Around 110,000 tonnes of flexible film are used in the UK every year across a wide variety of sectors ranging from fresh fruit and vegetables to crisps, confectionery and dairy products.
WRAP worked with International Food Partners to develop Integrity Seal™, an innovative, sealing technology for flexible packaging. Integrity Seal uses new generation weld technology to produce very narrow bead seals that are 1mm wide compared with conventional crimp seals which are typically 15mm wide. This narrow seal typically saves 10% in the length of the pack, delivering substantial film savings.
Integrity Seal produces a strong seal, which can be hermetic (air tight) if required, improving product quality and giving longer shelf life. Other benefits of the Integrity Seal system are improved operational efficiencies and lower manufacturing costs.
Frozen Food
One of the first companies to embrace Integrity Seal is global frozen food leader McCain Foods. There is the potential to expand the use of this new technology to many other categories, including fresh produce. For example: cereals; crisps, nuts and fruits 'snack packs'; bakery products, including cakes and bread, and confectionery.
30 Microns
A separate project looked at the gauge of film used for salad bags and concluded it could be reduced in thickness from 35 to 30 microns without sacrificing product or pack quality.
