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Metpack’s paper Ezycompost benefits from a coating with BASF’s ecovio 70 PS14H6
Metpack, Istanbul, is offering coated paper and paperboard which is certified home-compostable OK Compost Home from TÜV Austria. Metpack’s paper Ezycompost benefits from a coating with BASF’s ecovio 70 PS14H6. The biopolymer is certified home-compostable (OK Compost Home) and adds several functional advantages to paper for food packaging: It is food-contact approved (FDA) and shows excellent barrier properties against liquids, fats, grease, and mineral oil as well as temperature stability at boiling water (up to 100°C).
The combination of proven compostability and excellent performance gives paper packaging manufacturers and food brands the certainty that food packaging articles made of Ezycompost can be safely used by consumers and create no persistent mircoplastics in home compost after usage. The new home-compostable solution thus supports organics recycling of food waste and helps to close the nutrient loop to achieve a circular economy.
There is a big trend in society, in some countries driven by legislation, to move from pure plastic to paper-based packaging, which in itself is not suitable for a lot of different foods, especially with liquid or fatty ingredients.
The new home-compostable, coated paper by Metpack can be used for many food-contact applications like cold/hot cups as well as pots and trays for deep-freezing or microwave use. It can be manufactured on standard forming lines, enabling faster coating speeds and 40 per cent thinner coating than polylactic acid (PLA). Ecovio 70 PS14H6 allows for coating line speeds comparable to polyethylene (PE). The material shows no adhesion to chill roll, outstanding sealing and printing properties and can be processed by mono or co-extrusion without adhesives.
“With Ezycompost, we can offer the food industry the best of both worlds when it comes to coated paper packaging”, says Sühan Gürer, Vice President Sales and New Project Development, Metpack. “It has the same strength as PE-coated paper but with the added benefit that it is certified compostable and creates no persistent microplastics in organic or paper waste streams. Its faster processing and home-compostability are a double advantage compared to coatings made of PLA, which is only industrial compostable. This all enables the food packaging industry to differentiate their products without compromise on performance and quality, as well as reach its sustainability targets.”
Metpack’s paper solution is certified up to a grammage of 334 gsm in total composition.
After usage, food packaging made of Ezycompost coated with ecovio 70 PS14H6 can be composted in garden home compost according to national legislation. Thus, BASF’s home-compostable ecovio extends the end-of-life options for paper food packaging.
“Our ecovio 70 PS14H6 is also industrial compostable and performs well in paper recycling,” says Michael Bernhard Schick from global marketing Biopolymers at BASF. “Its home compostability is even certified according to Australian standard AS 5810, which is the most stringent one in the world. Our biopolymer is available with a bio-based content between 70 and 80 per cent of renewable resources according to ASTM D 6866. If customers want to reduce their Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) even further, we can also supply a certified biomassed-balanced (BMB) grade: At the beginning of production, its fossil-based feedstock is 100 per cent replaced with waste-based biomass which is then attributed to the BMB grade and thus has a 25 per cent lower PCF than the standard ecovio grade.”
The BMB grade comes with the same properties, performance, machine processability and biodegradation certificates as the standard ecovio 70 PS14H6. Due to its excellent migration barrier properties the BASF biopolymer also enables the use of recycled paper in food applications.