What are Laminate Tubes & Pouches?
To cater to industries of packaging materials, various companies have recently ventured into the laminate tubes segment. Laminate Tubes (or Lami Tubes) are essentially tubes that remade by sealing two sides of a flat laminate. Laminate combines the advantage of aluminum tube properties with the design and feel of plastic.
The new generation of laminate tubes uses the most modern technology to supply a tube with the industry’s most aesthetic least seam, providing the most area for graphics and complete decoration. These materials can virtually stop the transfer of light, air, and moisture.
Recycling of Laminated Packaging Materials
Most toothpaste tubes, coffee bags as well as food pouches etc are nowadays made of laminated packaging materials. However, that packaging materials may soon be recycled according to the Waste Management World.
Laminated packaging offers benefits over ancient materials, such as reduced weight, extra cushioning, and better barrier protection. The low weight provides environmental benefits, as well as reducing transport costs and the amount of material to be disposed of. But in a world driven by weight-based targets, the low weight has essentially made recyclers ignore them.
However, a critical mass is forming. In the UK, a laminate tubes manufacturer company The Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) developed a process for recycling laminated packing using microwave-induced pyrolysis technology, generating aluminum scrap and hydrocarbons in the form of both liquid and gaseous products. WRAP recently commissioned environmental research specialists to investigate the viability of using the technology for recycling.
WRAP then looked at the possibility of extracting laminated packaging from residual ‘black bag’ waste and looked in more detail at the practical feasibility of including the process into the waste recycling infrastructure.
Conclusion
Research is of vital importance and must continue. For example, the recycling of films/foils which are laminates of different plastics/aluminum must continue to be investigated. The aim of the industry is for all flexible packaging to be recycled by 2020, without compromising the functionality of the packaging.