Bauer Anna-Sophia, Tacker Manfred, Uysal-Unalan Ilke, Cruz Rui M S, Varzakas Theo, Krauter Victoria
Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, Helmut-Qualtinger-Gasse 2/2/3, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
Circular Analytics TK GmbH, Otto-Bauer-Gasse 3/13, 1060 Vienna, Austria.
Foods. 2021 Nov 5;10(11):2702. doi: 10.3390/foods10112702.
Multilayer flexible food packaging is under pressure to redesign for recyclability. Most multilayer films are not sorted and recycled with the currently available infrastructure, which is based on mechanical recycling in most countries. Up to now, multilayer flexible food packaging was highly customizable. Diverse polymers and non-polymeric layers allowed a long product shelf-life and an optimized material efficiency. The need for more recyclable solutions asks for a reduction in the choice of material. Prospectively, there is a strong tendency that multilayer flexible barrier packaging should be based on polyolefins and a few recyclable barrier layers, such as aluminium oxide (AlOx) and silicon oxide (SiOx). The use of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and metallization could be more restricted in the future, as popular Design for Recycling Guidelines have recently reduced the maximum tolerable content of barrier materials in polyolefin packaging. The substitution of non-recyclable flexible barrier packaging is challenging because only a limited number of barriers are available. In the worst case, the restriction on material choice could result in a higher environmental burden through a shortened food shelf-life and increased packaging weights.
多层软质食品包装面临着为实现可回收性而重新设计的压力。大多数多层薄膜无法利用当前可用的基础设施进行分类和回收，在大多数国家，这些基础设施基于机械回收。到目前为止，多层软质食品包装具有高度的可定制性。多样的聚合物和非聚合物层可实现较长的产品保质期和优化的材料效率。对更多可回收解决方案的需求要求减少材料的选择。未来，多层软质阻隔包装很有可能基于聚烯烃和一些可回收的阻隔层，如氧化铝（AlOx）和氧化硅（SiOx）。由于最近流行的回收设计指南降低了聚烯烃包装中阻隔材料的最大可容忍含量，未来乙烯-乙烯醇（EVOH）和金属化的使用可能会受到更多限制。不可回收的软质阻隔包装的替代具有挑战性，因为可用的阻隔材料数量有限。在最坏的情况下，对材料选择的限制可能会因食品保质期缩短和包装重量增加而导致更高的环境负担。
