October 30, 2006
A shrink wrapper engineered to accommodate film made from biodegradable, compostable polylactide was unveiled to members of the press at PolyPack’s (www.polypack.com) Booth S-862, along with several other new wrapping innovations, Sunday morning. The new Bio-Wrapper series was developed to accommodate the lower shrink temperatures of PLA and can produce both total closure (form/fill/seal) retail packs and bullseye wraps for distribution applications. The machine uses EarthFirst(R) brand PLA film from Plastic Suppliers, Inc. , Booth S-133, made from NatureWorks LLC’s PLA resin. One commercial application referenced by Nadia Vizza, PolyPack’s marketing manager, is BIOTA Brands use of the film and wrapper for its multipacks of BIOTA Spring Water—one of the first to use PLA beverage bottles. Says Vizza, using traditional shrink-wrapping methods and films, BIOTA experienced problems with distortion of the bottles, due to PLA’s lower shrink temperatures. The Bio-Wrapper, she notes, is ideal for wrapping PLA-based packaging.