ACTEGA, manufacturer of specialty coatings, inks, adhesives and sealing compounds, has announced the launch of its latest offering, ACTGreen barrier coatings – a range of advanced water-based barrier coatings and next-generation thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) dispersions – representing a huge step forward in packaging sustainability.
With both fill products and packaging needing to be mutually protected from the effects of oils, fats, water and external substances, plastic polyethylene (PE) laminates have traditionally been adopted across the packaging industry – despite the complex, costly and increasingly scrutinized recycling process, which involves using specialist technologies to separate the plastic from the cardboard substrate. According to ACTEGA, the new ACTGreen barrier coatings range comprises barrier coatings and TPE dispersions (YUNICO) for coating and binding which are all water-based, enabling substrates to be widely and easily recycled utilizing standard practices.
ACTEGA claims that by eliminating the need for PE laminated materials, ACTGreen barrier coatings not only streamline the production process and deliver invaluable cost savings throughout the entire production process but also, critically, enable converters to transform their business model from one which is restricted by the lengthy delivery times or bulk storage costs of PE laminated board, to an efficient just-in-time production system which is able to thrive in the increasingly competitive and demanding packaging sector.
“Throughout our ten operative companies, we have always championed our high customer orientation, and with production facilities across the globe, we are extremely well-placed to listen and respond to our customers in each market. What we are hearing universally is that the call for sustainability is, understandably, louder than ever,” says Markus Locher, global barrier manager at ACTEGA Paper and Board.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to ensure that our ACTGreen barrier coatings provide a robust and viable alternative to non-recyclable PE linings that will allow packaging manufacturers to not only respond to the increasing pressures that they’re feeling from brand owners regarding environmental issues but to optimize their own operations and production processes too. The unavoidable need to shift away from plastics and find workable, profitable and environmentally sound alternatives is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges facing the packaging industry today, and we are proud to be taking firm steps in the right direction with this latest offering,” says Locher.
