Constantia Flexibles and ExxonMobil develop recyclable freezer films

Constantia Drukpol, one of the Polish plants of leading flexible packaging converter Constantia Flexibles, has teamed up with ExxonMobil, a supplier of polyethylene resins, to develop an innovative freezer film for the ready-to-use plant-based food brand Bonduelle.

This collaboration led to the development of a mono-material polyethylene (PE) material designed to replace traditional multi-material metalized films, which can make the packaging easier to recycle and better suited for a variety of vegetables.

The new film can address the packaging needs for both ‘easy to pack’ vegetables such as peas and green beans and ‘challenging to pack’ vegetables like spinach and broccoli, which were the primary focus of this project due to their tougher packaging requirements.

Arnaud Warusfel, packaging development manager at Bonduelle Europe Long Life, said: ‘For our retail frozen bag category, we aimed to replace our historical multi-material metalized film, which can be difficult to recycle. We selected a mono-material PE solution without adhesives to facilitate easier recycling compared to multi-material solutions. Throughout the development process, we encountered numerous challenges but successfully overcame them with the technical expertise of Constantia Drukpol and ExxonMobil.’

‘The results were impressive: yhe new packaging has also been positively welcomed by the market in terms of quality and aesthetics,’ added Marc Rademacher, EVP of consumer commercial at Constantia Flexibles.

In the lab, the reinforced material for ‘challenging to pack’ vegetables demonstrated superior puncture and tear resistance, encouraging Bonduelle to conduct a factory trial. The film performed excellently on Bonduelle’s vertical form fill seal (VFFS) packaging line, showing robust abrasion resistance and maintaining high speeds, which were key to its adoption in addition to a marketplace acceptance for Bonduelle brand to stand out on shelves.

Constantia Drukpol was selected for its strong HD flexography printing expertise and experience in blown coextrusion film, lamination, laser cutting, and pouch-making.

‘ExxonMobil was responsible for polymer production, and our team at Constantia Drukpol focused on film production and excellence in printing. The results were impressive: The new packaging has also been positively welcomed by the market in terms of quality and aesthetics,’ concluded Rademacher.