Packaging Materials

- S.K.Sarvan, 935, 2010-2012 SIES School of Packaging, Nerul

Terminologies in Packaging
Flexibles Foodgrade Laminate Migration Barrier Yield Metallization Micron Unit and Bulk pack

Types of Packaging Materials

Fibers Wood Metals Glass Paper

Plastics

Fibers

Jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibers Jute fiber is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly The industrial term for jute fiber is raw jute It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breathability of fabrics. Jute is very suitable in agricultural commodity bulk packaging.

Jute
Advantages - Good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having low thermal conductivity Disadvantages - Crease resistance Brittleness Fiber shedding & Yellowing in sunlight.

Fibers
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule. Advantages Eco-friendly Renewable and Sustainable Light-weight Soft Breathable Good absorbency Cheap Application In form of bags & cushioning material.

Wood

Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue Wood is a heterogeneous, hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material Properties Hygroscopic

Wood
Advantages: Eco-friendly Cheap Hard Good nail holding power Retention of shape High compression strength Disadvantages Absorbs moisture and degrades Application - Box and crates

Metals

Metals
Aluminium & Tin Aluminium foil is a very thin sheet of aluminium ranging from about 0.006mm to the upper ISO defined limit of 0.2mm (200m) Chemically less reactive Opaque Deadfold

Aluminium
Advantages Light weight Non-flammable Non-reactive Non-absorbency Impermeable Flexible Taste and odorless Hygienic

Aluminium
Applications Pilfer-proofing, decoration & packaging Wraps Milk capping Lidding for cream, yoghurt & dairy desserts Butter and cheese wraps Soft drink bottles Blister packs Collapsible tubes Pouches Disadvantages Pin holes & cost

Aluminium

Tinplate
Tinplate is low carbon mild steel coated on both top and bottom surfaces with an electrolytic deposition of tin Silvery white metal Properties Good conductor Impermeable

Tinplate
Advantages Light weight, yet strong Corrosion-resistant Withstand vacuum & pressure Lacquer ability Excellent barrier Non-toxic Flavor retention Can be made at high-speed Application Cans and containers

Tinplate

Glass

Glass
High viscous supercooled liquid Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Available in different shapes, size and types

Properties
Chemically inert Impermeable Non-porous Transparent Moldable Strength Light weight

Advantages
Can be sterilized. Is recyclable. Does not pollute the environment. Is ideal for high-speed filling lines. Takes high-torque sealing. Helps safeguard against leakage in shipment. Is re-sealable. Unused products can be saved for future use. Needs no protective coating inside. Products stay uncontaminated.

Advantages
Is stackable on shelves. Is a proven package for strong chemicals and solvents. Is transparent. It can showcase a product and entice the buyer. Creatively shaped or decorated. Can add consumer value after product use - specifically for crafts or collectibles.

In amber or green, can filter out harmful ultraviolet rays.

Protects product integrity.

Advantages
Autoclavable. Great for injectible and other pharmaceutical products. Guards against loss of moisture, product strength,

freshness and aroma.

Can be formed into various sizes and shapes.

Does not deteriorate, corrode, stain or fade.

Is microwavable(depending on the specific type of jar).

Glass

Flexible packaging
Why rigid to flexible
Increased availability of polymers Aggressive Marketing - lower shelf life Look for optimum shelf life rather than maximum shelf life

High market competition Increase profit - cut packaging cost High cost of transportation (Milk Powders / malted foods)

Why rigid to flexible (cont)

Rigid containers - more components - more inventory Labels , closures etc
High energy costs - glass bottles

Consumer preferences Easy to carry, easy disposability, etc.

Paper

Paper
Used commonly as a strengthening ply Types: Map litho, Chromo-coated paper , glassine paper, Kraft etc Main characteristics
Strong but tears Non extensible Good surface to print Stiffer that Plastics films and aluminum foils Can provide dead folds and shapes

Paper
Advantages
Easily available Cheap Can be recycled Bio-degradable Based on renewable sources Excellent surface for printing

Disadvantages
Poor water resistance Loss of strength at high humidity Poor barrier

Uses in flexible packaging

Paper or Board/Poly Foil/Poly

Plastics

FLEXIBLE PACKS
Forms of flexible packs Pillow pouch Gusseted pouch Zipper pouches Reclosable pouches Collapsible tubes Brick type packs Bag in box systems

Plastics
Polymers: Materials composed of molecules made up of many repeats of some simpler unit called the monomer. Plastics: Any of a group of synthetic or natural organic materials that may be shaped when soft and then hardened,

Plastics
General classification Thermoplastics: Thermoplastics are those which soften under heat & again harden when cooled and this process can be repeated a number of times without any appreciable loss in physical properties Eg: Most of the commodity plastics like PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET etc.

Plastics
Thermosets: Thermosets - Soften only once under heat and then go through an internal chemical change which makes them hard and impervious to further application of heat Eg: Phenol Formaldehyde, Unsaturated Polyesters, Epoxies etc.

Why Plastics?
Corrosion resistance Low electrical and thermal conductivity, insulator Easily formed into complex shapes, can be formed, casted and joined. Wide choice of appearance, colors and transparencies Most versatile material Used as films, shrink films, as blisters and themoformed containers, stretched blow moulded bottles, shrink labels, as foams, as PS Tapes, etc.

Limitations
Aging effect, hardens and become brittle over time Sensitive to environment, moisture and chemicals Causes pollution

PET
Recycle Code: 1 Major properties: Excellent gloss Glass like clarity Good mechanical strength Good resistance to gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide Resistance to chemicals

PET
Retention of flavour Excellent printability Excellent gloss Low moisture and gas permeability Aroma and flavour retention property High mechanical strength High tear, punctures and flex crack resistance Excellent machinebility Can be metallised

PET
Disadvantages Too stiff to be used for Softer and crumple-less packs for feel-good Effect High density leading to Low yield Application: Bottles and laminates

HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Recycle Code: 2 Used as films , blown into bottles, injection moulded, coextruded with LDPE/ LLDPE, in the form of strips for making woven sacks and tying, Major properties: Density : 0.941 0..970 It is tough, translucent materials It has a good water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) Excellent Chemical resistance It is insoluble in solvents at room temperature Higher softening point and seal temperature Lower gas barrier Stress cracking

HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Major uses in flexibles:
As plain films for wrappings, grocery bags/ carry bags Over wraps As a layer in a laminate Woven sacks Boil in pouches (Major Rigid application include: crates and moulded items like bottles jerycans, drums, carboys and closures)

PVC
Recycle Code: 3 Versatility Ease of blending Strength and toughness Resistance to grease/oil Resistant to chemicals Clarity

POLY VINYL CHLORIDE

Major uses in flexibles:
Films used in textile industry for packaging of textiles Heat shrinkable films for tamper evidence and labels Pressure sensitive tapes For blister and skin packaging application Rigid application is in the form of bottles for liquid products including water

LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Recycle Code: 4 Used as films, blown into bottles, injection moulded, extusion coating on paper and foils Major properties: Density : 0.910 0..925 It is tough, translucent materials It is chemically inert It is insoluble in solvents at room temperature Low seal temperature Low gas barrier Stress cracking

LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Major uses in flexibles:
As plain films for wrappings (Bead Wraps) For making pouches for grocery Over wraps As a layer in a laminate Co-extruded on to Paper/foil

POLYPROPYLENE
Recycle Used as films, sheets and blown bottles injection moulded items. Major properties:
Chemically very similar to polyethylene Lowest density: 0.89-0.90 higher yield Harder and tougher than PE Outstanding chemical resistance Less susceptible to ESC. Highly resistant to fatigue on flexing Can withstand high temperatures Very good moisture barrier

Lower gas barrier

POLYPROPYLENE
Major uses in flexibles:
Films available in the forms of Cast and Oriented films As plain films wrappings for fruits, flowers etc Woven sacks Strapping material Barrier, good transparency and gloss)

POLYSTYRENE
Recycle code: 6 Used mainly for rigid applications. Biaxiallly oriented PS films also available. Foamed PS is also available. Can be modified by addition of Styrene Butadiene Rubber to improve its impact strength (HIPS) Major properties:
Brittle Crystal clarity Lustrous finish Rigidity and dimensional stability Good chemical resistance Ability to take post moulding decorations like foil stamping screen printing etc.

POLYSTYRENE
Major uses in flexibles:
Main application is in the form of containers for cosmetic and pharma industry. Over wrapping applications, fresh fruits and vegetables Used as cushioning material HIPS is used for thermoforming applications.

HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Used as films, containers and other injection moulded items Major properties:
Density: Around 0.950 It is very tough, translucent materials It has a good water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) Excellent stress crack resistance It has good impact and other mechanical properties. Good moisture barrier, abrasion resistance , chemical resistance Higher softening point and seal temperature

HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE: Major uses in flexibles: As plain films for wrappings, carry bags, envelopes etc As a layer in a laminate (Major Rigid application include: crates and moulded items like bottles, drums, carboys, pallets etc.)

Used as mainly as films. Major properties:

LINEAR LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

It is very tough, translucent materials Good stretch and draw down property Excellent impact and other mechanical properties. Improved stress crack and low temperature brittleness. Fairly good moisture barrier Lower gas barrier

LINEAR LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Major uses in flexibles:
As plain films for wrappings, carry bags For down gauging As a stretch / cling wrap film As a shrink film As a layer in a laminate

POLY AMIDE (NYLON)

Used as films in packaging. Major properties:
High mechanical strength High elongation Excellent resistance to puncture perforations, abrasion and bursting Properties remain unchanged between 30 deg cent. To 120 deg cent. Very good barrier to gases especially oxygen. Easily printable Could be oriented.

POLY AMIDE (NYLON)

Major uses in flexibles:
Films for coextrusion in packaging of oils and fats Packaging of bitumen Vacuum packaging

Lonomer
A generic term for polymers containing interchain ionic bond. Most common trade name is surlyn. Major properties:
Outstanding puncture and impact resistance Maintain impact and flexibility even at very low temperature Outstanding hot tack property Oil and grease resistance Excellent adhesion to other materials such as nylon and foils Good seal strength Transparency with low haze

Lonomer
Major uses in flexibles: Major application is in the form of tie layer between nylon and PE in coextruded laminate for oil pack. Other uses in multilayer structure Heavy gauge film used in skin packaging of hardware and electronic parts

BOPP
Advantages: Good Printability High Moisture Barrier Softer and Easily Tearable Low Density leading to High Yield Disadvantages: Heat Sensitive exhibiting shrinkage whilst printing and packing operations Low corona retention period

Thank you