CHINAPLAS: Shaping New Trends for Packaging Industry

Dec 23, 2015

Plastics packaging has occupied over 30% of share in packaging market, thanks to its outstanding properties such as lightweight, versatile, anti-corrosive, anti-abrasive, and easy to process properties and more that other materials cannot match. In the next few years, safe, environmentally friendly, lightweighted, multi-functional and intelligent packaging will remain in mainstreams. Packaging products which feature multiple characteristics such as anti-microbial, high temperature resistant, UV-ray resistant, high barrier, biodegradable and recyclable will be at market's focus. 

Many of the key players involved in advancing these materials and processing technologies will be among those exhibiting in CHINAPLAS 2016 next 25-28 April in Shanghai. 3,200 exhibitors will be categorized into 16 theme zones, such as Automation Technology; Plastic Packaging & Blow Molding Machinery; Extrusion Machinery; Film Technology; Recycling Technology; Chemicals & Raw Materials; Color Pigment and Masterbatch, etc. 

Leading players in plastics packaging over the world are flexing their muscles to push the technologies into limits in order to meet the consumers' needs in this fast changing packaging world. Below are some of the examples. 

Versatile - Multi-functional packaging making inroads 

According to a report of Freedonia, food and beverage, and medical sectors will be the key drivers for the strong demand of packaging products in 2016. These two sectors require high standard of processing techniques and material requirements. Packaging can exhibit multiple functions including high barrier, boiling tolerance, UV-ray resistance, high preservation ability, selective ventilation property, high temperature resistance, anti-microbial, anti-corrosion, deodorization, shape memorization, easiness of re-closure are particularly in high demands. 

To fulfill all these functions, film making technology evolves quickly to extrude multiple layers and integrate them seamlessly with the latest co-extrusion technology. For example, German Kuhne Anlagenbau, also CHINAPLAS 2015 exhibitor, has partnered with DuPont to launch TripleBubble®1 water quenched and bi-oriented film technology. The new co-extrusion technology can provide up to 11 layers of functional polymers, in 20-110μm thickness and the elasticity up to 60%. It demonstrates a good balance of puncture resistance, flexibility, softness, seal performance, transparency, and shrink behavior while saving raw materials up to 50% over conventional laminate structures. 

Typically, cooking pouch is made of heat-resistant plastics with the outer layer of PA/PET high barrier film, the middle layer of aluminum foil for light shielding while the inner one is thermal sealing multi-layer of PE, PP composite films. Recently, the American injection company, Milacron, has presented a cooking can - Klear Can, which can withstand heat up to130°C and its three layer plastic construction (PP-EVOH-PP) allows for a shelf life of 2-5 years. They use a new co-injection system to produce this transparent food can, with which the consumers can see through the food content and in-mold labels with different colors can be applied. 

Smart and efficient production 

The notions of "Made in China 2025" and "Industry 4.0" have encouraged scores of Chinese manufacturers embracing smart production. Many companies have started integrating robotics, digital network and automatic equipment into their production lines, from sorting and picking, precision wielding, packaging, inspection to storage and to transportation. With these in place, it not only increases productivity and precision, but also consumes less power and cut the production cost. 

Bosch's D3 robotic packaging solutions use Paloma D3 feed and top-mounted robot to integrate into Module ++ biscuit packaging production line. This enhanced D3 robotic platform handles higher payloads up to three kilograms and ensures faster speeds to increase pick rates. It can be configured to the diverse applications, thanks to the fully modular design. 

Similarly, Demag's El-Exis SP 200-67 shows off how efficient of injection molding machine can be. The machine is able to produce 4 PP food container injection molding (125ml) with production cycle less than 2 seconds, resulting in 3% - 5% less than the standard production cycle time. The final product is picked up by robotic arm automatically. 

China contenders also show a great progress on the production technology. For example, Guangdong Guozhu Precision Mold Co., Ltd has developed a high speed injection molding system which can produce 600,000 HDPE bottle caps per day and each cap weighs only at 1.95g. Its full output rate can reach as fast as 28.8 thousand per hour. 

Sustainable packaging and end-of-the-life consideration 

Sustainable packaging has drawn a lot of attention in the market amid the rising awareness of environmental protection and imposing global and national legislations on wastes management. Sustainable packaging can be achieved mainly through minimization of packaging, reduction the packaging weight, and facilitating the reuse and recycle of end-of-the-life products. 

Thinner and lighter packaging can significantly reduce the disposal wastes. Taking film as an example, the material flexibility, viscosity and easiness to process are key to make a thinner film. DSM‘s recently launched modified polyamide Akulon XS which crystallizes much slower in the film bubble than conventional ones and hence gives processors more leeway in their processing conditions. The film is also more stretchable, while offers exceptional mechanical strength and durability. 

Biopolymers are another way to reduce the environmental impact. NatureWorks' Ingeo, a plant sugar based polymer derived from natural resource, can not only be biodegradable but also maintain similar mechanical strength and heat resistant property as the non-biobased polymers. NatureWorks notes that manufacturers should not consider only the raw material cost but the overall production cost. As compared with PET, Ingeo consumes less energy and save more cost by being processed in low temperature environment. 

Apart from reducing the wastes from the source by using bioplastics, the advances of plastics recycling technology can help too. Optical sorting solution, for example, can sort resin and pellets base on color, texture and shape and remove all kinds of impurities such as discoloration, stains, dye drops, etc, while extracting pure and high-value materials. At CHINAPLAS 2015, Austria firm EREMA demonstrated INTAREMA TVEplus featuring their patented technology--Counter Current. The system can recycle materials that are difficult to process such as heavily printed films and/or very moist materials with this new invention. 

In response to the high demand for plastic wastes management, CHINAPLAS 2016 will introduce a new "Recycling Technology Zone" with an aim to provide sustainable recycling solutions. CHINAPLAS 2016 will be held from 25-28 April, 2016, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Pudong, PR China. Companies from more than 40 countries and regions will be displaying latest technologies and materials, many of which directly serve the packaging industry. Exhibitors who have already made their booth reservations include BASF, Clariant Chemicals, Covestro, Demag, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, Du Pont, Engel, ExxonMobil, Hotsys, Inglass, Jwell, Kingfa, Mitsubishi, Mold-Masters, Natureworks, Nordson, Mould-Tip Injection Technology, to name just a few. 

It is expected that some 140,000 professional buyers from 150 countries and regions will visit the show. In the past exhibitions, it had attracted a number of leading packaging companies and endusers from food & beverage and daily chemicals to attend, such as Alcan, Amcor, Amway, Aptar, Beauty Star, Bemis, Coca Cola, Colgate, Essel, FSPG, Lee Kum Kee, Nongfu Spring, P&G, Rex, Rexam Plastics, Sealed Air, Wrigley, among other famous enterprises. 

There are two types of entry tickets - a one-day pass (RMB 30) and four-day pass (RMB 50). Visitors who successfully pre-register on or before 12 February, 2016, at www.ChinaplasOnline.com will enjoy free admission and receive a visitor badge in advance. 

For details, please visit the official show website at www.ChinaplasOnline.com. 

About CHINAPLAS 2016 
CHINAPLAS 2016 is organized by Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., and co-organized by the China National Light Industry Council - China Plastics Processing Industry Association, China Plastics Machinery Industry Association, Messe Dusseldorf China Ltd., The Plastic Trade Association of Shanghai and Beijing Yazhan Exhibition Services Ltd. The event is also supported by various plastics and rubber associations in China and abroad. 

First introduced in 1983, CHINAPLAS is China's only plastics and rubber trade show approved by UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry). CHINAPLAS has been exclusively sponsored by the Europe's Association for Plastics and Rubber Machinery Manufacturers (EUROMAP) in China for the 27th time. CHINAPLAS is currently Asia's No.1 and world's No.2 plastics and rubber trade fair.

Adsale Exhibition Services Limited (Hong Kong Headquarters)
Contact Persons: Ms Judy Ng / Ms Winnie Wong / Ms Kylie Leung
Tel: (852) 2516 3304 / 2516 3325 / 2516 3554
Fax: (852) 2516 5024
Email: chinaplas@adsale.com.hk