Sustainability in Packaging: Balancing Performance and Environment

Sustainability now-a-days can be termed as global . Obviously, with flexible packaging, sustainability plays a crucial role. With global norms and trends, sustainability is no longer a choice of action but the future. In order to follow sustainability, I have experienced that key features sometimes go subdued. This is often seen with sustainable substrates, which tend to show less performance compared to their previous replacements.

Sustainable replacement materials or substrates might sometimes lack functionality.

I have noted down a few new substrates, and we will discuss the functionality of each substrate in terms of productivity and efficiency.

Polylactic acid (PLA): PLA is a plant-based plastic made from fermented starch. It is a comparatively new plastic material compared to other shrink sleeve materials in the industry. PLA is mostly manufactured from corn, though in some regions it is also made from sugarcane. The usage of PLA shrink labels is very low in developing economies. Needless to mention, it is biodegradable and compostable, but only industrial compostable as of now, which is probably limiting its usage. PLA is a little demanding in storage facilities. It must be maintained below 25°C.

PETG: It is considered a sustainable substrate since it’s not toxic like PVC. It is a high-density film that gives less yield. PETG is one of the substrates that can be used as a first step when transitioning from PVC to more sustainable ones.

As mentioned, PETG is more suitable for steam tunnels, but alternatives like NEXT PETG are now delivering good results in traditional hot air tunnels as well. However, text distortion can occur with PETG.

Trucycl: Trucycl is the first truly recyclable shrink film. It can be recycled with PET bottles in the recycling stream. Its usage has increased significantly in the last couple of years and it is expected to be the shrink film of the future.

Floatabel: Floatabel is another wonderful and futuristic shrink film designed for PP/PE/PET jars. It can be recycled with PP/PE containers and can be separated from PET using the floatation process.

LDPET: LDPET, or Low-Density PET film, and as the name suggests, it has a 21% higher yield compared to PET or PETG. This gives the advantage of reduced plastic consumption. LDPET in itself is suitable for both steam and hot air tunnels.

As we have seen above, replaceable sustainable materials might sometimes lack certain functionalities as the infrastructure is still improving to adopt sustainable films. Many packaging professionals I have come across understand this and suggest that deviations must be allowed for active industrial evolution in sustainability. We must be willing to accept some deviation from functionality. Sometimes, when we try to combine functional efficacy with sustainability, it is heavy on pockets.

Brand owners and packaging teams want sustainable substrates, but the price factor often becomes a deterrent.

You may connect with me for any support for Sustainable Shrink Sleeve packaging.

Leave your query to info@tauruspackaging.com or +91 96674 00924.