Evonik recently announced that it has expanded its production capacity for organic dispersions used for heat sealing applications. The company reports that, since the beginning of August, a significantly expanded plant at the Darmstadt site has been supplying additional material. According to Evonik, customers in the packaging industry and their demand for easier recycling of plastic packaging are driving demand.

Evonik markets the methacrylate binders under the brand name DEGACRYL^®. The binders are reportedly used to formulate heat-seal lacquers that securely seal food and beverage packaging. They provide direct adhesion to aluminum and PET lid structures, which enables primerless and efficient processing by customers. Additionally, they are applicable at a low coating weight while performing consistent opening behavior.

“The current dynamics in the flexible packaging market is leading us away from multilayer structures and towards mono material packaging,” said Roberto Vila-Keller, head of the Coating & Adhesive Resins business line. “Therefore, we are seeing a significant increase in demand for our DEGACRYL^® heat seal binders. Our employees are working on sustainable packaging solutions on a global scale and along the entire value chain.”

According to Peter Neugebauer, business director for Specialty Acrylics at Coating & Adhesive Resins, “This plant expansion is an important project for our Darmstadt site. Of course, our experienced employees are crucial here: we were able to transfer their specific knowledge and experience regarding the construction, operation, and maintenance of the existing plant to the new plant. This synergy was a decisive success factor to deliver the project on time.”

Learn more about Evonik at www.evonik.com.