Collaboration with OEMs Advances Mono-material Packaging Solutions
- Published: March 16, 2025
By Erica Canavesi, Applications Development Specialist, NOVA Chemicals
Flexible packaging is incredibly versatile, providing manufacturers with a wide variety of sizes and dimensions, structures and features to choose from. Flexible films provide effective product protection and are often lighter and use less material than other rigid packaging formats.
As brand owners seek to improve the sustainability of their packaging and operations, however, multi-material flexible packaging presents challenges due to its inability to be mechanically recycled.
Innovations in resin technology and processing techniques are changing how films are designed, enabling mono-material all-polyethylene (PE) structures that are designed for easier sorting and recycling.
In a survey of CPG brands, packaging original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and material suppliers and converters, PMMI and AMERIPEN found that many companies are planning shifts from rigid plastics and metals to mono-material flexible plastic packaging over the next decade. One key innovation enabling mono-material packaging is oriented PE film which offers enhanced performance characteristics over traditional blown or cast PE films, making all-PE structures viable for demanding applications including pouches, flow wrappers and pillow packs.
Although oriented PE films offer exciting new possibilities for flexible packaging, transitioning to new materials and processes can require significant adjustments from producers and converters. With their equipment expertise, extensive processing experience and technical support capabilities, packaging OEMs are a valuable resource for helping expand the market adoption of oriented films. Early-stage collaboration between resin suppliers and OEMs results in clearly defined priorities and objectives regarding how the new materials will be processed and their intended applications, making product development more efficient and mono-material designs more accessible.
Advantages of MDO-PE Films
Creating all-PE flexible packaging involves using resins that display adequate stiffness for high-speed packaging equipment and heat resistance to withstand sealing and converting processes. Orientation, which involves heating and stretching films, improves the toughness, stiffness and heat resistance of cast and blown films. Machine direction oriented (MDO) films are stretched in one direction, while biaxially oriented (BO) films are stretched in the machine and transverse directions. Oriented films can withstand lamination, function as print webs, and deliver equivalent durability and puncture resistance to higher gauge blown films.
MDO-HDPE is particularly flexible and can be produced in a wide variety of gauges on co-extrusion blown film equipment, allowing packaging designers to fine tune the performance characteristics of the film to meet project requirements. These films can be used in all-PE designs to replace mixed-material laminates made from BOPP and BOPET.
Collaboration with OEMs
This offers a solution to brand owners who are requesting mono-material packaging as they seek to transition away from multi-material structures in response to the sustainability preferences of consumers and legislation regarding packaging recyclability. To be commercially viable, MDO films must be able to run on existing packaging equipment. Resin suppliers, working with OEMs, can accelerate market adoption by addressing processing challenges during product development.
Collaborating across the value chain during the packaging design phase helps set expectations for the project, ensuring that all parties are clear about the package's requirements including how it will be processed, how it will seal, and its end uses. When these conversations do not happen early, suppliers and converters may need to make substantial changes that can cause costly delays.
Working closely with OEMs, particularly for newer materials like oriented PE films, also leads to more effective project management. Suppliers and OEMs each have unique understandings of their relevant industries, and sharing this knowledge helps tasks get completed on time. For example, in the beverage industry, packaging trials are rarely run in the summer because it is the busy season when consumption of beverages is highest.
To stay on target for a product launch date, this information influences the entire project timeline. Insider knowledge about industry practices enables effective planning and resource allocation to keep projects on schedule and plan realistic timeframes for trials and production.
Most importantly, OEMs offer in-depth equipment expertise that can guide resin formulation and process modifications. OEMs know the capabilities of their lines and can provide valuable input on material characteristics and how to improve performance when using a new material. They can also share information about the latest equipment technology to advance packaging innovation.
Making Mono-materials Look Good
Cross value chain collaboration leads to products that meet market demands and match producer capabilities. While developing applications for MDO-HDPE films, one resin supplier company worked with a packaging company to create an all-PE matte finish pouch.
The pouch complies with requests for mono-material structures while enhancing shelf appeal. Using a masterbatch specifically developed for MDO films, the companies refined the blending and production process to design a matte film for a high quality, luxurious finish for flexible packaging.
They new pouch debuted at NPE2024 in Orlando, Florida, which generated market interest and led to multiple producers exploring uses for the film.
In order to design more flexible packaging that is compatible with existing recycling infrastructure, continued innovation is needed. Partnerships and joint ventures across the packaging value chain increase efficiencies in product development, enabling teams to address surprises and challenges quickly. Resin suppliers and OEMs can bring new products to market faster and avoid unnecessary trials by clearly defining product objectives from the start.
Collaboration enables producers to deliver better solutions to their customers that align with brand owner priorities and meet the necessary performance requirements. Working with OEMs is essential for the advancement and adoption of MDO films, which are a key foundational element of mono-material flexible packaging.
About the Author
Erica Canvesi is applications development specialist at NOVA Chemicals. She has more than 25 years of experience in the packaging development industry.
