Overcoming the technical complexities of developing and manufacturing sustainable high barrier flexible packaging that is recycle-ready is a major challenge, even more so since the market looks for new solutions with the right barrier performances to replace the multi-material non-recyclable packaging.
With oneBARRIER, BOBST has undertaken a design and testing project that is creating industrially viable recycle-ready mono-material ultra-high and high barrier duplex and triplex substrates for packaging designers as alternatives to non-recyclable metallized polyester film. Developed with leading industry partners, the family of BOBST oneBARRIER sustainable solutions to date includes PrimeCycle, comprising EVOH and topcoat-free transparent AlOx-based or opaque AluBond-based full PE mono-substrates, and FibreCycle, a mono-material high-barrier paper-based structure coated with functional layers that can be recycled in the existing paper stream.
The BOBST & Partners oneBARRIER solutions are the outcome of joint process and equipment development and testing. The advantages for converters are manyfold:
• Integrated package solution: process-machine-output in one flow
• Knowledge of both coating and vacuum metallizing equipment technology and processes from a single supplier
• Different kinds of raw material specifications, coating, and adhesive chemicals
• Guaranteed barrier properties of the full structures (pre-coat + metallization + post coat + eventually lamination)