Taghleef Industries - When sustainability

In August 2010, Taghleef announced the start-up of NATIVIA films production at its Italian plant. Seven years later, the company is still the front-runner in the flexible packaging industry, addressing resource depletion and helping society shift away from dependency on fossil fuels.

Small regional brands and large food retailers alike have chosen NATIVIA films to differentiate their products from the competition, using the packaging as a communication and marketing tool towards increasingly environmentally keen consumers.

Environmental and technical advantages

The NATIVIA range offers two environmental advantages: the biobased content is four-star-certified (bio-based content greater than 80%) by Vinçotte, and NATIVIA films are certified as industrially compostable. As proposed in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation report, 'The New Plastics Economy', "compostable packaging can help to return organic nutrients to the soil in applications that are prone to be mixed with organic contents after use."

Taghleef understands that packaging must also fulfil many technical requirements, and NATIVIA films bring their own properties including:

• high mechanical strength
• very strong seals
• excellent transparency and gloss
• consistent surface energy (37MN/m) allowing good printability
• high moisture transmission rate
• low aroma transmission rate
• anti-fog properties
• paper-like dead fold
• excellent twist
• alcohol, fat and oil resistance
• excellent barrier against mineral oils.

From bread to pet food

Italian retail chains like Esselunga and Unes have switched from paper plus BOPP window to paper plus NATIVIA window for bags used to pack bread and pizza at bakery corners in their supermarkets. The bags have a double end-of-life option: they can be recycled in the paper stream, or can be reused as organic waste containers, ending up in industrial composting facilities. In the UK, NATIVIA NTSS film is used as a sealing layer in lamination with paper for high-end pet food VFFS bags to replace PE (polyethylene). NATIVIA's high seal strength and low-sealing temperature (85°C) allows downgauging of the sealing layer, and the design of a fully compostable final packaging in line with end-users' values. NATIVIA D808 in 20µm thickness is used as the sealing layer in a complex structure for compostable-coffeecapsules lidding. D808 thermal properties guarantee improved heat stability, which is fundamental for such applications where the film needs to withstand brewing temperatures between 90 and 100°C.

Unique voided film

NATIVIA NESS is the first voided bio-based film available on the market. Created using starch from the side stream of potato processing and polylactic acid, it is eco-friendly. It provides a higher yield (kg/m²) compared with standard bioplastic films, with a density below 1g/cm³. It features reduced show-through and overcomes the noisiness of PLA films. It's suitable for lamination with other bio-based films and paper, or can be used as monoweb with heat-seal or cold-seal adhesive. NATIVIA NESS has been successfully tested as wrapping film for Mars and Snickers bars; it fulfils all product protection requirements for chocolate packaging, is food approved and achieves the same speed as a standard polypropylene film on HFFS packaging machines. NATIVIA NZES is the metallised version of NESS, adding oxygen and water-vapour barrier functionalities to the film.

Continuous innovation

Taghleef is currently working on two innovation axes: exploring different voiding technologies to offer solutions for improved yield and packaging-weight reduction, and solutions for improved gas barrier properties and moisture to open the doors for new applications of NATIVIA films.