High-barrier mono-polyethylene solutions for 100% recyclable flexible packaging

RKW, a leading manufacturer of excellent film solutions, and SAES Coated Films, designer and producer of advanced coatings, have jointly developed premium performance films for sustainable food packaging that offer high protection throughout the product lifecycle.

Full recyclability is becoming one of the most important prerequisites for food packaging. While many current products adopt multi-material solutions and are thus not recyclable, monomaterial PE-based packaging meets the requirements for circularity and thus contributes to global sustainability goals.

RKW Group and SAES Coated Films have developed a new high barrier PE film that aims for performance and recyclability at the highest levels. The first customers have already successfully produced recyclable mono-material pouches, also with zip, demonstrating the production efficiency and reliability of the film.

The base film is RKW’s MDO-PE, which combines excellent processability, high temperature resistance and the use of top-notch recycled materials. It can replace stiff films such as polyester or nylon, commonly laminated with PE in multi-material packaging, thus enabling the design of mono-material PE packaging.

To ensure the barrier performance required by the market, SAES applies COATHINK^®, a combination of water-based deposition and metallisation that reduces oxygen and water vapour permeation to rates below 1. The barrier material represents less than 1-2% the weight of the packaging, as recommended by the main international guidelines on recycling.

With the plastics industry moving toward sustainable solutions and contributing to a circular economy, the innovative film from RKW and SAES Coated Films meets current legislative demands. Just as importantly, it offers customers a future-proof, recyclable and reliable packaging solution.