b'SUSTAINABLE PACKAGINGExploring New Options in More Sustainable Packaging Formulations By James Fogg, Business Development Manager Barrier Coatings - Pulp and Paper TechnologiesSolenis (Wilmington, DE, USA)More and more consumers, brand owners and other stakeholders are now looking beyond the traditional three-arrow triangle seal of approval for recyclability on food packaging. The demand today includes hazardous material safety as well as renewability beyond single-use materialssuch as the ability for a package to be repulped, so it can be collected and recovered to produce new paper and paperboard products.Food packaging has traditionally been formulated with a range of man-madeFigure 1. By collaborating with an experienced formulation solution provider chemicals, including polyvinylideneat the beginning of the process, converters can be better equipped to chloride (PVDC), polyethylene (PE)help brand owners meet their sustainability goals.and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These formulasIn response, brand owners are beginningPolyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC): These have been well-optimised over theto actively consider ways to improvechemistries, which are extruded into years to provide strength and protectionpackaging sustainability to meet this newfilms and applied directly onto paper, as well as resistance to factors likedemand. For example, many brands,are used as oxygen and moisture moisture vapour, water, oil and grease.including some major retailers andbarriers. PVDC is often applied in a beverage companies, have committedvery thin coating and is difficult to However, many studies have indicatedto reducing or eliminating single-usebreak down for repulping. Innovative, that those chemicals do not break downplastics by 2025. Paper converters arebarrier coatings, like Solenis PVDC-free easily in the environment and/or arefinding opportunities to work with brandsbarriers, adhere to the fibre itself versusmany brands, not recyclable, especially when they areto navigate these decisions by exploringthe surface of the paper, allowing theincluding part of a package structure. Scientists,new packaging material solutions thatend-use package to be repulped.some major non-governmental organisations andincorporate renewable materials.retailers and other stakeholders have also expressedREPLACING COMMON CHEMISTRIES WITHPolyethylene (PE): Commonly appliedbeverage concernswhich are being investigatedRENEWABLE FORMULATIONSto cups and short-duration food- companies,that some of these chemicals couldChemical companies like Solenis areservice packages, this fossil-basedhave be linked to health issues, includingdeveloping new alternatives for paperliquid barrier does not recycle easily,committed to cancer, immunotoxicity and obesity.packaging chemical formulations tocreating a source of potential plasticreducing or Additional pressure is coming fromhelp converters move away from somecontamination. Solenis has developedeliminating regulatory groups, legislative action andof the common, less-eco-friendly barrierwater-based dispersions that aresingle-use litigation, particularly in Europe andcoatings. These older substances underrepulpable. These polyethylene-freeplastics by several states in the U.S.consideration for replacement include: barrier coatings which, for example,2025.84 WORLD PULP&PAPER'