Toray Launches TreaTear Plastic Films
By Canadian Packaging Staff
General Toray Plastics Torayfan TreaTear
Toray Plastics (America), Inc., headquartered in North Kingston, RI, and the only U.S. manufacturer of precision-performance polyester and polypropylene films, has recently launched its Torayfan TreaTear polypropylene sealant films that provide effortless precise directional tear for retort pouches.
The new TreaTear films, made with Toray’s proprietary patent-pending film design, work as the sealant layer in any type of pouch lamination and do not require laser scoring or perforations to make a clean, exact straight tear wherever it is needed on a pouch.
Toray’s first commercialized TreaTear films for retort applications are new DR02 and DR22 films. TreaTear DR02 film is for pouches that require 100 per cent ink coverage. TreaTear DR22 film is for applications that require high clarity, for example, for a window to view pouch contents, and high strength. Applications for the new sealant films include seafood, chicken, prepared entrees, rice, military MRE’s (Meal Ready-to-Eat) and pet food pouches.
Available as thin as 30-microns (1.2 mm) TreaTear films offer yield advantages over the traditional 60- or 70-micron sealant web films, as well as flexibility with overall lamination design. Laminations that use additional webs for directional tear, such as oriented nylon, may now find that web to be unnecessary.
Additionally, these thin films offer important sustainability benefits. New TreaTear films are exceptionally strong, standing up to the rigors of manufacturing and offering the rigidity required for attractive, protective barrier pouches. TreaTear films’ unique properties also offer high heat seal strength when tested pre-and post-retort. TreaTear DR02 and DR22 sealant films are available in clear and white in 30 to 100 microns.
“Combining precise straight directional tear with seal strength for retort applications is a significant development in the evolution of flexible packaging,” says Matt Brown, operations manager, Toray Plastics (America). “Pouches made with TreaTear film bring value to the consumer by enhancing ease-of-use and reducing spillage.
"Converters benefit from improved pouch performance, greater production efficiencies, potentially better yields, and sustainability advantages. In the near future, we will make an announcement about directional-tear advancements for non-retort pouches. The increasing acceptance by the U.S. consumer of retort and non-retort pouches makes the market potential here extraordinary.”
Converters can now forgo laser scoring and the registration requirements associated with it. A simple slit is all that is needed to establish a tear. Common ‘V’ notches are unnecessary and loose ‘chads’ from those notches are no longer a concern. In addition, TreaTear films are more rigid than common CPP (cast polypropylene) films often used in retort applications and therefore may facilitate down-gauging of the overall lamination structure without sacrificing feel.
For more information about TreaTear directional-tear sealant films, contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@toraytpa.com or 401-667-3050 or visit the Web-site at www.TorayFilms.com.
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