Application analysis of functional packaging film

Application analysis of functional packaging film in China

this means that even after years of exposure, with the development of society and the improvement of people's living standards, the packaging of products is not limited to visual effects, but should develop in depth in the direction of functionality according to the characteristics of products and market needs. In recent years, the progress of technology has made the functional development trend of plastic packaging film increasingly obvious. Plastic packaging film with high requirements and high-tech content is becoming the pillar industry and R & D goal of many enterprises

in addition to the anti-static, anti adhesion and smoothness requirements for general films, now mainly through the adjustment of raw materials, additives or processes, packaging films are endowed with some special functions, such as the straightness, tightness and heat shrinkage required for cigarette and beverage packaging, ensuring the permeability required for fresh packaging of vegetables and fruits, the high optical performance required for perspective packaging that can be clearly identified by buyers, and in food, cosmetics The barrier and antibacterial properties are widely needed in medicine. The functionalization of film improves the added value of products, and it is a hot spot in the development of flexible packaging materials

I. application status

functional films mainly include high barrier films, new fresh-keeping films, sterile and antibacterial films, high heat-resistant films, antistatic films, nano films, etc. at present, China takes high barrier films, new fresh-keeping films, high heat-resistant films, sterile and antibacterial films as the development and application hotspot, which are mainly used in various food packaging. High barrier packaging film has become a hot spot in recent years, and it is one of the fastest growing functional films at present. After aluminizing, the barrier property of some films is enhanced. For example, the functional aluminized film produced by Xiamen Haoju import and Export Co., Ltd. is mainly used in xufuji's candy and cake packaging

(I) high barrier film is developing to a new technical level

in order to ensure the safety of food in packaging, many products require packaging materials to have high barrier. Fat food requires high oxygen and oil resistance; Dry food is required to have high moisture resistance, and aromatic food is required to have high fragrance retention; Fresh fruits and vegetables require high permeability of oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. In addition, the packaging materials should also have high tensile strength, tear resistance, impact resistance, excellent chemical stability, and do not have any chemical reaction with the inner food, so as to ensure the safety of the inner food

with the acceleration of the pace of life and the improvement of living standards, there is an increasing demand for various convenience foods, such as meat products, dairy products, halogenated products, etc. in addition, barrier plastic films are also widely used in the packaging of cosmetics, tea, chemical reagents, pesticides, spices, feed and other products. With the improvement of food protection requirements, new high barrier plastic packaging materials have been widely used abroad. The use of high-strength high barrier plastic can not only improve the protection of food, but also reduce the amount of plastic when packaging the same amount of food. For processed foods requiring high barrier protection, vacuum packaging, inflatable packaging, etc., high-quality composite packaging materials are generally used, and there must be more than one layer of high barrier materials in the multi-layer composite materials. For example, nano modified new high barrier packaging materials, nano composite polyamide, ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyvinyl alcohol, etc

at present, the high barrier functional film is developing to a new technical level. The hose honey packaging jointly developed by Shanghai Sanying and Zhejiang fengzhiyu bee industry group innovatively adopts the all plastic composite hose packaging. The composite pipe uses the transparent EVOH high barrier film as the barrier layer. Under the condition of successfully replacing aluminum foil, the problem of moisture and oxygen permeability is solved through five layer coextrusion. And the visibility of the content is greatly enhanced, so that consumers can have a glance at the golden luster and translucent characteristics of honey, and enhance consumers' desire to buy and sense of security in use. At the same time, it solves the disadvantages of fragile traditional glass bottles and difficult to open tinplate cans

(II) heat shrinkable packaging film has developed rapidly

in recent years, heat shrinkable packaging film has developed rapidly, and is expanding from a single PVC to PE, PP, PVDC, pet and PA films. With the continuous change of market demand, heat shrinkable film is developing in the direction of multi-level and functionality, and many new technologies and products have emerged. Multilayer coextrusion composite heat shrinkable film is made by coextrusion with linear low-density polyethylene as the intermediate layer and coextrusion grade polypropylene as the inner and outer layer. It has the advantages of PE and PP and is superior to single-layer PE or PP film. Because the hardness value is determined by the initial plastic deformation resistance and continuous plastic deformation resistance, it is a heat shrinkable packaging material widely used in the world at present. Single layer heat shrinkable film is widely used in fast food pasta, and multi-layer heat shrinkable film is also widely used in fresh meat and fatty food packaging

II. Application misunderstandings

(I) misunderstandings 1: Misunderstandings in cost

why is such a packaging material with excellent performance repeatedly hindered in market promotion

"the key is cost." A person in the industry said the view of his peers in the industry:

"based on the characteristics of its production process, the price of functional films is generally high, which leads to the high cost of final packaging products, and reduces the market competitiveness of this kind of packaging products to a certain extent." Therefore, many soft packaging manufacturers are cautious about the use of such films, and try to avoid using them unless specified by customers or required by product characteristics. It can be said that cost is the biggest obstacle to the market promotion of functional films

an expert who has been engaged in the application and promotion of high barrier films for a long time told that in China, the slow progress in the promotion and application of functional materials such as high barrier is mainly due to the "misunderstanding" in the understanding of the cost performance of functional films. As a result, it is promoted faster in some fields, such as milk packaging, while it is slow to promote and apply in some soft packaging. The key to the successful application of milk film is that it can greatly reduce the cost for terminal enterprises by more than 20%, and the benefit is "obvious". The main reason for the slow promotion of flexible packaging is that there is a big gap between the domestic external environment and foreign countries. The application of high barrier materials in foreign countries has reached more than 50%, and a large number of them are used in food and drugs. High barrier materials are generally used for those with long shelf life requirements, but less than 10% in China, and the mentality of most enterprises is "don't use it if you can". At present, the profits of the domestic food industry are very low, and they generally focus on the low-level competition mode of "price war". If we use high barrier materials, it will obviously increase the relevant costs, even adding a dime will also increase. Therefore, everyone is holding the mentality of "mix if you can", and some food packaged with film will basically not use barrier film but ordinary film

relevant people said that in fact, cost is not an absolute obstacle, but the key is the misunderstanding of cost performance

the comprehensive application of various composite methods has greatly improved the quality of products, and the added value of products is also reflected. It is undoubtedly attractive for high-end consumers. This can not only avoid the vicious competition between the low-end soft bag Market and the industry, but also effectively reduce costs by selecting high-function and low-cost raw materials. Industry experts also pointed out that functional packaging materials are not generally believed to have defects in cost. For example, if 10g of raw materials were packed with functional films, only 8g and 9g might be needed. Although the cost has increased, the materials are relatively saved, and the performance is better than the original packaging materials, which can save production losses, transportation costs, etc, This is also in line with the national goal of creating a conservation oriented society

experts said that the breakthrough in the application of functional films still lies in food

Mr. Hu of the marketing department of Shanghai Sanying packaging materials Co., Ltd., which mainly produces functional films for food packaging, believes that due to different production equipment, different sources of material procurement, and different personnel costs, the production costs of various enterprises are also different. In addition, the fluctuation of international oil price has a great impact on the whole industry of our country. He believes that the biggest resistance comes from external cognition rather than internal cognition

his statement was confirmed in interviews with relevant people. It is understood that the application of functional films in the south is better, such as the coastal areas of Guangdong and Zhejiang, but the promotion and application in the mainland is worse. The main reason is the economic differences of consumers and the lack of understanding of functional films. For example, the once controversial "preservative film poisoning incident" also caused doubts about the understanding of functional films to the public in China

Yang Bao, sales manager of Xiamen Haoju import and Export Co., Ltd., told: now some milk producers and sellers claim that their product supply with stable production performance and quality and the strategy of playing to meet market demand can reach the shelf life of 30 days for milk packaging produced and sold, which is actually impossible. Of course, this does not mean that the shelf life of 30 days can not be reached, mainly because the cost is unacceptable. If the shelf life of 30 days is really to be achieved, materials with very good barrier must be used, and then aluminized to ensure the shelf life of 30 days, but the cost naturally goes up, and even the cost of packaging is several times higher than the cost of milk, So we can only use some other packaging materials with relatively low cost, such as bottles. Therefore, cost is still a factor limiting it

(II) misunderstanding 2: misunderstanding of definition

Chen Changjie, Secretary General of Shanghai Green Packaging Association, told: he believes that so far, there is no "objective and complete" definition in the industry. For the definition of functional packaging film, he has a different understanding from the current popular definition in the industry. He believes that functional packaging film is a material with some or some special properties that ordinary packaging film does not have, that is, some people talk about differentiated film. If it is only divided into high barrier, antistatic, heat-resistant, etc., this classification is not very comprehensive, and the current definition of functional film can not cover all functional films, for example, if it is classified by material, For example, shrinkable films cannot be included in functional films. In addition, the "fresh-keeping" of fresh-keeping film is mainly compared with breathing and living products such as fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, fresh-keeping and quality assurance are a little confused now. Strictly speaking, the packaging film used for milk and meat should be quality assurance

Chen Changjie also has his own different understanding of the statement that the functional films currently used are mainly high barrier, heat resistance and fresh-keeping films: for example, like shrinkable films, which experimental machine should we choose to change? The current application is much more than heat-resistant film and fresh-keeping film. As for the fresh-keeping film, the current development is far from enough. For different fruits and vegetables, in fact, the requirements for fresh-keeping are different. Some have little oxygen permeability, and some may be relatively large. Although the potential of fresh-keeping film is great, it should be applied in China