Ultimate Flexipack, W&H join hands for sustainable packaging
Sustainability is currently one of the most important drivers in the flexible packaging market as expectations placed on packaging continue to rise. A packaging now should provide enhanced product protection, greater convenience, and improved aesthetics, along with sustainability.
17 Jun 2022 | By Rahul Kumar
Ultimate Flexipack, known for its high-quality films, is responding to these challenges by developing alternatives to today’s conventional multi-material laminates through inline MDO technology, which has been identified as the best solution for replacing such structures with MDO-PE to create a mono-material laminate which would be easily recyclable.
Together with W&H as Ultimate Flexipack’s supplier of its previous five blown film lines, a new project for an inline MDO with VAREX II five-layer blown film line was now started.
With this investment in new technology, Ultimate Flexipack can now produce laminates from 100% PE material that offer similar functionalities as conventional lamination films. Moreover, like all other W&H machines which provide ease of use and flexibility, both MDO-PE and the PE-sealing films can be produced on the same line. This gives an added advantage to use the blown film line for much wider applications.
“Ultimate Flexipack was committed towards getting packaged supplies to the public throughout the pandemic. With the installation of the VAREX II MDO blown film line, we feel we will be able to meet our customers’ desire for more sustainable solutions. We are happy to work with W&H, an innovative organisation, to expand our product offerings. The new line will boost our production and flexibility while reducing environmental impact,” Jeevaraj Pillai, joint president, Ultimate Flexipack, said.
PE films processed with MDO technology not only fulfil the requirements of the downstream processes, such as gloss, transparency and mechanical properties but also provide greater pliability and quality for producers.
This is further reinforced by the outstanding advantages that W&H’s proven MDO technology provides. All MDO roller temperatures and speeds are individually controllable, giving better handling and increased flexibility to the producer.
For better-optimised film properties during production, the stretching gap can also be adjusted (between 5-60 mm). Thus, the VAREX II with MDO Technology has set a new benchmark for achieving a critical aspect of oriented films, despite the stiff nature of the MDO-PE film, a wide film with excellent flatness can be produced.
“This should be a landmark project for the Indian flexible packaging industry opening new avenues in the direction of sustainability. We are thankful to Ultimate Flexipack for extending its long-term partnership with us with this very important project,” Shri Gupta, managing director, W&H India, said.