‘Woolworths, by the nature of their business and sustainability pledge, have converted most of their packaging to 100% recyclable packaging. This is more easily attainable for pre-made pouches and labels,’ explains Tyrone Voller, product and sustainability manager at Constantia Flexibles.
‘The challenge with reel-fed flexible packaging is that there were virtually no producers that could process mono-material flexible packaging that could withstand the quality conversion process as well as the rigours of the packaging machines,’ he adds.
Tyrone lists the challenging aspects that the team, driven by him and Navin Lalbahadur, product manager for PepsiCo/Pioneer, faced when tasked with finding the solution to providing 100% recyclable materials that would include the required barrier properties for food protection for Woolworths’ muesli range.
- Matching the existing laminate barrier through modifying the proprietary technology in the extrusion process.
- Matching the printing aesthetics of the laminates via careful machine parameter and temperature control.
- Modifying the heat resistance in the sealing process to run on existing FFS lines.
- Matching the cost of the laminate, which could not be fully achieved due to the proprietary technology.
- Ensuring easy tear ability as it is mainly for single-use packs, which required continuous improvement in the recipes of the sealant medium.
- The sealing polymer also had to accommodate a reseal zipper that needed to be sealed at a low temperature, which further required modifications to the seal initiation temperature.
‘The solution was Ecolam primary print materials, which are produced in selected Constantia sites in Europe and Asia. Testing of the material began in 2019 and the final product is the result of some 2.5 years of initial testing. The final market product launch began in Q2 last year,’ details Tyrone.
In order to accommodate this type of laminate production, machine modifications had to be made, which included tension control on both unwind and rewind stations due to the material being highly malleable. Heat and temperature control is also critical to ensure no stretch or shrinkage, he adds.
Tyrone explains that R&D for the muesli packaging required a collaborative effort between machine suppliers, Pioneer Foods and Constantia. Extensive and thorough testing was conducted with Constantia-supplied material at the machine supplier’s site in Europe prior to being shipped to South Africa. The product was launched with much fanfare at the Propak Africa tradeshow in March 2022, where final testing took place in full public view prior to being shipped to the Pioneer site in the Western Cape.
Partners on the project included Polyflex for plate supplies and modifications, which needed to be specialised to allow for material shrinkage as well as ensure 100% colour registration control.
Sun Chemicals also provided the expertise necessary to ensure that the overall matte look could be obtained with the inks and matte varnishes.
