Reifenhäuser Open House: technology know-how for production with biopolymers
Worms / Troisdorf, June 2, 2017 | During the Interpack trade fair Reifenhäuser Blown Film invited its customers to an Open House in Troisdorf. "Our customers from the packaging industry invest in production efficiency and quality“, says Ralf Pampus, Sales Director at Reifenhäuser Blown Film. Therefore, the focus of the Reifenhäuser Open House event was on the following subjects: economical blown film technology, production efficiency, latest developments and process solutions to improve film properties and process stability.
Over 100 visitors from 27 countries are numbers that speak for themselves. "The short trip of our customers from the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf to us in Troisdorf was of high value for them“, explains Ralf Pampus. "Viewing lines in operation, observing live how products are run with what results while entering in dialog with Reifenhäuser experts is a clear benefit.“
EVO blown film lines produce biofilms
A highlight at the Open House was the EVO line generation. Visitors who were not able to get to know EVO, for example at K2016, now had the opportunity to see an EVO 5-layer line producing different biofilms using raw materials from various manufacturers. For demonstrating the EVO Ultra Stretch Reifenhäuser processed the bioplastic “GuiltfreePlastics®” from our cooperation partner United Biopolymers. This next generation starch based bioplastic may contain up to 90% renewable resources and is both 100% recycable and 100% biodegradable. The material can be stretched inline with EVO Ultra Stretch up to a ratio of 6:1. The result is better mechanical properties, maximum transparency and totally new applications opened up for the use of bioplastics in the packaging industry. Here the EVO technology for modular blown film lines for 3 to 12+ layers scores above all with significantly reduced complexity and films of the highest quality, thus “Setting The New Standard” in blown film production.
Technology know-how for the processing of biomaterials
Alternative materials used in the production of plastics are a key issue for the packaging industry and were also the focus of the Open House event: "Biomaterials are not just a trend anymore, but are establishing themselves in many fields of applications,“ explains Eugen Friedel, Senior Sales Manager at Reifenhäuser Blown Film. Here the HDPE resin is successfully replaced with biomaterials. Today, not only T-shirt carrier bags are ecologically produced but to an increasing extent also fruit and vegetable bags, garbage bags for biowaste and mulch film for the agricultural industry. Reifenhäuser's solutions for the production of blown film were convincing: "Crucial for film quality is the raw material processability on the extruder,“ says Eugen Friedel. "Due to their considerably lower melt temperatures biomaterials need to be processed on cold running extruders. Reifenhäuser extruders offer this feature and are able to produce a homogeneous melt even at low temperatures which are necessary for perfect processing of biomaterials.“
Beside the films of United Biopolymers also products of the Italian producer Novamont were shown in the Reifenhäuser Technology Center. The biomaterials of both companies are perfectly suited for the Ultra Flat Plus and Ultra Stretch technologies where the film is stretched so that it becomes extremely thin. The result is impressive: The extremely thin film features higher strength and thus better stability, and it offers a further advantage: The film producer can reduce his raw material costs due to the simple fact that less raw material is needed.
Ralf Pampus concludes: “Our technologies are convincing. We were able to demonstrate again that our lines fulfill all requirements of our customers to produce blown films of optimum quality. Additionally, the quality discussions we had with our visitors will enable us to continue our technology developments to support our customers needs."
