May 30, 2025 15:11

During the recent Ipack-Ima trade fair in Milan, Taghleef Industries unveiled two brand-new compostable films based on bioplastics: one made from polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and the other from polybutylene succinate adipate (PBSA). Both were presented to the public for the first time.

Developed in Italy at the company’s Innovation Center in San Giorgio di Nogaro (Udine), operational since last year, the new films became part of the Nativia product line, which already included a PLA-based biaxially oriented film launched several years ago.

Nativia D822 was the BOPHA variant – a bio-based film designed for home compostability, particularly suitable for food packaging. Transparent with excellent optical clarity, it was printable and compatible with lamination to other biopolymer films. Its low sensitivity to moisture made it ideal for dry or semi-dry content packaging.

Nativia D823, by contrast, was a BOPBSA film also developed for home compostability. While sharing many of the D822’s features – transparency, printability, and compostability – it distinguished itself with superior heat-seal strength, making it better suited for sealing-intensive applications.

Both films were designed for packaging likely to be contaminated with organic residues, such as lidding for coffee capsules, ready-meal containers, and fresh produce. They also targeted applications that could contaminate the organic waste stream, including fruit labels, tea bag tags, and hard-to-recycle small formats like condiment sachets or candy wrappers.

Produced for the first time on an industrial scale and made available for sampling, the new films were successfully tested on printing, laminating, and packaging equipment.

Taghleef also began functionalizing the films through coating and metallization to improve their barrier properties and expand their suitability for applications requiring extended shelf life.

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