What Changes Mono Material Packaging Has Brought?

Since the inception of markets and industries demanding for new packaging, flexible packaging has increasingly and rapidly become the most important and demanding packaging forms not only in household products but also in food and beverage sector, pharmaceutical and other various sectors. The raw material used, resource efficiency, its cost-effectiveness and versatility attracted many manufacturers to switch from rigid packaging to flexible packaging.

Given its sustainable and innovative role in protecting products, flexible packaging has become important now as well as will always remain in the near future. Though, sustainable packaging may not be the top priority for now during the Covid-19 pandemic, recovery is expected soon as the demand grows of consumers for the containers that are sustainable, compostable, recyclable, away from single use plastics and biodegradable in the near future. Due to the deadly virus, new solutions have come up in the market that will target better reuse of existing waste materials and recyclability to reduce fossil inputs. Therefore, an international conversion from multi-material packaging to mono-material packaging or films, is expected more in the upcoming time such as flexible mono-plastic and other flexible material.

Upcoming modern material known as Mono-materials in the packaging are one of the finest and excellent routes for generating more sustainable and innovative solutions for flexible packaging. These types of materials eliminate the need for separating and segregating material and risks of contaminating a recycling stream, making recyclability faster and easier to achieve. Whilst, the use of mono-materials has been somewhat restricted as of now due to their inability to achieve the same kind of high-protection and prevention barriers as multilayer films could do. As a result, their use is largely concentrated on the products that requires less material and low-moisture, such as sugar confectionery, sweet biscuits and detergent powders.

Flexible and innovative Mono-plastics may lose to packaging that are paper-based, often recognized as environment-friendly and greener. Paper-based packaging is not good only for being more widely recyclable, but it also has a more natural look and feel as compared to the single use plastic films. During the time when it was anticipated a shift to paper in more premium food & beverages and household goods categories, a lack of prevention and protection against moisture and grease remained a serious hurdle. As a result, dry and powder-based goods are better suited for flexible-paper type packaging. But, as the increasing use of paper-based packaging evolved in the market, sustainable sourcing of raw materials and environmentally concerns around deforestation also increased at the same pace.

The success of mono-material packaging will always depend on the improvement and support of recycling process and systems, ensuring complete and successful collection, sorting and recycling, as well as transparent and clear communication of recyclability from manufacturers. Packaging that was styled and designed again as a mono-material packaging could market recyclability on goods in an endeavor to educate clients and consumers on how to correctly dispose it off.

There are some of the new challenges and their appropriate answers worth having a read:

Ques 1. What are the ways and innovations that have been employed into this packaging?

Innovation is based on solving the hurdles, limitations and barriers that sometimes the other materials show. In the case of mono-material packaging, mechanical properties have to be improved in order to be well diversified and used in the ‘thermo-sealed layer’ in a mono-material packaging structure. In the case of the coatings, printings and adhesives, the main designs, style and innovations are based on improvement of the barrier properties.

Ques 2. What are the sustainability benefits that mono-material packaging offers?

Mono-material packaging offers and structures various benefits that are based on their ability to recycle. Mono-material packaging and films will be collected and maintain a flow of waste management to analyze raw material from a residue for a different process and application, thus contributing to the world’s environment as well as the economy.

Ques 3. What are the limitations, barriers and challenges of mono-material packaging applications?

Mono-material packaging do structure some limitations for application that are basically based on the improvement of their characteristics and properties, that are barrier properties and mechanical. Other raw materials or materials that are used commonly in the mono-material packaging structures like coatings, adhesives and printing need to have functional and advanced properties apart from their basic generic properties. In the case of adhesives, coatings and printing, comes with a big loss to improve the barrier qualities and basic properties.

Therefore, this improvement in the barrier properties in coating, adhesive and printings are related to simplify multilayer films or packaging solutions, and the improvement of mono-material packaging which makes some of the sustainable and innovative benefits towards the mono-material packaging.