Innovia Films, a leading materials science pioneer that manufactures BOPP films for Labels, Graphics, Packaging and Tobacco, has announced the inauguration of a new coater for Graphics film applications at the production plant in Wigton, UK. The investment marks a milestone in Innovia’s roadmap to deliver sustainable, PVC-free solutions to the graphics industry.

The base film, biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) together with the innovative extrusion process reduces the environmental impact over the entire product lifecycle. Benefits include lower energy consumption in production, the elimination of the usage of hazardous substances like chlorine, and a more sustainable end-of-life product performance through improved recyclability. 

“This new tailormade coater will be fully dedicated to produce our highly environmental friendly PVC-free Rayoart film, pushing forward innovation and eco-friendly solutions for the Graphics industry”, says Simon Huber, Managing Director Innovia Europe. “We have added capabilities for specialty coated Graphics films which will make it easy for our customers to transition from PVC to our PVC-free solutions. This will be a step change for the Graphics industry – switching from a material that is detrimental in recycling to a material that actually can be recycled”.

The 40-meter long coating line offers multiple coating techniques for water-based coatings up to 50 gsm coat weight, with very sophisticated web handling and drying systems. With a web width of up to 1650 mm, the line is equipped to meet the technical demandsof modern graphic arts films.

“For our new sustainable PVC-free Rayoart range made from recyclable PP, we needed the right equipment to engineer surfaces our customers require. The new state-of-the-art coating line enables us to manufacture the products we have developed on our pilot coating equipment now under industrial conditions at high line-speeds and full web width”, states Darren Jackson, General Manager of Innovia UK.