Flint Group launches chlorine-free heat sealable coatings

Launched in support of its overall sustainability vision of ‘supporting packaging markets with responsibly built products and sustainable solutions designed for circular economies’, the new portfolio is designed for a wide range of film, paper and aluminum packaging applications and is based on a number of binder technologies ensuring suitability no matter what substrate is used. 

The chlorine-free heat sealable coating range meets all technical and regulatory requirements and provides a solution for the latest mono-material packaging structures designed for today’s recycling infrastructure. 

Stephen Butler, product manager for Flint Group Flexible Packaging in Europe, said: ‘Many brands and corporations are seeking to eliminate polyvinyl chloride from their packaging due to concerns about its impact on the recyclability of packs, as well as the environment. When PVC is mechanically recycled in today’s typical recycling stream, the high processing temperature can cause degradation of the resin into smaller chlorinated components, which can impact the quality of the resulting recyclate.’

Butler continued, ‘At Flint Group, we are committed to building products responsibly ensuring we do not use harmful substances and, wherever possible, utilize responsibly sourced materials to help drive a more sustainable future for our industry. This new range of chlorine-free heat sealable coatings is testament to that commitment.’

Alongside the post-consumer packaging recycling advantages, NexisCode chlorine-free heat sealable coatings have a number of benefits, according to the company; these include the possibility to heat-seal pack structures based on non-sealable mono-materials to achieve a reduction in total packaging weight and low thermal sealing properties enabling their use in temperature-sensitive packaging applications. 

The new range from Flint Group Flexible Packaging also offers printing process versatility. It is suitable for rotogravure, flexographic and coating applications and is available in both peelable and non-peelable formats for tear performance on a wide range of packaging substrates. Compliant with the European food contact material regulations, with some products being designed for direct food contact, the coatings range is defined as low migration due to its particular chemical composition. 

The launch includes a range of solvent-based coatings sealable against soft and hard aluminum, as well as polyolefin and PET films, alongside a complete portfolio for paper packaging structures that are fully re-pulpable in a post-consumer recycling process. 

Butler concluded: ‘With our new range of NexisCode chlorine-free heat sealable coatings covering a broad range of flexible packaging and paper & board packaging applications, we enable our customers to achieve robust and sustainable heat sealing for almost any packaging application.’