Bio-based resin from Covestro for recyclable food packaging

The packaging industry is changing rapidly: legislators, food producers and the public are demanding packaging that leaves less waste - at the same time, consumers do not want to compromise on food safety and availability. Covestro's latest innovation meets these growing demands: The new, partially bio-based barrier layer resin helps close the loop and make paper packaging recyclable. Many packaged foods are sensitive to moisture, so controlled moisture vapor transmission (MVTR) is critical for lasting food quality. To protect the product inside a package, much of the paper and paperboard food packaging is coated with polyethylene (PE) or aluminum. This makes the packaging more difficult to recycle and often ends up in landfills or incinerators. Covestro's innovative barrier coating resin Decovery CQ 6010 reduces waste by replacing these PE or aluminum layers in paper food packaging, making it recyclable.

Because it enables low MVTR values, Decovery CQ 6010 protects food from moisture. At the same time, it is highly oil and grease repellent. This makes it suitable for packaging a wide range of foods, from fatty dry products such as candy bars to ice cream, frozen foods and fresh fruit. It is made from 37 percent plant-based and traceable ingredients such as bark, castor and corn, which significantly reduces the packaging's carbon footprint compared to packaging made with virgin PE and traditional fossil-based coatings. Davide Reverdito Bove, Marketing Manager for Printing & Packaging at Covestro, says, "PE protects the contents of food packaging well, but makes it virtually impossible to recycle this packaging. That's why many of them end up in landfills or are incinerated. Our new resin changes that. It offers food producers and packaging manufacturers an excellent way to provide packaging with the protection it needs while having less impact on the environment. That's one of the reasons we're very proud of this new coating and so excited to tell the world about it."