Perspectives

15 декабря, 2015

Pokraskin

Over the past few years, new packaging concepts and materials have brought forth more sophisticated and refined packaging options. A steady increase in the world population and growth in industrial production will have a further growing market

impact on the packaging sector that will become even more complex owing to active and intelligent packaging options:

• Active packaging is packaging which is specifically designed to change the chemical, biological or physical parameters of the packed products, for instance by using new materials.

• Intelligent packaging is packaging designed to convey appropriate information to the user about, for example, the history ofthe product and its quality during transport and storage by means of external or internal tags or other indicators.

Intelligent packaging with extended EAN (European Article Numbering) technology or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System) technology is also under discussion. One technique being developed is that of‘plastic chips’; these are made from conductive or semiconductive organic polymers and can be printed onto paper or plastic film and then affixed to packages as labels. An increase in production speed and ecological aspects should also provide a major impetus for further developments.

The avoidance of waste by reuse and recycling will lead to new systems in the packaging sector. At this stage, many packaging adhesives have already been tailored to later reuse and recycling of the packaging material. Yet, adhesives will continue to play an important role to help packages to perform their tasks during transport, storage and presentation on the shelf.

In the graphics sector, personalized products are set to grow — ‘print on demand’ and subsequent processing (‘bond on demand’) will bring forth special adhesive systems that provide for an economic manufacture of the smallest print runs. Advertising mail will become ever more sophisticated so as to allow delineation from advertising in an electronic medium, and adhesives will continue to play an important role also in this sector.

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