Extrusion International 3-2022

20 Extrusion International 3/2022 INDUSTRY NEWS  Innovia Films (Innovia), a major producer of highly differ- entiated speciality flms announces the opening of a new 6.2 metremulti-layer co-extrusion line at its site in Płock, Poland. The state-of-the-art line will be dedicated to manufacture low-density polyolefn shrink flm for shrink sleeve labels and tamper evident applications. The flm forms the basis to produce sustainable floatable shrink sleeves. This facilitates easy separation of labels from PET, HDPE and PP bottles and containers in the recycling process to enable bottle-to-bottle circularity. This shrink sleeve material is mainly for use within the Food, Beverage and Home & Personal Care industries. “The opening of the line concludes our strategic investment into a high-performance shrink flm, that enables more cir - cularity when it comes to packaging - an important goal for consumer goods companies,” says Simon Huber, Managing Director, Innovia UK and Poland. “The new capacities will al- low us to supply label and sleeve converters with high-quality floatable shrink sleevematerial that has the potential to revo - lutionise the market and the way packaging is decorated to move towards more sustainable choices” continued Huber. RayoFloat™ APO is a clear, uncoated shrink flm that floats, as its density is <0.93 g/cm³. The flm is also glossy, scuff re - sistant and printable, with a controlled TD shrinkage up to 70%. RayoFloat™ has been endorsed by the European PET Bottle Platform EPBP, although this flm is perfect for use on a variety of HDPE and PP containers too. CCL Label has been partnering with multinational brands to develop recyclable PET containers for bottle-to-bottle recy- cling in a closed loop. Polyolefn sleeves are also a recycling- friendly match for PP- and PE-based packaging as they stem from the same plastics family. “In recent years we have seen big changes in the market. Brands are increasingly following Design for Recycling guidelines and are re-creating their packaging to meet re- cycling targets. Labels can make a huge difference here, the functional properties of label materials can support recycla- bility and re-usability,” says Günther Birkner, member of the Management Team at CCL. “The goal of our investment in Poland is to signifcantly increase the capacity in polyolefn shrink flms which were hardly available so far. Through our global network of CCL Label sites, we are able to convert the recycling-friendly material into EcoFloat sleeves and supply those with short turnaround times to packaging lines. This initiative will enable our customers to boost the recyclability of their packaging!” As EcoFloat™sleeves aremade from lowdensity polyolefns, they make the difference in the crucial sink/float recycling step at PET recyclers. The sleeve material floats and this al - lows for a clean separation from the heavier PET flakes that sink to the bottom of the washing tanks. This easy separa- tion forms the basis of the yield of high-quality PET flakes that can be used in bottle-to-bottle recycling, closing the loop. EcoFloat™ has been endorsed by the European PET Bottle Platform EPBP. “Our investment is part of our commitment to boost plastic recycling and take steps towards a circular economy as stated when we signed the Global Commitment of the New Plastics Economy led by the Ellen MacArthur foundation. In future, governments will set targets for recycling rates in municipal waste. Reaching these will not be feasible without investing in new technologies for packaging materials that support ‘Design for Recycling’. As a floatable, low density polyolefn sleeve, EcoFloat™ fulflls the requirements as defned in packaging design guidelines,” concluded Birkner. Innovia Films Ltd www.innoviafilms.com World’s First Dedicated Production Line for Sustainable and Floatable Shrink Sleeve FilmOpened in Poland Günther Birkner formally cuts the ceremonial ribbon tomark the openingof Innovia’s newmulti-layer co-extrusion line  The Huhtamaki Foundation inaugurated its frst recycling plant in Khopoli, Maharashtra to help drive circularity for packaging. The site – which is spread across 2,000 square meters – will recycle about 1,600 kilograms of post-con- sumer used flexible plastic waste per day from early May as the plant becomes fully operational. The Central Pollution Board of India (2012) estimates that India generates close to 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste a day and a little over 10,000 tonnes a day of plastic waste remains uncollected. The recycling plant was set up with an investment of INR 90 million as part of the Huhtamaki Foundation’s #Close- TheLoop initiative to tackle post-consumer waste to deliver a valuable secondary resource material. It will process post- consumer waste to create resin to produce refned com - Foundation Sets Up Its First Recycling Plant inMaharashtra, India