Embracing change in flexible packaging: Industry leaders discuss “radical” R&D developments 

Flexible packaging faces greater hurdles in achieving circularity than other industry segments. Collection and recycling infrastructure are often lacking, and flexible materials can be harder to process than their rigid counterparts. Many products are also multilayered and made of multiple materials. However, producers are tackling these complications, and the market is beginning to change.

Stefano Manfredi, global sales & marketing director at Gualapack, tells Packaging Insights: “In recent years, the landscape of raw materials has undergone a profound transformation. The growing emphasis on sustainability and recyclability has since changed the sector.” 

Torsten Murra, sales director Europe at Mondi Consumer Flexibles, echoes the shift: “Together with our customers, we are on a journey to transform their packaging portfolio to more sustainable solutions.” 

However, Manfredi says achieving sustainability in flexible packaging while maintaining cost-efficiency presents several challenges across industries. Hurdles include the adaptation of manufacturing equipment and ensuring material availability.

“Switching to sustainable materials frequently requires modifications to existing production lines. Machines must be adapted to handle materials with different stretchability, heat resistance or sealing temperatures. These changes can result in longer setup times or require investments in new equipment, driving up costs,” he explains.

Stefano Manfredi, global sales & marketing director at Gualapack.“Additionally, sustainable raw materials often have less developed supply chains, leading to higher prices, longer lead times and potential supply shortages.”

Innovation in designs

According to Manfredi, packaging’s design approach has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. 

“Although Gualapack had already been focusing on sustainability before the recent legislative changes, the most significant shift has been in the priorities driving the design process.”

“In the past decade, the primary goal of technical design was to create innovative products that were sustainable in terms of cost and performance, with the product’s end-of-life considered merely an additional factor. Today, this process has been completely reversed,” he explains.

According to Manfredi, the first step in designing a product involves understanding the target market and a country’s waste disposal and recycling system. This helps designers begin ideation and prototyping with raw materials that meet sustainability goals from the start.

“Sustainability is addressed from various technical perspectives. Currently, key areas of focus in product development include the use of monomaterials and weight reduction, though these are not the only considerations.”

In response to the sustainability challenges, Mondi has launched several new innovations. “We have transformed a big portion of our FlexiBags portfolio to monomaterial last year. But now it is time to introduce the next generation FlexiBag Reinforced packaging,” Murra told us at FachPack 2024.

FlexiBag Reinforced is the latest addition to Mondi’s portfolio of sustainable pre-made plastic bags. It consists of a range of mono-PE-based bags with improved mechanical properties, such as better puncture resistance, stiffness and sealability compared to previous versions.

“One important aspect is that we produce the base material, meaning the PE film, in-house ourselves and can thus tailor to different customers’ specific needs more cost-effectively. The fact that this solution is also more cost-effective than previous solutions further strengthens the proposition of this innovation.”  

According to the company, the final packaging is recyclable and can be produced using recycled content. On top of that, in a recent case, Mondi also incorporated 35% PCR content into their 10 kg packs of vegan dry dog food, meeting future regulatory requirements.The use of PCR materials is a major emerging trend in the industry (Image credit: Gualapack).

Mondi has also introduced a recyclable vacuum packaging solution for coffee, which was developed with coffee producer Paulig. This packaging replaces traditional non-recyclable materials with a high-barrier monomaterial structure that reduces the packaging weight by almost 20%. 

“We prioritize collaboration to develop a fully integrated value chain for flexible packaging and offer a portfolio of innovative solutions in paper, plastic and a combination of both materials — tailored to the specific needs,” Murra highlights.

Collaboration in raw materials

At this year’s FachPack, Murra identified the recyclability of monoplastic solutions as a major industry trend. 

In the past, the sector focused on maximizing performance at the lowest cost by combining materials, resulting in high-performance but non-recyclable products, according to Manfredi.

“On one side, raw material producers had to invest heavily in innovation to develop alternative solutions; on the other, companies using the materials faced a substantial technological leap to adapt to the new production requirements.”

Gualapack has taken an active role in fostering collaboration across the value chain, highlighting the importance of partnerships with raw material manufacturers, recyclers and industry associations in achieving a fully circular economy.

Mondi's product provides protection and preserves the pet food (Image credit: Mondi).“Collaboration with industry partners and associations allows us to identify common risks, anticipate opportunities and stay informed about the latest developments in sustainable plastic packaging. This includes monitoring guidelines on ecodesign with a focus on recyclability and compostability,” says Manfredi.

Gualapack representatives play an active role in initiatives like the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging, a collaboration of over 180 organizations from across the flexible packaging value chain, and the Association of European Recyclers. 

“These partnerships permit us to support industry dialogue and align with new sustainability standards. Additionally, we proactively engage with industry groups and institutional representatives to monitor and prepare for evolving regulations in various regions,” he continues.

“In addition, we engage suppliers and scout the market looking for opportunities for the adoption of chemically recycled PCR materials, mainly polyolefin resins for extrusion or molding, as well as PET.”

Manfredi believes that the PCR material creates high expectations for new technologies aimed at producing these innovative materials, which will need to meet increasingly stringent legal requirements. In the future, instead of just creating high-performing, competitive products, the developing solutions will be both environmentally friendly and safe, complying with the highest standards.