Flexible Package Takes Aim at Rigid Containers

Leading sheet processor Clear Lam Packaging, Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill., made three announcements during October’s Pack Expo International show in Chicago. One was a new type of flexible, stackable package aimed at replacing rigid containers, bottles, and jars. Called PrimaPak, it is produced on vertical form-fill-seal equipment from rollstock. It incorporates Clear Lam’s new reclosable Peel and ReSeal Lidding Film for consumer convenience. PrimaPak reportedly helps retailers meet sustainability goals with smaller cube volume and lower weight than typical rigid packaging, reducing truck shipments and warehousing requirements.

The Peel and ReSeal Lidding Film also announced by Clear Lam at the show eliminates the need for preformed, rigid lids. Its easy opening is consumer-friendly, and it offers processors improved efficiency on assembly lines. Compared with containers with a rigid lid, the Peel and ReSeal Lidding Film improves shipping cube size, reduces weight by about 30%, and provides an enhanced safety seal.

Finally, Clear Lam announced an agreement with Toyota Tsusho Corp. of Japan, a supplier of PET sheet based on 30% renewable feedstock content, that will make Clear Lam the first North American processor to offer the Bio-PET product in rollstock form. Bio-PET materials are similar to Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle in utilizing plant-based monoethylene glycol in the polymerization.