Celebrating 85 years of twistwrapping

The company’s Cellophane™ films were used for the first automated twistwrap machines. In the early days, they were often referred to as a ‘transparent paper’ as they were made from renewable wood pulp. Over the years, the films became synonymous with confectionery wraps, being established as the packaging of choice thanks to their excellent technical performance on the packaging machinery and aesthetic appeal.
With its inherent deadfold properties, Cellophane was the ideal choice for twistwrapping: the films ran extremely well on packaging machines, static-free, wrapping at high speeds with an incredibly low level of miswraps. They also held their twist naturally, without the need of heat sealing or adhesives. This meant that the wraps could be easily opened, even by younger consumers – a must when you wrap sweets!
In the last 20 years, acknowledging the growing demand for environmentally responsible packaging, Futamura launched NatureFlex films. This new generation of films is the natural evolution of the original Cellophane: the technical performance of Cellophane, renewable raw materials sourced from sustainably managed plantations and the additional benefit of more sustainable end-of-life options. NatureFlex is certified for home composting by TUV Home compost and meets European and international norms for industrial composting including EN13432 and ASTM D6400.
Compostability, the solution to the small format flexible issue. Whilst we have all seen companies and authorities making statements and committing to the
path of mechanical recycling, it is becoming increasing apparent that recycling will not be the solution for all applications. The study ‘Breaking the plastic wave’ made it very clear that there is no silver bullet: the industry must use all options available to resolve the current packaging end of life issues.
Today, brands and waste management operators are acknowledging that small
format flexibles will be extremely difficult to handle and (…)