In Germany, snack maker myCHIPSBOX is using compostable, biobased films made of wood pulp in its chip bags. The packaging was designed by Futarama using NatureFlex barrier film manufactured by Bio4Pack.
Futamura’s Andy Sweetman tells PackagingInsights that creating biobased packaging for chips—which are sensitive to moisture and light—was a technical challenge.
“What we have here is a laminate of two different materials: NatureFlex on the outside providing the barrier properties, laminated to an-other material on the inside which is giving perfect seal integrity,” he says. “So although we are using two different materials, what they have in common is that they are both compostable, providing an option for end-of-life reuse of the material through composting, whereas otherwise conventional plastics will not be recyclable.”
Sweetman adds that the bags are available throughout Europe but there are opportunities to expand into America.
“Two or three years ago, this type of pack wasn’t possible. It’s the introduction of higher barrier materials from us and metallization techniques which allow us to achieve these kind of properties, so it’s very much a development of the last two or three years,” Sweetman says.