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A.
B.
Furthermore, a post-treatment EB dose was evaluated as a potential means of increasing the composting rate of the flexible packaging structure. The degradation of the film was confirmed visually as well as by demonstrating that puncture strength decreased as the post-treatment dose was increased. The qualitative compostability testing of these post-treated structures is ongoing; however, after four weeks of testing, high-dose EB post-treatment was shown to positively impact the composting rate. In addition to quantitative compostability testing, future work in this arena includes broadening the scope of OPVs, inks and
C. Figure 4. Results of the compostability testing for printed samples with EB post-treatment. After one week, the 300 kGy post-treatment sample (4C) shows significant disintegration, while the control (4A) and 150 kGy post-treatment samples (4B) are completely intact. This test will be completed after 12 weeks. Sample conditions are listed in Table 2.
compostable substrates investigated. The optimal EB dose necessary to degrade a compostable structure is expected to be dependent on the chemistry of the film and should also be evaluated for a wide variety of compostable material. The broad applicability of EB was demonstrated by establishing the technology as a tool for both the production of compostable packaging as well as the degradation of it after use. As the packaging industry endeavors toward a more sustainable future, versatile technologies, such as EB, provide companies flexibility in developing new avenues to achieve their recycling and composting targets. u
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20 | UV+EB Technology • Quarter 2, 2020
Acknowledgements The author would like to acknowledge DBT Coatings for initiating and funding the first round of compostability testing and sharing the results (Figure 1). These results provided the impetus for further exploration of electron beam’s role in compostable packaging. The author would also like to acknowledge Futamura for donating the NK120 film and GOpak for donating printing press time and materials. uvebtechnology.com + radtech.org
