Oxygen Barrier

OXYGEN BARRIER FOR FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

In response to the growing emphasis on reducing plastic usage and minimizing food waste, the packaging industry has witnessed a rise in the adoption of barrier and ultra-high barrier packaging solutions to inhibit oxygen permeation.

These innovative packaging materials play a vital role in extending the shelf life of food products while indirectly contributing to the reduction of overall packaging production.

At NUREL, our dedicated research and development team focuses on two distinct lines of advancement: Promyde® copolyamides with modified gas permeability and Enoxite®, a high-performance alternative to EVOH for ultra-high barrier packaging applications.

Do you want to know more?

Copolyamides for Oxigen Barrier Packaging

Polyamides are widely employed in food packaging due to their exceptional mechanical properties, tear resistance, puncture resistance, and barrier capabilities. Within our product portfolio, Promyde® BF740 and Promyde® BF745 provide effective solutions for packaging applications that necessitate oxygen barrier properties to enhance the longevity of food products. In multilayer structures, these copolyamides offer a suitable solution for retort applications, enabling a 50-60% reduction in the polyamide layer while maintaining optimal barrier performance. These containers, utilizing our copolyamides, not only have a lower carbon footprint but also align with the new European Union packaging design recommendations by being lighter and generating less waste.

Distinguished from traditional polyamides, our copolyamides exhibit remarkable oxygen barrier performance even under high ambient humidity conditions, making them highly desirable for containers subjected to thermal treatments like pasteurization and sterilization. Additionally, these copolyamides maintain transparency and exceptional thermoformability. With a process temperature of 200°C, they facilitate coextrusion with other polymers in both blown and cast extrusion processes.

CO₂ PERMEABLE COPOLYAMIDES

In addition, Promyde® BF640 copolyamide offers high transparency, superior puncture resistance, and tear strength four times greater than standard polyamide materials. Certain food products, such as cheese and poultry, naturally release CO₂ or other gases during their shelf life. This gas release can cause container swelling and compromise packaging effectiveness over time. To address this issue, Promyde BF640 has been specifically designed to meet the requirements of applications necessitating CO₂ permeability. Consequently, it serves as the ideal material for premium cheese packaging that must preserve the natural ripening process of the product. By utilizing films made with our BF640 copolyamides, which possess modified CO₂ permeability, the gases released during the cheese ripening process can be adequately released.

CO₂ PERMEABLE COPOLYAMIDES

high oxygen barrier, alternative to EVOH

Enoxite® is a polymer that stands out for its ultra-high OXYGEN barrier properties.

The high demand for barrier packaging has led to a scarcity of barrier materials in the market. To address this issue, NUREL has introduced Enoxite®, an ultra-high barrier polymer for multilayer packaging, which is an alternative to the commonly used EVOH.

Apart from its excellent oxygen transmission rate (OTR) values, Enoxite possesses a revolutionary advantage: it is water-soluble, grease-resistant, and suitable for pasteurization applications. Enoxite product range encompasses various grades with different water solubility properties ranging from 20ºC to 50ºC, as well as different levels of flexibility.

Enoxite exhibits exceptional mechanical properties, rendering it an ideal choice for both flexible and rigid multilayer food packaging structures when combined with materials such as PE, PP, PET, PS, or PA. By opting for Enoxite as a substitute for EVOH, not only do you benefit from its superior performance, but it also contributes to the sustainability of multilayer film structures by enhancing recyclability through its solubility. For further details regarding the Enoxite product range, please click here.

Download our catalogues

Applications

Related markets

Do you want to know all the news of Nurel Polymers?

Subscribe to the Newsletter

INZEA® has a solution to achieve 100% biodegradable, compostable and high oxygen barrier packaging for the correct preservation of foodstuffs. INZEA barrier grades can be tailored to customer requirements for efficient and sustainable food preservation packaging.

Need more information?

Find your solution

Download catalogue

Download Sustainable Packaging catalog

INZEA Barrier Solutions Specifications

INZEA grades with barrier properties are food contact certified, have good weldability and good mechanical properties, suitable for printing, laminating and automatic packaging. INZEA also offers transparent grades for the design of these barrier structures.

In addition, our R&D&I department is strongly committed to sustainable packaging, developing new barrier products, such as water-soluble barrier grades, to be processed in monolayer for both extrusion and injection moulding.

100% COMPOSTABLE multi-layer PACKAGING

One of the main problems of conventional multilayer packaging is its management as waste. Avoiding multi-layers is not always possible as technical requirements must be met to ensure the preservation of the food. Therefore, the solution is to find a 100% compostable alternative that can be managed together with the food waste.

INZEA provides blown film and thermoformed cast film grades that in co-extrusion processes give a biodegradable alternative that minimizes food waste, guaranteeing food preservation and minimizing plastic waste, since they can be composted together with organic waste.

INZEA’s barrier solutions are designed to be manufactured in 2 to 5-layer coextrusions and with a viscosity suitable for blown film extrusions.

WHAT IS INZEA

The world is changing and the plastics industry has to adapt to a new situation where sustainability is a priority for governments, businesses and consumers. INZEA® is our response to our customers’ demand for more sustainable plastic materials.

INZEA is a range of biopolymers which can replace traditional plastics in different applicationssuch as bags, mono-use items and packaging, with the advantage of being biodegradable and compostable.

INZEA product range is obtained from renewable sources and is designed to return to nature by different disposal methodslike industrial & home composting, or by biodegradation in different environments.