Krehalon CE materials consist of polyolefins and EVOH (photo: Krehalon)
With its CE-materials, Krehalon is fully prepared for the circular economy. CE stands for Circular Economy and Krehalon CE-materials are developed according to CEFLEX* guidelines. “PVC and derivatives like PVDC are cheap, but harmful for the recycling process,” explains Werner Rist, Sales Manager DACH at Krehalon and, as dairy and cheese expert, responsible for all development projects worldwide for cheese packaging. “And when these packaging materials go into thermal recycling, they produce toxins that have to be filtered out at great expense.” In fact, legislative initiatives are underway in the EU as well as internationally that will ban PVDC & Co. In Australia, implementation starts as early as 2023, in the EU things are still open, but a similar step is expected for 2025 – 2030.
The Krehalon CE materials consist of Polyolefins and EVOH. The latter material makes up less than 5%, easily recyclable polyolefins contribute over 90% to the packaging films. CE materials are produced as shrink bags, Formshrink® films for thermoforming and Flovac™ films. Compared to conventional packaging with thicknesses of up to 350 μm, CE materials (80 – 90 μm) are characterised by a much thinner film thickness, with savings of up to 80% in some cases. The films can be even thinner, as Mr Rist reports, thicknesses of only 40 μm have already been successfully tested. The barrier against oxygen is achieved by an EVOH layer. The CE materials are multilayered. This requires a relatively complex manufacturing process, which reflects additional cost compared to nonrecyclable films. The puncture resistance of the films is excellent despite their low thickness; only products with very sharp and hard edges such as Parmigiano require a slightly thicker film.
As far as appearance is concerned, CE films have a somewhat matt surface, but are excellent for printing. Their shrinkability is superior in comparison, resulting in an attractive product presentation. The high formability of the material contributes significantly to this.
Krehalon
Krehalon is a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality, PVDCfree, flexible barrier shrink films and pouches. The products are specifically designed for cheese. Recently, Krehalon has expanded its portfolio to include solutions for alternative products. In Germany, Krehalon is one of the top 3 suppliers of flexible packaging. Solutions are offered for all relevant applications of heat shrinkable packaging:
» SBR shrink bag replacement is a portfolio for automatedprocesses
» Formshrink® stands for thermoforming films
» Flovac™ – films are heat shrinkable films to run on Flowrap lines
» ML40 is the name given to multilayer shrink bags available in various barrier thicknesses.
Customers have the option of printing individual designs directly onto Krehalon films, as an inhouse 10-colour flexo printer is available. Krehalon also handles pre-press in-house.
