Toray Plastics is expanding into PET film packaging applications

Toray Plastics (America) Inc. is expanding into PET film packaging applications in North America. The North Kingston, R.I.,-based company has introduced both a coextruded, chemically treated film that offers good adhesion to water- and solvent-based inks and a one-sided, heat-sealable film for wrapping portable foods, said Paul Knollmeyer, new product/market development manager for Toray’s industrial films.

The company also launches a heat-sealable oriented polypropylene film for food packet and stand-up pouches. The new PP and PET materials were launched during Pack Expo International 2004, held Nov.7-11 in Chicago.

Toray is a unit of Tokyo-based Toray Industries Inc., a $9 billion company that makes about 660 million pounds of PET resin annually, said Michael Brandmeier, senior director of sales for Toray Plastics (America).

The company makes packaging-grade PE films in France and South Korea, some of with is imported to customers in North America, Brandmeier said. But the new films are the first packaging-targeted PET products to be manufacturing in the United States, he said.

To make the films, the company will shift production in North Kingston away from the manufacture of PET tape films for the video market, Brandmeier said. With the advent of DVD recordings, that market is slowing, he said. The company will continue to make videotape but in lower volumes, he added.

The company also will move away from stamping films, another market that is not growing at the same level as that of packaging, he said. The company is not adding any new lines to make the PET packaging film. Toray’s U.S. facility has three PET, four PP and one cast film line, he added.

Both new PET films are targeted for lidding, flow wrap and bag applications and can be used for industrial films such as cable wrap, Knollmeyer said. The one-sided heat-sealable film is especially suited for wide food bags for sandwiches, burritos or school lunches, Knollmeyer said. The thicker film also seals to PVC, amorphous PET and other materials, he added.

The company’s new metallized OPP film replaces the foil and sealant layers in products using paper and PE structures, said Christopher Voght, product manager for the company’s Torayfan division. The film is targeted for packets and pouches in such product categories as hot cocoa, snack foods and seasonings, Voght said.