Michelman’s state-of-the-art packaging incubator in Mumbai, called the Michelman Innovation Centre for Coatings (MICC), has exceeded expectations since it was inaugurated close to two years ago, Steve Shifman, president and chief executive officer at Michelman
said during his latest visit to India.
“Our expectations have been exceeded. The amount of interest in what we are doing at the MICC in terms of design, discovery and innovation has been amazing. We have brand owners who have been visiting as well as convertors, film manufacturers and paper mills. We are finding that professionals across the entire spectrum are coming together at MICC,” says Shifman.
State-of-the-art coating machine at MICCShailesh Nema, managing director, Michelman India, says that the launch of MICC was perfectly timed as it was around that time that plastic waste management rules became more stringent. “It is only gaining momentum and MICC is playing its role in devising new packaging structures that are sustainable and compliant with the plastic waste management rules. Compliance is the biggest worry for brand owners and convertors and that is being addressed at MICC,” he says.
The MICC was inaugurated in January 2018, with the aim to serve the needs of the Indian market to allow for fast and efficient development of sustainable packaging solutions. It
has a range of testing equipment like Mocons for OTR/MTVR testing, Gelbo tester, hot tack testing, etc. The centerpiece is a dual-station pilot coater laminator that allows brand owners, converters and film manufacturers to test new concepts without stopping their production lines.
According to Shifman, although the primary aim of MICC was to address the Indian market, Michelman has seen that a lot of learnings that it is having at the MICC is being translated
outside India. “There is so much creativity, and the team at MICC is extremely innovative.
They are solving problems in ways that our team in Europe or US may not have thought of,” he says.
Making non-recyclable structures recyclable
Nema argues that over the years, due to over-engineering of packaging structures, they were non-recyclable and ended up creating a lot of waste. Michelman is now trying to address this very problem and is working on making the non-recyclable structure, recyclable.
“We are trying to change the packaging structure in such a way that it will have some value. Anything which has a value will be picked up by waste pickers. At the same time, we can’t have a packaging structure that is cost oblivious. So, when we are changing a non-recyclable structure into a recyclable one, there could be a cost premium but that has to be absorbed by the end application,” he argues. Shifman stresses that cost is an important factor not only in India but globally. He says that people have always wanted something that would be recyclable but for many years they said that these sustainable solutions can’t
cost more.
“But today we find that consumers are much more interested in something sustainable and environmentally friendly. And they are willing to pay a slight premium. Also, due to technological advancements, the premium comes into an acceptable zone. So, in a lot of cases these solutions can be cost neutral,” he says. Nema says that brand owners are
now realizing that by changing from multilayer to monolayers, it eases the operations at the convertor’s end and at the filling lines.
Multiple success stories
Over the last two years, MICC has seen multiple successes. Michelman has worked on edible oil coating where it has worked on a replacement of Nylon/EVOH, to make the structure recyclable. Edible oil pouches are typically a 5-7 layer coextruded film that can be
a combination of PE, tie-layer, nylon and/or EVOH. However, the presence of nylon or EVOH prevents this structure from being easily recycled.
Oxygen barrier plays a very important role in preventing the oil from going rancid and extending its shelf life. Michelman’s edible oil coating has proved to be the perfect solution
for this application. With some minor tweaking of the CoEx film to improve the tensile strength, and coating to provide the oxygen barrier, this structure can eliminate the use of nylon and EVOH.
Michelman has also worked on heatresistant coating for a leading brand, which is using this coating for their flow wraps. Michelman heat-resistant coating offers heat-resistance on polypropylene and polyethylene films. It has release properties that help prevent jaws from sticking to substrate on FFS line. In addition, it does not impact recyclability of film; and has waterbased chemistry.
Michelman has also worked on paper cup coatings where it offers a replacement of polyethylene, which would make the paper cup recyclable and repulpable. The disposable paper cups are a major sustainability issue because contrary to common belief, they are not recyclable. Their plastic lining ensures that they almost never make it to a recycling plant and they are not biodegradable.
At present paper cups are made out of paper and are coated with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) or wax to prevent liquid from leaking out or soaking through the paper. With water-based technology, the PE in paper cups can be replaced with coatings. This not only eliminates the plastic lining used in conventional paper cups, but also eases the recycling and repulping process.
Bullish on India
With the company’s journey in India so far being extremely satisfying and having achieved many successes, Shifman says that Michelman is in India for the long haul. As per Nema,
the company may even look to open an MICC at another location and in the future even look to manufacture in India. “We are looking to stay invested for decades,” Shifman concludes.
