PVDC Barrier Film Crushes EVOH & Nylon

Science speaks for itself. Valfilm USA is a privately held Italian company based in Brazil. Valfilm is also the undisputed leader in Flexible Packaging films and producer of PVDC shrink bags in South America. Both Cryovac and Bemis can attest to this fact, and cannot match their quality.

Now Valfilm has shifted it’s highly respected focus to North America, and specifically, the United States. It has put it’s money down in America, saved jobs in Findlay, Ohio and is now poised for substantial growth. The first area of focus is on their newly acquired (formerly Dow Chemical) patented blown film technology for – 7 Layered PVDC Barrier Film. This is a unique product, well worth a hard look from any New Business Development Engineer out there involved in the Flexible Packaging world. Specifically, in the Food Packaging realm. Science speaks for itself.

What exactly are Valfilm USA / PVDC Blown Barrier films?

• Multilayer films with a PVDC barrier layer in the core

• PE skin layers for toughness and sealing properties

• Other skin layer resin can be used, such as EVA for thermal laminations or PP for thermoforming applications

• Benefits of a Valfilm Barrier film:

  • Excellent barrier to oxygen, moisture, flavors and aromas

  • Excellent chemical resistance

  • Toughness and sealing similar to a polyethylene film

• Advantages of Blown Valfilm PVDC versus EVOH:

  • Oxygen barrier properties of PVDC are independent of relative humidity

  • EVOH is moisture sensitive, the oxygen barrier will increase when it is exposed to high relative humidity.

  • PVDC is an excellent barrier to water vapor, while EVOH is not a good water vapor barrier

  • The oxygen barrier of PVDC improves more rapidly as the temperature decreases, so PVDC is a better barrier at refrigeration conditions

  • The glass transition temperature of EVOH is above room temperature which can result in flex cracking issues

Applications of Valfilm Blown PVDC Barrier Films:

• Meat and cheese packaging

• Valfilm Blown PVDC are best barrier choice at the low temperature and high humidity conditions in a refrigerator

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is typically thermoformed on a horizontal form/fill/seal system or fabricated into a bag

• Valfilm PVDC is also laminated to PET, which can be printed, and fabricated into a pouch for beef jerky packaging which requires excellent oxygen and water vapor barrier properties

• Bread Packaging

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is laminated to Nylon and PET films for bread packaging

• The excellent oxygen and water vapor barrier properties of Valfilm Blown PVDC results in extremely long shelf life for specialty breads

• Bulk bag and fiber drum liners

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is used as a liner material for bulk bags and fiber drums to provide chemical resistance, odor barrier and/or water vapor barrier properties when packaging chemicals or plastics

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is provided as a tube for bulk bag liner applications

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is fabricated into fiber drum liners

• Paper laminations

• Valfilm Blown PVDC is laminated to paper to provide water vapor barrier and heat sealing properties

• Laminated paper is formed into a pouch for dry food packaging such as oatmeal or gelatin or for spice packaging where chemical resistance is also critical.