McCullagh Coffee, a US coffee roasting company, introduces a compostable pack, for its Rainforest Alliance Certified Ecoverde Coffee brand, using cellulose-based, NatureFlex™ from Innovia Films (www.innoviafilms.com).
 
Warren Emblidge III, VP, sales and marketing outlines why the Buffalo NY based firm chose NatureFlex over other packaging films that are available on the market, "We were looking for a partner with a commitment to developing cutting edge compostable packaging to support our sustainability initiatives and Innovia was a great match."
 
NatureFlex films offer advantages for packing and converting such as inherent deadfold and anti-static properties, high gloss and resistance to grease and oil, good barrier to gases, aromas and mineral oils and a wide heat-seal range.
 
The pack is constructed using transparent, heat-sealable NatureFlex NE, which is surface printed using a videojet machine.
 
NatureFlex films are certified to meet the American ASTM D6400, European EN13432 and Australian AS4736 standards for compostable packaging. The wood-pulp is sourced from managed plantations. The renewable biobased content of NatureFlex films is typically 95% by weight of material according to ASTM D6866.
 
NatureFlex™ was an obvious solution for use in this application as the film begins life as a natural product – wood - and breaks down at the end of its lifecycle in a home compost bin (or industrial compost environment) within a matter of weeks. It is also confirmed as suitable for emerging 'waste to energy' techniques such as anaerobic digestion. 
 

 “We were delighted to assist McCullagh Coffee in realizing their sustainability goals. In applications such as this, where fast product turnover requires much shorter shelf life, a single mono web structure is one option. However, we would recommend coffee producers requiring very long shelf life to use high barrier tri-laminate type structures.  Innovia Films’ NatureFlex portfolio offers a variety of solutions for coffee packaging, from single ply through to multi-layer films to create high barrier laminate structures” says Christopher Tom, Innovia Films Americas.