (TF-BOPE)

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FILM PRODUCER Raw Material

Film producer

Converting


Packing of product


Consumer

Idea of scale:Blown film: Typically 300 – 400 kg/hourBO Line: Typically >3000 kg/hour

BOPP, BOPET, BOPA, long in the market, optimized machinery

MDO:- Inline after blown or cast film

Challenges:- Uniform thickness distribution- Film breakage - Splitting of film

TF-BOPE:- Use of existing BOPP lines.- Uniform thickness distribution- Film breakage

> Challenge #1: Competitive pricing and stable production of oriented PE films

* Not to scale, indicative

BOPE Blown PE BOPA BOPET BOPP cPP

€/M²

€/m²

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CONVERTING

Printing, Lamination, Slitting

- Surface activitation- Stretchability of film (rotogravure, flexo print)- Slitting - Planarity- Linespeeds- Optics (reverse printing)

Conclusion:Oriented PE film can be converted but lower performance comparedto BOPET

> Challenge #2: Successful converting of film

Raw Material

Film producer

Converting


Packing of product


ConsumerRaw

MaterialFilm

producer

Converting


Packing of product


Consumer

MDO HD (20

micron)

BOPP (25

micron)

BOPET (12

micron)

BOPA (16

micron)

BOPE (20

micron)

Te

ns

ile

Mo

du

lus

(M

pa

)

TENSILE MODULUS

Tensile modulus MD

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PACKING OF PRODUCT

Vertical Form Fill Seal (vFFS)Horizontal Form Fill seal (hFFS)Pouch Making Machine

- Sealability- Hot tack- Seal integrity - Stickiness sealing bar

- Shrinkage (lab sealing vs machine sealing)

- Machinability (stretching of film)

- Sagging during filling/sealing

Lo

ng

itud

ina

l

Horizontal

MD

> Challenge 3#: Machinability on packaging machines

Raw Material

Film producer

Converting


Packing of product


ConsumerRaw

MaterialFilm

producer

Converting


Packing of product


Consumer

Sealing time 1s 110°CIn practice: 50ms

Mono films:

MDOBOPE

BOPE MDO

Outside layer

Core layer

Sealing layer

Sealing layer

Core layer

Outside layer

Melting temperatures:PET: 260°C HDPE: 134°CPE Sealing layer: 80°C

Delta T = Toutside – Tinside

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10000

1000

100

10

1

0.1

PE/

PP

PET

Al

BOPA

EVOH

ML

EVOH

0.1 1 10 100 1000

mBOPP

Water Vapour Transmission Rate(g/m² day)

Oxy

ge

n V

ap

ou

r T

ran

sm

iss

ion

Ra

te(c

c/m

² d

ay

)

Barrier

MPET

O-

PE

SHIPPING/DISPLAYING

Barrier properties:- Barrier property of BOPE/MDO not much increased

compared to regular PE.

- PE less thermally stable compared to BOPP and BOPET

- Difficult to metalize

- Lots of developments on alternative recyclable coatings and materials

- AlOx, SiOX- Clay coatings- Polyurethane coatings

MDO:- Thin layer of EVOH possible

- BVOH (water soluble)

> Challenge #4: Barrier properties

Raw Material

Film producer

Converting


Packing of product


ConsumerRaw

MaterialFilm

producer

Converting


Packing of product


Consumer

*indicative

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Source: KIDV Roadmap 'Multilayer flexible packaging in a circular economy‘ August 2020

RECYCLING

> Challenge #5: Recycling of MDO/BOPE laminates

Raw Material

Film producer

Converting


Packing of product


ConsumerRaw

MaterialFilm

producer

Converting


Packing of product


Consumer

Netherlands Institute for sustainable packaging Roadmap august 2020:

Today: PO < A4 to DKR 3502025: Mono PE, Mono PP2030: Food grade?

Challenges at recycler:- Recognize mono PE streams- Separate smaller fractions- Density difference PET//PE and PE//PE = 0.05g/m³

TRUCIRCLE™ solutions in pouches:

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Clear trend towards mono-material alternatives for laminates. Not as simple as it looks…

New building blocks for packaging enable new packaging solutions

- Mono Directional PE (MDO)

- Tenter frame Biaxially Oriented PE (BOPE).

> Challenge #1: Competitive pricing and stable production of quality oriented film

> Challenge #2: Converting of film

> Challenge #3: Machinability on packaging machines

> Challenge #4: Barrier properties

> Challenge #5: Actual recycling of 100% PE laminates

Together we will manage!

CONCLUSIONS

Material producer

Film producer

Converter Packer Retailer Consumer

THANK YOU

100% polyethylene packaging

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