Balcan Innovations improves sustainability with new commitments, film options

Photo Credit: Balcan Innovations

Quebec-based film extruder and flexible packaging maker Balcan Innovations has reached what it’s calling “an important milestone” in its use of post-consumer recycled resin (PCR) across its product portfolio.

By 2025, all shipping sacks and shrink film produced by its business divisions Balcan Packaging and Plastixx FFS Technologies will contain a portion of PCR resin, and by 2030 50 per cent of all resin purchases used in the group’s technical films and flexible packaging will be PCR.

“We’re proud to introduce our new series of short-term and long-term sustainability goals focused on promoting a circular economy and shifting the narrative of plastic packaging from a single-use solution to a more circular solution, where plastic becomes more commonly recycled and reused as a raw material for the next wave of suitable products,” said Ludovic Capt, Balcan’s vice president of innovation and sustainability.

As part of its new sustainability commitments, Balcan Packaging and Plastixx also unveiled their new lineup of sustainable film options under the brand name “EcoB”. Balcan officials said the new lineup is the result of “a year of focused innovation,” highlighted by the completed installation of a new fleet of five-layer extrusion lines.

Three new films are available under the EcoB umbrella: EcoB Recycle-Ready, EcoB Recycle-Pro, and EcoB PCR. “Our R&D, procurement, and operations teams have been hard at work to establish a lasting infrastructure, where we can offer high-quality, sustainable solutions to our customers for their wide-reaching needs,” Capt said. “Most notably, we’re excited about our new EcoB PCR film line, which will enable customers to achieve their sustainability goals, and capitalize on all the universal benefits of PCR, without sacrificing the quality and packaging performance that they’ve come to expect from Balcan Packaging and Plastixx.”

The sustainability goals and new film brand are the latest in a series of developments by Balcan, which was founded in 1967 as Balcan Plastics Ltd. The Montreal-based company rebranded itself as Balcan Innovaitons several years ago; acquired Reflectix Inc., a reflective insulation maker headquartered in Markville, Ind., in 2021;

Balcan bought Toronto-based Covertech Flexible Packaging and Terrebonne, Que.-based NELMAR Group – comprising NELMAR Security Packaging Systems Inc., Plastixx Extrusion Technologies Inc., and Plastixx FFS Technologies – in 2020; acquired Reflectix Inc., a reflective insulation maker headquartered in Markville, Ind., in 2021; and opened its inaugural U.S. manufacturing facility in 2022 following the completed installation of its first extruder and printing press in Pleasant Prairie, Wis.