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Sabic to showcase innovations that reduce food waste at K 2016

An estimated one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, equivalent to 1.3 billion tons of food every year, according to the Save Food report by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Even in the most advanced supply chain systems such as those in Europe, 4% of transported goods are damaged because of low pallet stability. As consumers continue to express a growing need for convenience and eco-friendly packaging, continuous changes and innovation will be seen in the industry.

At the K 2016 plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, Sabic (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) will be showcasing several new products and technologies that help to address these specific market needs. With a strong emphasis on sustainability and a central theme of “Chemistry that Matters,” Sabic will exhibit a wide array of packaging solutions that address the challenges the packaging industry is currently facing.

The chemical firm’s multilayer and polymer blend technologies may help manufacturers to reduce transport losses, optimize protection of goods, and increase pallet stability by maximizing the holding force of collation shrink and stretch films used to protect food packaging, while also making those films stronger.

Also, the unique combination of Sabic polyolefin building blocks also continuously may increase improvements in efficiency during production. They may offer higher tensile strength and higher toughness to optimize the wrapping process, by reducing film breakage and improving stretch film consistency of quality.

Its technology may also reduce the environmental impact of packaging by enabling down gauging that can reduce thicknesses by up to 20% compared to current film concepts. Thinner products reduce plastic consumption and allow for higher processing speeds.

In regards to food waste, Sabic said its flexible packaging solutions already have significantly made a contribution. Its PE/PP resins are vital in building advanced, multilayer barrier film concepts that provide longer shelf life of fresh and chilled food, cheese and meat. The corresponding reduction in food waste has a significant positive impact on the total life-cycle analysis of a flexible packaging system.

Reducing packaging weight remains key and is facilitated by using Sabic’s solutions in flexible pouches for  portfolio in pouches may enable further improvements in stiffness, sealing performance and retortability.

When it comes to safer packaging, Sabic said it continues to be proactive in the industry by improving the purity, organoleptic properties and cleanliness of resins used in PET and food packaging.

Advanced 5-layer barrier film structures are another new product from Sabic for applications in meat packaging by using blown film technology. The use of high-purity LLDPE 218BE and LDPE resins was crucial to achieve improved draw ability and cleaner operations, with fewer deposits.

Also, Sabic’s new range of PP copolymer cast films provide extra protection with high puncture and tear resistance, excellent sealability, eye-catching optics and compliance with food regulations.

 

Source: www.plasticstoday.com

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