Wipak presents new monomaterial, retortable, heat-resistant pouch
08 Aug 2023 | Wipak
At Interpack 2023, Wipak showcased the company’s new pouches for wet pet food, baby foods and ready meals. The pouches, previously aluminum-based, are now monomaterial PP-based applications to preserve products in recyclable and reusable packaging in line with European legislation. We speak to Wipak’s regional managing director for South Europe, Marco Reggi, and the company’s sales director, Davide Zinzalini, about the pouch.
This is Natalie Wet from Packaging Insights.
I'm today at the InterpC trade show and now at the VPAC stand with Marco Recci, regional managing director South Europe, and Davide Zinzalini, sales director.
Hi Marco.
Hi, nice to meet you.
Marco.
What can you tell us about the solutions you show?
Facing basically today we are presenting one of the most innovative solutions in the flexible packaging industry.
Following the strategy in supporting the carbon zero neutrality of the company, we developed a very brand new solution for baby food, retort, wet pet food, and ready meals, and we are one of the few companies that has this enhanced today like I have.
What can you tell us about the pouch you're presenting today?
It's a combination of technology.
It's a long term project we had.
We started from the classical aluminum-based material that is the most common in the market, and in the last 24 months we have been able to work on monostructures, so basically PP material in a combination of different barriers and different applications, in order to preserve the product of our customers and having the same bioproperties.
Monomaterial be ready to be recycled.
Can you give me some more information on the environmental sustainability credentials and how the new plastic pouch is more sustainable than the aluminum one?
Very basically, aluminum, and when you combine different plastics with aluminum, it's very hard to recycle.
Basically they are burned.
Having monomaterial and certified monomaterial through mechanical or chemical recycling, you can come back to the polypropylene.
Status, so basically you can reuse the product as many times as you want.
So really in line with European legislation in terms of sustainability.
And Marco, how does the pouch compare to other existing solutions currently on the market?
One of our aims was to keep the performance of the existing pouches in terms of machinability for the customer ends, same efficiency, same way of filling the pouch, and the buyer property.
The real revolution is the part that goes to the recycle stream for our end users, and this is really the big revolution.
Thank you very much.
David, what can you tell us about what you're presenting here today at WPAC?
So good morning everybody.
Thank you, Natalie for the question.
So as Marco has already said, so we are presenting this, let's say innovation, so we are very happy to, we are rushed to get it ready for for Interp and so here we are, and everybody can come and see and pick up samples of this innovation.
As introduced, we have focused not only on this because we have a wide range for all chemical treatments for pasteurization to sterilization.
But the real innovation is this application for retort or sterilization up to 125 degrees.
So this is suitable for baby food, suitable for wet pet food and suitable also for ready meals all the application.
One of the most important also information I can give, it's with some selected partners like EEMA, for example, EMA F shape.
This specification has been already technology-wise tested and validated on usual and commercial film.
Machine on the market.
Another important topic regarding this portable application is that this is available in Europe.
It is available also in our sister company Vimp impact in North America, and it is.
Produce in Italy for Europe.
So in our greenfield factory in Italy.
Now David, you mentioned several markets and the applications for the markets and where would you say have you observed the strongest consumer demands?
I, I have to say everywhere because we have pipeline projects for all the markets we have already mentioned, so baby food and and so on.
I've seen a lot of attention also for the wet pet food as.
So I think this is especially in Europe.
It's a tendency, it's really something that is getting all, all over the market.
OK, thank you very much for speaking to Packaging Insights today, David.
Thank you.
