PE_Toppan

Toppan has expanded its GL BARRIER barrier range with a mono-material PE barrier designed to package liquid products in a durable, sterile, and easy-to-recycle material.

Reportedly, the PE barrier is suitable for boiling sterilisation and designed to incorporate drop strength. This is made possible by a high-grade vapour deposition layer, an original barrier coating, and converting techniques modelled on GL BARRIER technologies that can, it is said, overcome challenges for packaging types for which high barrier performance has previously been difficult to achieve.

Aiming to meet ‘growing demand’ in the European and North American markets, the company claims that vapour deposition has previously posed a challenge with PE packaging and that its new barrier supersedes existing designs of its kind.

Toppan anticipates that the barrier will be used in refill pouches for the food and personal care industries, amongst others, and is expected to launch sales next year, with samples becoming available globally in the spring.

The development comes in light of Toppan’s Medium Term Plan, released in May 2021, which aims towards ‘digital and sustainable transformation’ and is said to foreground environmental progress. 

Toppan has also announced an all-PP barrier designed for retortability. Mondi has recently produced a similar high barrier solution to vacuum-package Handl Tyrol bacon.

TIPA announced its own 312MET barrier film in September. Intended to package crisps and nuts, it is supposedly compostable at home and on an industrial level, and is expected to tackle the vast amounts of crisp- and nut-related packaging waste recorded in the UK every year.

Last year, Toppan unveiled its GL-X-P barrier solution for paper-based packaging, also thought to provide flex resistance to packaging across various sectors.