Volpak, the leading brand in the design and manufacturing of horizontal form-fill machines for flexible pouches, has always considered the environmental impact of packaging as a fundamental key driver in its growth strategies. In May, the company will inaugurate its “PouchLAB”, a new area inside its premises, to serve as an R&D center to support our customers and stakeholders in developing sustainable pouch solutions; combining knowledge and experience of machine and material.
The PouchLAB: a strong asset to develop sustainable pouches
According to several market studies, in the consumer goods industry, users increasingly reward eco-sustainable solutions. Such trend is growing worldwide, supported by increasingly strict international regulation to reduce global warming. Flexible pouching is the fastest growing packaging sector, since it is one of the packaging solutions with lower carbon footprint. Nevertheless, it needs to continue transforming itself into an even eco-friendlier segment, with recyclability on the forefront of its agenda. Studying new ways to reduce carbon footprint is, in fact, one of the main goals of the PouchLAB recently built by Volpak, which hosts a state-of-the-art pouch forming machine, based on FFS technology, and complete testing equipment. Different industry players can take advantage of this area to analyze their material, make pouches and test the quality of different products, all in a controlled environment and with Volpak’s technical expertise. In fact, Volpak’s expertise comes from its long-standing experience in the field of pouch processing and packaging, expressing a unique know-how in such fields as new material applications and energy saving processeses. The PouchLAB will therefore help Volpak’s customers and converter partners both in developing new solutions and exploring new sustainable materials for their packaging, connecting the know-how and expertise of all the players in the flexible pouching industry.
The first-ever recyclable paper pouch
Volpak is further supporting the reduction of carbon footprint with the development of a brand new packaging technology, allowing customers to produce flexible pouches made of 100% recyclable paper. The new technology by Volpak is the first of its kind, pioneering a market shift towards flexible pouching solutions that are also ecological. With some types of plastics soon to be banned in certain countries, the new Volpak equipment also responds to a growing urgency among companies worldwide to adopt paper-based, or other types of recyclable material, for their packaging. The new system is available on new machines, with the option of installing it on existing Volpak machines as an upgrade. The retrofit offers overall improved sealing sequence and equipment, including a variety of format options for the pouch design. Thanks to the modification, the machine converts the existing production line into a fully recyclable one.
