Importance of bioplastics acknowledged at Reifenhäuser Open House

Reifenhäuser’s Blown Film Open House, held during the Interpack show last month, attracted some over 100 visitors from 27 countries. 

"The short trip of our customers from the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf to us in Troisdorf was of high value for them“, explained Ralf Pampus, sales director for blown film. "Viewing lines in operation, observing live how products are run with what results while entering in dialog with Reifenhäuser experts is a clear benefit.“

A highlight at the Open House was the EVO 5-layer line producing different biofilms using raw materials from various manufacturers. Reifenhäuser used “GuiltfreePlastics^®” from its cooperation partner United Biopolymers to demonstrate the EVO Ultra Stretch. This next generation starch based bioplastic may contain up to 90% renewable resources and is both 100% recycable and 100% biodegradable. The material can be stretched inline with EVO Ultra Stretch up to a ratio of 6:1. The result is better mechanical properties, maximum transparency and totally new applications opened up for the use of bioplastics in the packaging industry. Here, the EVO technology for modular blown film lines for 3 to 12+ layers scores above all with significantly reduced complexity and films of the highest quality, thus “Setting The New Standard” in blown film production.

Alternative materials used in the production of plastics are a key issue for the packaging industry and were also the focus of the Open House event: "Biomaterials are not just a trend anymore, but are establishing themselves in many fields of applications,“ explained Eugen Friedel, Senior Sales Manager at Reifenhäuser Blown Film. Today, not only T-shirt carrier bags are ecologically produced but to an increasing extent also fruit and vegetable bags, garbage bags for biowaste and mulch film for the agricultural industry.

Reifenhäuser's showed various solutions for the production of blown film. "Crucial for film quality is the raw material processability on the extruder,“ Eugen Friedel pointed out. "Due to their considerably lower melt temperatures biomaterials need to be processed on cold running extruders. Reifenhäuser extruders offer this feature and are able to produce a homogeneous melt even at low temperatures which are necessary for perfect processing of biomaterials.“

Next to the material provided by United Biopolymers, bioplastic materials from Novamont were also demonstrated at the Reifenhäuser Technology Center. The biomaterials of both companies are perfectly suited for the Ultra Flat Plus and Ultra Stretch technologies, where the film is stretched so that it becomes extremely thin. The result is impressive: The extremely thin film features higher strength and thus better stability; a further advantage is the fact that the film producer can reduce the raw material costs due to the simple fact that less raw material is needed.

“Our technologies are convincing,” Pampus concluded. “We were able to demonstrate again that our lines fulfill all requirements of our customers to produce blown films of optimum quality. Additionally, the quality discussions we had with our visitors will enable us to continue our technology developments to support our customers’ needs."

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