LOOPTUBE Pilot Case Introduction

Read insights for the LOOPTUBE Pilot Case led by the French organisation ALBÉA. Selected through the FlexFunction2Sustain Open Call, this case focuses on the eco-design of cosmetic tubes produced from flexible PE films.

The cosmetic packaging market is under pressure from consumers awaiting new environmentally friendly products. New solutions are however only possible on the condition of overcoming key limitations: gas barrier performances today provided by aluminium or EVOH, both preventing the packaging from recycling as no separation techniques are available in a cost-efficient way.

The LOOPTUBE project will focus on the eco-design of cosmetic tubes produced from flexible PE films.

Only coating using lacquers could fit a future in-house deployment contrary to plasma based coating that will needs additional investments. To meet the cosmetic packaging market expectations, the challenge is to reach barrier properties equivalent to EVOH via a surface treatment on PE that allows its recycling. Hence, the demonstrator proposed will implement the oxygen and WV barrier coating sandwiched between extruded PE film with apply water based coating BarriLac. Later the laminate will be printed and transformed into a tube.

Ultimately, the developed solution shall meet the RECYCLASS recyclability criteria of a flexible film as well as food contact expectations.

In order to execute the Pilot Case, ALBÉA is using the combined services of FlexFunction2Sustain consortium partner: IPC – Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, INL –  International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Sonnenberg Harrison Partnerschaft, which include: coatings preparation, upscaling to final product and validation of the developed solution (Recyclability evaluation, Food contact assessment, Life Cycle Assessment, IP analysis).

Stay tuned! Further details on LOOPTUBE Pilot Case development will follow.

.