“Unique” water-based heatseal for recycled PET

“Latiseal B7707AR is the first water-based heat seal that suits all rPET stocks​,” Isabelle Valois, the company’s marketing development manager told FoodProductionDaily.com. “The new heat seal has been tested on a myriad of rePET and performs reliably with all of them​. It is the only water-based product that suits all stocks of rPET ​(whatever their variability),​” said Valois.

In addition its versatility, the heatseal provides perfectly-bonded recycled rPET blister packages and do not crystallize over time, claims Valois. “Unlike some packages there’s no crystalisation after certain periods of time that can cause blister packages to breakdown​.”

Environmentally friendly​

As a water-based heatseal, Latiseal is said to be more environmentally friendly and easier to work with that solvent-based seals. “Since it’s a water based treatment, it’s sustainable and there are no volatile components that are associated with solvent based seals. That means no ventilation system is needed to work with them,​” said Valois.

A low seal temperature treatment, Latiseal is said to result in significantly lower energy consumption.

And lower coating weights are claimed to cut transportation costs and reduce the amount of product sent to landfill waste.

Other benefits include: Adhesion to recycled polyester blisters; options for offset, flexographic and roll coat application and application off-line.

North America​

The product, which is not approved for direct food contact, is currently available only in North America but will soon be available worldwide, said Valois.

Although precise pricing information was not available, the company said that water-based seals are cheaper than solvent-based ones. “On an applied cost, the waterbased heatseal will be lower because you apply less and get same functionality. Also, water-based heatseals are applied in-line on the press compared with a two-step process for solvent-based product. This improves production up-time and reduces operational costs,” ​said the company.

Latiseal B7707AR ​ is to showcased at the Print 09 event be held in Chicago between September 11- 16.

Meanwhile, Henkel has also launched Latiseal B7780AR for regular PET for in-line applications over wet inks. “Suitable for all blister packaging coating equipment, Latiseal B7780AR eliminates two-step processes, improves production up-time, and reduces operational costs​,” according to the company.