Innovia Films’ biodegradable and compostable material, NatureFlex, is helping a Californian company, Guayaki, in their bid to achieve the ‘greenest’ packaging possible for the Yerba Mate organic tea products.
Guayaki were founded by Alex Pryor and David Karr in 1997. They saw a business opportunity in providing Yerba Mate as an alternative drink to coffee, as well as a way for consumers to support rainforest preservation.
Yerba Mate is a tea-like beverage, abundant in antioxidants and containing more antioxidants than green tea, and naturally occurring caffeine rivalling coffee. It is made from the leaves and tender stems of a powerful rainforest tree, native to the subtropical rainforests of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.
Guayaki chose to transition their packaging from plastic bags to foil bags in order to use effective moisture and flavour barriers for maximising the freshness. The NatureFlex material satisfies all the specific technical needs as well as Guayaki’s GREEN mission and ideals without significantly raising their packaging costs.
The final packaging structure for the product is made from metallised NatureFlex NM laminated to high gloss transparent NatureFlex NVS film. NatureFlex NM is a unique cellulose-based film, manufactured from renewable wood pulp and metallised in-house.
It is the only metallised biodegradable film suitable for home composting because the level of metal is so small, less than 0.02%, which slows the film’s degradation by a matter of days but does not interfere with its biodegradability in any other way.
Modified coatings ensure quality metal lay-down and adhesion, providing a high moisture barrier with a transmission rate of less than 10g/m²/day (38degC, 90% RH). It is this high barrier that keeps Guayaki’s Loose Yerba Mate products in premium condition.
NatureFlex has good dimensional stability, inherent anti-static properties, is resistant to oils and greases, while providing a good barrier to gases and aromas. The film has a high level of ink receptivity and can be printed using solvent based, water based or UV inks. In addition, the films’ controlled slip properties ensure easier conversion. The printability of the bags is good and they also have an appealing texture.
All NatureFlex films are cellulose based, derived from renewable wood pulp and are certified to meet both the European EN13432 and American ASTM D6400 standards for compostable packaging. The wood-pulp is sourced from managed plantations from referenced suppliers operating Good Forestry principals (FSC or equivalent). NatureFlex films typically have a renewable biobased content of circa 95% by weight of material.
These products offer the energising health benefits of Guayaki Yerba Mate and also help to reduce the consumer’s personal carbon footprint.