Mondi to showcase EcoFresh sustainable pouch solution

At Packaging Innovations, held at the NEC in Birmingham, U.K., 1-2 March 2017, Surrey, U.K.-based Mondi Consumer Goods Packaging says it will showcase the fully recyclable EcoFresh pouch for the first time.

Mondi Deeside Sales Director Julie Eller says, “EcoFresh is an exciting development for our existing and market leading FreshTECH pouch range. We recognised that too much plastic goes to landfill, so we’ve developed a material which means that our new EcoFresh pouches are fully recyclable.”

Mondi Deeside Senior Technical Manager Graeme Smith adds, “Combined with our postharvest science technology (bespoke micro perforations), pouches offer an excellent light-weight alternative to trays and provide excellent shelf-life properties. Pouches are convenient, versatile and can offer reclosability, meaning that even after the product has been opened, the atmosphere of the pack can remain at its optimum to help to reduce food waste.

“However, the traditional combination of materials required to provide the visual shelf presence, strength and barrier properties has meant using a mixture of polymer resins,” he continues. “Until now, that made these pouches nearly impossible to recycle.”

Smith says Mondi has developed a pouch made solely from polypropylene (PP) resins. “This means that when the packaging is to be disposed of, it could be fully recycled,” he says. “The EcoFresh pouch does not contains outer film materials, such as polyester, and the specially developed polypropylene laminate used in the construction of this pouch has been designed to have very similar properties to that of traditional laminate.”

Smith says products using mixed-polymer modified-atmosphere pouches can be transferred to the EcoFresh pouch. “Existing shelf-life tests / checks will be the same as those already carried out from the initial design – with the added benefit that this product is 100% recyclable,” he adds.

Visitors to stand C28 at Packaging Innovations also can learn more about GravureTech – an new approach to the original high-definition printing process – and see products from Mondi Consumer Goods Packaging’s extensive CookTech range.

Mondi Consumer Goods Packaging is a leading manufacturer of flexible packaging innovations for the international food industry and has been producing pouches in the U.K. since 1999.

To view a video with more information on EcoFresh, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSf3o56YaQQ&feature=youtu.be.