Starting your eco-foil board packaging business?

Metallized foil boards are produced using different technologies. Some of the commonly used technologies are;

• Metallized poly film lamination
• Metallized co-extrusion process
• Cold foiling process

Theoretically, even a hot foil process can be used, however it is never feasible due to the limitations in the technology.

Metallized poly film lamination

In this process, we laminate an aluminum based PET or PP film on to the paper or board substrate using a vertical lamination process. This is one of the older technologies used and still finds application where the need for barrier is involved.

Metallized co-extrusion process

Here, we extrude granules which are coated on the paper board substrate. This process is more economical when it comes to high volume production of metallized foil boards. It also gives better control on the coating material and thickness and has better performance when used for various conversion processes.

Cold foiling process

Cold foil is more of a printing process where the aluminum coating on the foil is adhered to the print area using adhesive. This process makes the cold foil boards more eco friendly and recyclable unlike the other processes of metallized paper board production, since there is no plastic layer on the paper substrate.

Most cold foil units can be retrofitted on any existing sheetfed offset press for better flexibility and wider job applications.

Eco foil boards are produced using the Cold foil process. To make eco foil boards, we need a cold foil unit such as the Eagle cold foil system, which can be retrofit on any existing sheet-fed press.

We usually recommend a 6 color sheet fed press to retrofit a cold foil unit as the cold foil process will take two print units and the remain 4 print units can be used to print process colors.

There are exceptional cases, where cold foil units are retrofitted on 2 color sheetfed offset presses, however to make the best of this technology it is always recommended to use at least a 6 color press if not more.

Eco foil boards, as the name suggests are eco friendly. These boards can be recycled into the existing recycling streams used for paper.

Foil board packaging is mainly used to increase the aesthetic appeal of the package to help the package stand out on the shelf in a retail space. Most foil boards produced using conventional technologies have a flat surface because of the process used. The poly film surface is flat thus affecting the reflection of light on a shelf.

Recyclable foil boards produced using cold foil technology have a better light reflection degree due to the printing process. Thus, this process brings more flexibility, creativity and sustainability in the overall production of foil boards packaging.

If you need help with starting up your foil borad production plant, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@carbonprintz.com

As all businesses, eco foil board production has certain limitations.

If the idea is to produce recyclable foil boards and resell into the market, then the foil coating needs to be protected with a varnish as there is nothing preventing the coating from scratches. Handling has to be careful, else it could affect the quality of the foil board.

Unlike metallized PET or any of the other technologies, the luster factor on an eco-foil board is lesser due to the process of the technology. This is at times an objection certain brands come up with, but it is during moments like this, you need to decide if recyclability is a more important virtue or the luster of the foil board matters more. This is a personal choice in the end.

Eco foil boards don't have any barrier properties, thus if it is used in food packaging, it is necessary to coat the foil board with the necessary barrier coatings for optimum performance.

If you need help with developing your eco-foil board business, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@carbonprintz.com. 

At Carbon, our primary focus is in helping you build your business model through the business model canvas. The type of machines, material and every other resource comes at a later stage. We first help you establish the scope of the business. We then follow a structured approach to validate the identified scope through questioning, introspection, analysis etc.

There are cases, where the client would have already done this part before reaching out to us. In such cases, we begin the project at the next level, with technical pre-qualifications, strategy building, resource planning etc.

Every project is different. The best way to find out is to reach out to us for an initial project scope discussion and let us discover together how can we help you kick start your project.

If you need help with setting up your packaging business, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@carbonprintz.com.