Cortec’s eco-friendly EcoShield replaces unrecyclable polycoated and waxed paper
It claims the packaging has better resistance to water vapour, oil and grease; protecting against seeping of moisture or grease into a package, and leaching of oil and grease out of a package.
A company spokesman said waxed or polycoated papers are traditional moisture-resistant packaging options for problems like these. But, ‘such coated papers pose an environmental problem because they are not recyclable and repulpable’.
It claims even if waxed or polycoated papers are recycled back into the pulp and paper stream, they have to go through a costly process of separating the paper base from the coating first.
Cortec says EcoShield technology makes the paper fully recyclable and repulpable without expensive processes to remove the coating from the paper.
To test the moisture resistance of EcoShield Super Barrier and Linerboard, the barrier paper was tested against a comparable polyethylene coated paper and a commercial waxed paper according to ASTM E-96 at 73°F (23°C) and 50% relative humidity.
EcoShield allegedly showed a water vapor transfer rate of 0.32-0.37 grams per hour on a square meter of paper. A polycoated paper in the same test allowed slightly more water vapor to pass through in the same time frame, at the higher rate of 0.47-0.71 grams per hour.
The waxed paper was less resistant to water vapor, allowing it to transfer at a rate of 6.5-6.9 grams per hour on the same size of paper. Though it is not intended for applications involving constant water contact, the shiny side of EcoShield has the ability to repel liquid water. Its TAPPI T-441 Cobb Water Absorption rate is less than 0.3 grams of water per square meter in 2 minutes.
