One of the first cosmetic product packagings in Europe designed with recycling in mind will be introduced to the market by the Polish company Masterpress. The new solution will be tested by research and development units from Poland, Germany, and Belgium
The vast majority of refill-type doypacks for liquid soap or detergents found on store shelves are made of laminates combining different plastics. Such a combination ensures the durability of stored products but hinders recycling.
A solution aimed at changing this situation—pouches for liquid soap made from a single, easy-to-recycle material—has been proposed by Masterpress.
Based in Białystok, the label printer and manufacturer of shrink sleeve films for bottles, cans, and plastic cups, as well as a supplier of lines for producing and applying these elements to packaging, serves European clients in the FMCG industry.
“We were looking for a solution that would allow us to achieve high print quality”. “We chose co-extruded polyethylene with a five percent addition of EVOH, an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, which in small quantities does not hinder the recycling of the polyethylene stream, while simultaneously providing barrier properties that enable maintaining a long product shelf life,” explains Jakub Pędziński, Business Development Leader for Pouches at Masterpress. As he adds, similar solutions appear on the market sporadically and usually only in the form of pilot programs: “Our goal is to implement them on an industrial scale”.
Advanced tests under the BeFORE project
Although the concept of packaging made from the new material was created in accordance with the guidelines of leading European organizations Ceflex and Recyclass, as with any new material, it must undergo technological and usability tests.
“We conducted tests on printing lines in our company and learned how to manufacture doypacks, taking into account detailed parameters regarding the sealing of individual elements,” explains Jakub Pędziński.
An important, but time-consuming step requiring specialized knowledge and equipment, is testing the packaging together with the cosmetic product.
This verifies its tightness and compatibility with the product, as well as how the application of the new coating affects the product’s shelf life.
The doypacks produced by Masterpress, along with their contents in the form of liquid soap, will be tested at the Center for Bioimmobilisation and Innovative Packaging Materials of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (CBIMO ZUT).
These studies will take place within the framework of the European
BeFORE is led by European research and development units that will conduct packaging research as well as storage and product compatibility tests.
“These studies allow for limiting the risks associated with the market implementation of new solutions”.
“Above all, they show the interaction of the packaging with the product, the possibility of processing on packaging lines, and the possibility of sorting and recycling according to the best currently available guidelines in packaging design”.
“Thanks to the BeFORE project, companies receive reliable feedback even before starting serial production and gain knowledge developed by interdisciplinary and international teams from Belgium, Germany, and Poland, which allows them to effectively modify their solutions,” emphasises Dr. Eng. Karolina Wiszumirska from the Department of Industrial Products and Packaging Quality at the Poznań University of Economics and Business, Director of Innovation at the Natureef Association.
The results of analyses conducted within the project will be publicly available and will allow for the development of further packaging structures.
Packaging qualified for the BeFORE project, including the Masterpress design, will also go to sorting lines at the Łużyckie Recycling Center in Marszów
This will allow for practical verification of the packaging’s susceptibility to sorting within currently functioning technologies and indicate potential problems in the future.
The cooperation with the Center was initiated by the Natureef Association, which supports manufacturers in designing and producing packaging consistent with circular economy principles.
New applications on the horizon
Rising fees and requirements resulting from European regulations regarding packaging, including the PPWR regulation, which from 2030 will allow only packaging that is at least 70 percent recyclable to be placed on the market, are causing interest in mono-material packaging to grow.
Masterpress doypacks can be filled not only with liquid soap but also with household chemical products: dishwashing liquid, dishwasher tablets and powders, or laundry powders.
After completing tests in the cosmetic area, the company also plans to check the possibility of applying the material in the food industry, where barrier requirements are higher.
“Plastic and paper packaging intended for food and cosmetic products have been submitted by international Partners of the BeFORE project”.
“The result of the project will include creating a database of barrier materials and coatings, along with a description of their properties and potential applications,” says Karolina Wiszumirska.
There are 12 Polish packaging and food manufacturers in the international consortium of BeFORE project users.
The Polish side in the project, operating since March 2024, is represented by CBiMO ZUT and the Natureef Association, cooperating with experts and the companies it associates.
Polish activities within the project are funded by the National Centre for Research and Development under the 37th edition of the CORNET initiative.
On a European scale, the coordinator of the BeFORE project is the German Industrievereinigung für Lebensmitteltechnologie und Verpackung, and participants include organizations such as IVV-Fraunhofer, Pack4Food, Sirris, and MPR&S.
