BASF and Swedish packaging manufacturer BillerudKorsnäs announced they are developing a home-compostable paper laminate for flexible packaging. The multi-layer film consists of three basic components: BillerudKorsnäs’ paper ConFlex Silk, a sealing layer made of BASF’s home compostable and partly bio-based biopolymer ecovio and BASF’s water-based adhesive Epotal Eco 3675 X which joins the film to the paper. All parts of the multi-layer laminate are food-contact approved, so it can be used to produce wraps with individually adjusted barrier properties. All components are certified home-compostable according to official European certification schemes for home-composting. The laminate reportedly contains a high share of renewables and extends the end-of-life options for multi-layer flexible packaging by being organically recyclable.

The companies say that their solution has the same performance features as conventional multi-layer packaging: It is puncture resistant, shows a good printability, excellent heat-seal properties and can be processed on standard packaging machines. “We wanted to create a paper-based laminate with good heat-seal properties by using certified home-compostable components only,” says Amir Pourirani, head of global marketing Biopolymers at BASF.

Says Markus Saari, business development manager at BillerudKorsnäs, “Our joint development represents a shift to paper-based and compostable material in order to replace traditional laminates for food packaging - meeting hygiene and barrier requirements, maintaining form and enabling many design possibilities just like conventional packaging but with the decisive added benefit that it is home-compostable.”

The sealable laminate is produced in a wet lamination process. The outer layer consists of BillerudKorsnäs’ home-compostable kraft paper ConFlex Silk, which is certified according to OK Compost Home by TÜV Austria. It shows good printability and high strength at a weight of 60 g/m². It is based on a mix of 100% primary fibers. The inner sealing layer of the flexible packaging is made of a blown film out of a particular ecovio grade by BASF, which also holds the “OK Compost Home” certification by TÜV Austria.

The film is designed to be suitable for mono and co-extrusion and easy to seal. The sealing is laminated to the paper layer with BASF’s water-based dispersion Epotal Eco 3675 X. This adhesive is certified by DIN Certco as home-compostable according to DIN EN 13432, testing basis NF T 51-800. It can be processed like other adhesives by use of standard lamination machines and shows an excellent performance on different biodegradable substrates.

Visit www.basf.com/global for more information.