As the packaging industry becomes more and more crowded, some film producers are pulling out all the stops to create plastic packaging that can be used for speciality products.
Cosmo Films is constantly working on product innovations and technology innovation with a focus on speciality segments and increasing its occupancy in the products baskets through continuous product innovation. The company has recently introduced innovative products like heat resistance films, CPP metallised film with high metal bond and in the luxury segment, metallised velvet film.
Cast polypropylene (CPP) metalised film with high metal bond strength has been specially designed to offer superior inter layer bond strength for making multi-layer laminate structures, which in turn enhances barrier properties. Apart from CPP’s inherent nature of excellent seal strength, good thermal stability, good yield economics and good puncture resistance, the film provides exceptional metal bond strength of around 450 gm/inch.
Available in standard thicknesses ranging from 20 to 30 microns, this film has a High Hot Tack and Low SIT of 96 to 98 degree Celsius, which enables FFS machines to run at a higher speed, thus helping improve productivity. This film also exhibits heat seal strength of 2.5 kg/inch.
Cosmo offers different variants of CPP films like transparent, white opaque and metallised for multiple applications. It provides excellent seal strength as well as good moisture and gas barrier making it a material of choice for convertors and brand owners.
Feel the heat
The recently launched BOPP based heat resistant films have been engineered to work as printing layer replacing BOPET film in multi-layer laminates for various packaging applications in both food and non-food segments. These films have been developed keeping recyclability in mind. BOPP has better customisation potential for mono structures paving the way for recyclability.
The new heat resistant films are clear, non-heat sealable and both sides treated films with excellent printability and go mostly for reverse printing. The thermally stable films have excellent slip properties and good machinability and therefore work well on high speed FFS packaging machines. Available in 15, 18, 20 microns; the films are well suited for both adhesive as well as extrusion lamination and offer good lamination bond.
The company has also launched a barrier version of the film. The film has good grease resistance that comes in handy for oily snack food packaging; which is a big application area of this film.
The metallise luxury film has been engineered to offer intense silver colour along with rich velvet touch to the laminated paper/paperboard or package. Silver colour is not easy to handle especially, when used as a background during printing. It takes longer to dry and also has a risk of ink set off during print stacking. Due to these challenges, printers usually avoid using silver as a background colour. However, graphic art designers prefer silver background as it allows them to make attractive artworks facilitating use of many other shades and the impact it generates with gold foil stamping and UV spot coating.
To bridge this gap, Cosmo Films introduced the metallised velvet touch film which is glueable, stampable and printable. The matte silver coloured BOPP based velvet touch lamination film needs to be laminated to the unprinted paper before going for printing or post lamination embellishments. The film is available for both thermal and wet lamination in 32 and 20 microns respectively and offers excellent printability with offset, UV offset, screen, UV inkjet and laser printing. Apart from providing excellent scuff resistance, the film is perfect for post lamination operations like UV spot coating, foil stamping and embossing.
Laminating
KDX, manufacturer of thermal laminating films, has recently introduced its speciality frosted and textile finishes to the UK Textile Thermal Films (red, yellow or blue) create a fabric like finish, which can create a luxurious feeling which is ideal for all kinds of books, brochures, packaging and other printed materials.
Frosted (clear, red and black) thermal films have a matt sand textured surface and a good uniformity of colour to give print a tactile and elegant effect while preserving the image colour underneath.
Both these films are designed to be laminated directly onto the printed board and then printed using offset UV and converted separately. The surfaces are also highly suitable for UV varnish, embossing and foil blocking for maximum impact.
