Packaging Strategies held its 10th annual Global Pouch Forum this past week in Chicago.  The event drew two hundred or so equipment providers, material suppliers, converters, co-packers, and brand owners: we were the only electron beam company on hand.  The discussion focused on trends, innovation, and sustainability issues surrounding the pouch packaging format.

For those of you who are not familiar, pouches are one of the fastest growing methods for the packaging of foods, beverages, and consumer goods. Wild Flavors broke the mold when they introduced the Capri Sun pouch back in 1981. Since this time, the use of pouches as a packaging technology has grown exponentially and is now encroaching on many of the packaging applications traditionally dominated by cans, bottles, and boxes.

Some of the advances in pouch technology discussed were:

• Resealability (Sargento Foods was given an award for it resealable shredded cheese bag)
• Easy pour features
• Freshness seals
• Aseptic filling
• Barrier technologies and active packaging concepts (we discussed this technology in Electron Beam Curing for Advanced Funtional Coatings)

As would be expected, sustainability was a common theme.  While comparisons of carbon footprint are difficult and infinitely debatable, the pouch has some intuitive advantages over traditional packaging formats:

For Beverages: Less resin used than PET bottles

For Perishables: Resealability reduces food waste over cans

For Dry Goods: Lighter weight and cheaper to produce than bag in box

Ebeams for Pouches? 

Electron Beam technology can impact the pouch business in a few key ways: 

1. In-line electron beam sterilization of pouches and web material is low heat, chemical free alternative for aseptic filling applications
2. EB Curing of inks, coatings, and adhesives can be an energy efficient, VOC -free alternative to traditional solvent based curing
3. EB crosslinking of films can improve strength and heat resistance of common polymer materials - leading to less overall resin used in the packaging.

Radtech's UV/EB 2008 conference cannot get much greener.  Sustainability and Green Chemistry are all the rage at the Energy Curable Industry's bi-annual event.  Awards for greenest products are being handed out. Conference sessions are dedicated to the topic. The trade press is dedicating lead articles (e.g. Ink World, The Radtech Report, Finishing Today, Food and Beverage Packaging).

Is it overkill?  We don't think so.  Energy curable technologies have been delivering sustainable manufacturing solutions for decades and are a proven approach for increasing industrial energy efficiency.  However, UV and EB technologies gained traction by delivering unique performance advantages - not by having lower carbon footprints.  Now in this time of record energy prices, record environmental awareness, and record spending on green advertising campaigns by brand owners and retailers, energy curable technology is finally able to market its greenness as a true competitive advantage. 

Fact: Transitioning from thermal curing to energy curable technologies can enable manufacturers to decrease energy consumption by an order of magnitude and eliminate VOC emissions while still maintaining quality and speed.   That is pretty green.

The US Department of Energy issued a call for research proposals from DOE funded National Laboratories for Concept Definition and Concept Development projects related to "Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency."

Low voltage electron beam technology has many potential applications in this field.  Examples pulled directly from this proposal include:

Coatings and thin-films (e.g. low-friction, -drag, -wear, and corrosion-resistant; dispersion aids; thermal and energy applications)

Separations media (e.g. for chemicals, petroleum, pulp and paper, water purification, carbon management, and energy applications);

Nanocomposites (e.g. light weight or other functional materials for industrial, automotive, and energy applications)

Nanomanufacturing Process Development (e.g. scale up of nanomanufacturing)

To download the document from DOE, click here.

AEB is always eager to collaborate on early stage research projects - either government, university, or industry funded.  Our Application Development Services and our Application Development Unit product are ideal solutions for evaluating the potential for low voltage electron beams in a lab scale research project.  Additionally, the scalability of our electron beam emitter technology enables a clear path to commercialization. 

Feel free to contact us directly for more information.

But not a question we at Advanced Electron Beams intend to answer for anyone.  However, there is a lot of recent activity and research into using radiation to improve the safety of our food supply, and enough potential applications for low energy electron beams for us to pay attention.  

Low voltage electron beam sterilization tunnels are main stream technology for sterile transfer into barrier isolator systems. Already the standard for nested syringe tub transfer in parenteral drug fill-finish lines, ebeam tunnels are increasingly being considered for a broader range of drug manufacturing applications.

Overview of Low Voltage Electron Beam Tub Sterilization

Over the past several years, manufacturers of high-value injectable drugs have been moving away from packaging their product in clean rooms to sterile fill-finish operations in restricted access barrier systems (RABS) or barrier isolator systems. The benefits of barrier isolators include an increase in sterility assurance, a reduction in the footprint of the filling operation, and a significant savings in energy.

For syringe filling lines, sealed tubs containing syringes are pre-sterilized at ethylene oxide sterilization facilities. These tubs are transfered into the barrier isolator through a sterilization tunnel. Low voltage electron beams are used to disinfect the exterior of the tub as it moves into the aseptic filling zone as seen here.

AEB partners with leading suppliers of barrier isolator technology including Metal + Plastics and Skan to deliver electron beam barrier isolator solutions. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Cilag AG announced their line last year and others are anticipated in 2008.

Electron Beam Tunnels for "Universal Tub" Sterilization

Manufacturers using electron beam tunnels are finding that sterile tub transfer can be used for moving a broad range of materials - beyond nested syringes - into a barrier isolator. Since electron beam sterilization is so fast and efficient, it makes sense to leverage an electron beam tunnel for transfering items such as environmental monitoring plates, change parts, and tools into the isolator. This "Universal Tub" sterilization concept was formally discussed at the upcoming ISPE Barrier Isolator Conference.

Opportunities for Direct Sterilization of Primary Packaging Components

Moving beyond tub sterilization, electron beam tunnels can be an option for direct sterilization of many drug packaging components such as vials, syringe barrels, stoppers, or blister packaging. By directly sterilizing packaging components, manufacturers eliminate the need for offsite bulk sterilization and compress the sterilization process into a single step. Besides having significant inventory advantages, this approach allows drug manufacturers to position and orient the packaging outside of the isolator, reducing the need for bulky material handling equipment inside of the aseptic environment.

AEB, our OEM partners, and our customers will be discussing their experience with electron beam sterilization tunnels at the upcoming ISPE conferences in Washington D.C. and in Manchester, UK.

For more information on AEB's solutions for phamaceutical and medical device sterilization, click here.

We were interested to read in Food Production Daily about the beverage industry's progress in adopting the Carbon Action Plan (CAP).The plan intends to establish labeling requirements for the beverage packaging industry that will identify:

• The amount of renewable energy and offset carbon emissions used in making the product;
• The number of liters of water used to make 1 liter of beverage; and
• The percentage of recycled material used for a product's packaging.

We would include the footprint of the distribution channel as well.  As discussed in Packaging News, the lightweighting of PET bottles (i.e. the reduction in the amount or PET resin used in making the bottle) leads to a reduction in the carbon footprint due to shipping. 

An obvious approach to reducing carbon footprint of packaging is to pursue new bottle designs and innovative bottle-making technology that use less resin or use more recycled resin.  Great examples of this include Welch's new PET Juice Bottle and Nestle's Eco-shape water bottle.

Maybe less obvious is how a novel process technology like low voltage electron beams can directly reduce the carbon footprint of beverage packaging.

AEB is actively involved in assisting the PET bottling value chain reduce its carbon footprint by:

EB Sterilization of Caps and Closures: Using low voltage electron beams to sterilize bottle caps in line allows Aseptic and Extended Shelf Life bottlers to reach high levels of sterility with no chemicals, no water rinsing, and no heat.  Procomac S.P.A. recently discussed their Electron Beam Cap Sterilizer at the Novapack 2008 conference. 

EB Sterilization of Bottles: Cold, dry sterilization is the holy grail of the PET bottling industry.  The allure is sterilization with no chemicals, no rinse water consumption, and no heat.  By enabling cold-filling of aseptic beverages, the resin weight of bottles can be reduced.  While not yet commercialized, a combination of technology development, novel packaging design, and industry collaboration are rapidly advancing the idea.  Click here to see what AEB has presented at Aseptipak 2007 or join us at the upcoming PETnology Conference 2008 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Click here for more information about AEB's solutions for Food and Beverage Packaging.

In March, we have seen a lot of interest around using for active or functional coating technologies.  While each project we collaborate on is confidential, we have seen some generic themes we wanted to highlight in the hopes of sparking other ideas.  Leveraging the unique capability of low energy electron beams for these types coatings is just an extension of the already well established curing or surface modification applications that have been the driver of EB usage for the last 3 decades.  The deposition of large amounts of energy to the surface layers can enable novel and desirable results when combined with the right chemistry.

Aylvin Dias, Ph.D, from DSM Biomedical Materials writes on advances in functional coatings for medical devices in The Evolving Functionality of Coatings in Medical Device Magazine. 

There are an equal number of exciting advances in active coating technologies for food and beverage packaging applications as dicussed by Aaron Brody in Exploring MAP and Active Packaging in Food Technology.

Low energy electron beam curing and/or surface modification can be an enabling process technology for these types of applications.  While the real magic is in the chemistry, using EB energy to polymerize a coating or graft a coating to a substrate can deliver the high performance required for these applications.  Many traditional surface treatment approaches (heat, UV, plasma) do not have the focused energy deposition to achieve same effect or they can damage the substrate.  Advanced vacuum deposition approaches can work but are often not commercially scalable.

We see a trend towards designer chemistries based on EB process technology playing a big role the commercial scale-up of active coating technologies. 

For more information, check out AEB solutions for Curing and Polymer Treatment.

The FDA approved Food Contact Notification (FCN) 772 on March 7, 2008 which covers several acrylate monomers for direct food contact ink, coating, and adhesive formulations.

Electron beam (EB) curing technology has long been valued in food package printing applications as a strategy for managing migration risk for food packaging applications. 

The approval of FCN 772 represents the removes a major hurdle to more freely deploying energy curable systems for direct food packaging applications.  The combination of this new standard for assessing the risk of these monomers and the inherent effectiveness of EB curing technology creates a powerful business case for the adoption of electron beam curing.

For an overview of the benefits of using electron beam for food packaging applications, check out The Changing Economics of EB Curing.

IMS Research just released a report showing increased demand for beverage packaging machinery in Europe.  The report states that this increase is being driven by several factors, including energy and environmental concerns.  Consumers are increasingly interested in more environmentally sound products and, as energy prices continue to rise, industry needs to innovate in order to offset these costs.

"According to the report, more medium-term industry concerns include energy efficiency improvements during the packaging process, as manufacturers continue to struggle with the increased costs of energy."

Advanced Electron Beams has shown how compact, low energy electron beams can be an effective sterilization technology for aseptic and ESL beverage filling applications.  EB sterilization can be an energy efficient, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional thermal or chemical methods while enabling the high line speeds needed to meet productivity targets.

Low energy electron beams have the potential to revolutionize many industrial sterilization, curing, and materials processing applications.  EB is an energy efficient, chemical free alternative to many traditional process technologies.

Regardless of the application, a common consideration when evaluating this technology is how does electron beam energy interact with the basic material in the product or packaging material being treated.  While the effects of high energy radiation (i.e. Gamma Radiation or High Energy EB) on the bulk properties of many materials have been documented, there has been little basic research on the effects of low voltage EB on surface and bulk properties of materials.

AEB has entered into a partnership with the School of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell to do a comprehensive study of the effects of low voltage electron beam on many common plastic materials.  The research will provide manufacturing professionals a better understanding of how low energy EB treatment can be integrated into their existing process lines.  We hope this is the the start of a long collaboration with one of the preeminant plastics engineering programs in the world.

Links to UML - AEB Collaboration Story: Press Release, Plastics News, Finishing Today