Flexible Packaging

The Role of Flexible Packaging in a More Sustainable World

As brand owners work to create packaging that engages and connects with consumers, flexible packaging offers the ability to balance sustainability, protection, and the convenience that consumers demand. Flexible packaging addresses these key industry drivers through material and resource efficiency, increased shelf life that prevents food waste, high product-to-packaging ratio, transportation benefits due to light-weighting, and reduced materials to landfill.

Designing with the Circular Economy in Mind

Michelman experts develop new materials and coatings with a “sustainability first” approach, prioritizing health & safety during use, and recyclability after use. Our next generation primers, barrier coatings, topcoats, and heat seal coatings offer increased functionality while maintaining a sustainable package, with opportunities to reduce waste, provide product protection, and use fewer raw materials.

Environmentally Friendly Solutions for Oriented Film, Foil, and Paper Substrates

Michelman’s water-based Michem® Flex packaging family is a complete system of enabling technologies that allow for environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging solutions. Our coatings are developed to work together, but also flexible enough to work independently with existing coating systems to create superior packaging for food, medical, and consumer goods applications.

Michem® Flex

Michem® Flex is a range of sustainable, functional, water-based technologies optimized for flexible packaging. Our primers, barrier coatings, topcoats, and specialized heat seal coatings provide ease of converting with one part ready-to-use formulations, while our global production capabilities deliver security of supply with regionally compliant solutions.

Applications

Heat Seal Coatings

Heat Seal Coatings

Michem® Flex HS-series heat seal coatings are water-based, often primerless, and balance low initiation temperatures with high ultimate bond strength. Owing to our continuous innovation of the product line, a broad range of products are available to suit various application requirements.

Extrusion Coating Primers

Extrusion Coating Primers

Michem® Flex P-series primers render packaging films and papers more receptive to extruded PE and PP film, thus the extrusion process is more efficient at lower temperatures, and the extrudate has better adhesion to the substrate. Available primer grades are optimized for applications ranging from very demanding retort packages to more basic end uses.

Functional Coatings

Functional Coatings

Michem® Lube wax emulsions are added to water-based flexible packaging coatings to maximize the efficiency of form, fill and seal operations, and provide slip control, anti-blocking, mar resistance, and release. Michem® Flex formulated coatings work with both film and paper applications and offer gas, mineral, and moisture barriers with options available for food contact compliance.