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2020/11/10
Taking a Look at Industry Trends (part 1 of 2)
Taking a Look at Industry Trends
Source from: https://www.flexpackmag.com/articles/90727-taking-a-look-at-industry-trends
Michelle Sauder is the North American senior marketing manager for food & specialty packaging at Dow.
Q: What types of materials have you seen an increased demand for in recent years?
A: We’ve seen increased demand for resins, adhesives, compatibilizers and coatings that can create a mono-material polyethylene (PE) structure to increase recyclability.
In North America, the only current collection system for flexible films is the store drop-off program that only accepts clean, all-PE films. Initially, we’ve seen a lot of dry food packaging convert to all-PE structures that can be processed in the store drop-off stream.
Dow offers several unique technologies that can make “hard to recycle” plastics recyclable through the store drop-off stream. For example, PE-EVOH barrier structures are historically hard to recycle, but Dow’s RETAIN Polymer Modifiers modify these formulations to make them acceptable in the store drop-off PE flexible film recycling stream.
Q: What do you see as the driving force behind the selection of these materials?
A: Brand owners have set aggressive sustainability goals for the next three to five years to make 100% of their packaging reusable or recyclable. This is driving the entire value chain to develop the right technologies and processes to increase recyclability while maintaining performance.
Sustainability is the driving force behind all we do at Dow, and we’ve made similar recyclability commitments, including our target to close the loop by 2035 by enabling 100% of Dow products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable.
We’re at a critical part of ongoing, collaborative efforts across the industry and alongside our customers, governments, NGOs and others to work together to identify and invest in new technologies to meet the demand for recyclable flexible film applications and to ultimately eliminate plastic waste.
Q: How has Dow had to adapt to this increased demand?
A: Sustainability isn’t new for Dow — we’ve been working for years on the right solutions to enable the move to more sustainable and recyclable all-PE structures. Now, more of our customers are asking us to help them find the right tools to address brand owner sustainability demands.
We’re expanding our Pack Studios capabilities to additional film extrusion with a new 9-layer line, and packaging converting equipment with a new stand-up pouch (SUP) line to help us test and validate new technologies alongside value chain partners. We also use our Pack Studios collaboration centers to support our customers with trials to expedite and simplify the shift to recyclable all-PE structures. This gives us the capacity and flexibility to quickly pivot to meet demand shifts and support our customers.
We have also increased our emphasis on designing for recyclability by making sure we have the right technologies to meet market demands. We provide recycle-ready technology on the front end, and — through partnerships and research we support — generate new uses for recycled plastics to create value.