Packaging adhesives are much more than paper converting adhesives or glue for paper bags. Packaging nowadays comes in all materials, sizes, and colours you can imagine. So, manufacturers must use the most effective packaging adhesives for their purposes. Adhesives are invisible yet incredibly important, since they ensure our milk stays in the carton and our crisps in the bag.
The recyclability of the primary packaging material is essential, so adhesives need to be formulated to facilitate this recycling process.
Primary packaging
Primary packaging is the packaging in direct contact with the product itself. Sometimes it is referred to as consumer or retail packaging. Its primary purpose is to protect and contain the product inside. It also holds information about the product itself.
Adhesives for primary packaging are used for erecting and closing of folding boxes or wrapping paper packaging. Adhesives here are very important as they hold the packaging together. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the global packaging adhesives market is expected to grow at a CAGR greater than 5 % between 2021 and 2026. This means that the ecological aspect of packaging is becoming more and more critical. For the packaging to be recyclable, the adhesives must also follow these guidelines.
Adhesives also play an essential role in fighting food waste since resealable packaging enables us to save food for later and not let it go bad. So here we see that although barely noticeable, adhesives play an important role, especially in the food industry.
Secondary packaging
Secondary packaging’s primary purpose is for branding display and, of course, transport. It’s also called end-of-line packaging and includes erecting and closing of cases, trays erecting and wraparounds. Its role is protecting and collating individual units of a product in primary packaging. It helps sell multiple items of a product as well as showing off the brand. This type of packaging is corrugated cardboard packaging print finished to a high standard.
Whether you collect and position primarily packaged products into secondary packaging via top-loading, vertical or horizontal cartoning, the adhesive must be adapted to your process.
Special applications
Sometimes, adhesives must endure extreme conditions, such as extreme temperatures, high humidity, or constant stress of logistics. For special applications in the packaging industry, MITOL has developed a range of adhesives with excellent adhesion. In their range of packaging glues, there are also adhesives for special applications, such as deep-freeze packaging, straw attachment, or anti-slip coating for pallet stabilization.
Conclusion
Besides various EVA-based hot melts, MITO offers newly developed formulations on metallocene polyolefin base with excellent performance characteristics like better adhesion to difficult-to-bond surfaces, high thermal stability, low density, up to 40% lower consumption, high yield, good heat resistance and cold resistance for deep freeze application (-18 to -40°C). MITOL devotes special attention to selecting pure, odorless raw materials with low mineral oil content. Our food packaging adhesives comply with American FDA regulation 175.105 and the EU regulation 10/2011.
