Technological watch

Marchante strives for a sustainable film industry at K2019

This autumn 2019, Marchante’s team is proud to celebrate 40 years of biax innovation. Director Mr. Inocente Marchante began his carrier in the Biax industry in 1979, and has been a game-changer in production processes and machinery developments for more than 150 lines around the globe for BOPP, BOPET, BOPS, BOPA, PETG (since Cellier and DMT- M standing for Marchante).

As the Technical Director in charge of technological process of plastic materials, stretching and transformation, he is the inventor of the first Mechanical Simultaneous systems on the market; and firmly believes in simultaneous stretching for the sake of production simplification, energy cost reduction, and the transition to promising material developments.

Gathering biax experts, he founded family-owned company Marchante S.A.S., to support film producers through their projects, implementing sophisticated films and delicate processes of which the Simultaneous Stretcher MASIM, for packaging, food, automotive and energy industries.

Marchante’s MASIM: Simultaneous Stretching Technology for Specialty Film ProductionThe MASIM technology, showcased at Marchante booth at K2019, is a modular Simultaneous Stretching system that has already proved its efficiency in terms of high homogeneity results and optimum mechanical properties for delicate films, such as Battery Separator film for Lithium based batteries, PA, or PE, and is now available for PS, PI or PTFE.

The clips are designed to stretch thin film down to 5?m, and mostly to reduce edge waste creation during production due to the very short distance clip-to-clip before and after stretching.

With the thinnest clips on the market, film thickness and flatness is ensured from inlet to outlet without turbulence, thus producing an optimal width of high grade film.

Current market demand tends to higher stretching ratios and specialty films, that can today be fulfilled with Marchante’s
different machine sizes using the MASIM Technology up to 10x10 times (10 per orientation direction).

Engagement towards circular economy: developments for mono-material and recyclable productsAs a manufacturer of machinery for bi-oriented film producers, Marchante must pursue its engagement towards a more efficient and cleaner industry. To this end, the team is developing with close partners a process to produce sheets for thermoforming, with 100% rPET material, thus reducing production costs and environmental impact. Up to the date, the tested thermoformed products show clear improvements in the following criteria: transparency, weight reduction up to 15%, strength, high temperature resistance, and physical properties similar to PS formed products.

They represent a clear alternative for food packaging, as rPET can be reintroduced to production an infinite number of times, and is one of the most collected materials for recycling. The challenge is not only to gather postindustrial waste from the producers, but also post-consumer material.

At the same time, the company is focusing on the production of 100% Mono-Material (PE) oriented film, for pouch and
laminated products, thus allowing the reintroduction of post-consumer waste to the production cycle. The latest tests are showing encouraging outcomes, as the samples after orientation show an increase of stiffness and barrier properties.

Finally, Marchante Densifier stands out in recycling solutions: it ensures the reduction of production and maintenance costs for BOPP film producers, while preserving the initial properties of the recycled material and the flatness of the film during stretching. Indeed, the production waste is collected and forwarded to the densifier, that continuously feeds the extruder with high quality recycled material without additional operation efforts.

Publication date: 31/10/2019

Smart Extrusion

This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme

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Last update: 2022-01-31