The Ultimate Guide to Choosing OPP/BOPP flower packaging film

After all, today’s bags aren’t just bags. Far from it. Modern bulk bags, such as flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs), have been exhaustively engineered and tested by experts to work well under specific conditions. 

For your bag to work well under your specific conditions (e.g., where your warehouse is located, what type of filling apparatus you use, the nature of your product), you need to know which type of bag you need. 

Knowing how to tell if your specific type of bag is well made? Also key.

Here’s a quick primer on three types of bags that are overwhelmingly popular across several industries and how to determine which type is perfect for your needs. 

What are PP, OPP, and BOPP bags? 

Let’s start with some definitions. 

The letters “PP” in PP, OPP, and BOPP stand for polypropylene. Polypropylene is a polymer that is strong, resistant to many chemicals, and has favorable heat and barrier properties. 

In other words: It makes for a durable and versatile bag. Polypropylene is often used to make coatings, films, tapes, and printed FIBCs on a mass scale. 

Polypropylene can be manipulated to produce OPP and BOPP materials, or oriented and biaxially oriented polypropylene. 

Oriented polypropylene

, or OPP, is a type of polypropylene film that is stretched in one direction. This offers better strength, clarity, and printability when compared to PP film. OPP tends to be used for labels and small film bags. 

Biaxially oriented polypropylene

, or BOPP, is a type of polypropylene film that’s been stretched in two perpendicular directions. This offers even more strength, printability, and clarity when compared to PP and OPP materials. BOPP film is used to laminate over woven tapes often used in packaging. And because BOPP has innate printability, it’s commonly used for intricate branding and printing details on midsize or large bulk packages.

Which Industries are PP, OPP, and BOPP Bags Good For? 

As we mentioned above, each type of bag is great for specific applications, as each offers unique strengths. 

It’s worth discussing with your FIBC supplier which type of bag will work best for you, but here’s a quick overview: 

Polypropylene (PP) bags are great for FIBCs, sandbags, and geotextiles. They’re fantastic multipurpose bags because they’re versatile, durable, and cost-effective. 

Oriented polypropylene (OPP) bags excel when used to create small packaging materials, often in the medical, pharmaceutical, and food industries—particularly when they don’t need to carry much weight. 

Biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) bags are best suited for packaging that needs many of the same qualities as OPP bags but also must support more weight. BOPP film is often used with woven tapes to create durable packaging materials. BOPP film is especially common in the pet food and food ingredient industries because they require bags that can carry 25-50 lbs.

The Pros and Cons of PP, OPP, and BOPP Bags

When you choose a specific type of bag, you need all of the information in front of you. 

We’ve discussed general definitions of each type of bag and the industries they support best. To round out this guide, here’s a quick rundown of the pros and cons of each type of bag (save this post for later reference): 

PP Woven Bags with PP Lamination 

Pros and Cons: 

PP bags are sustainable, moisture-resistant, durable, and chemical-resistant. 

They’re also highly flammable, offer limited printability, and do not necessarily protect existing printing detail. 

OPP Film Bags

Pros and Cons: 

OPP film bags are strong, hard to puncture or tear, and have a transparent, glossy finish. These bags are also moisture- and dust-proof.

OPP film bags are difficult to stretch, and there’s a limit to how much weight they can carry.

BOPP Bags

Pros and Cons: 

BOPP bags provide high tensile strength, excellent clarity, and a high degree of dimensional stability and flatness. 

These bags have a low electrostatic charge, present a barrier to water vapor, and are resistant to oils and greases. 

Aesthetically, BOPP bags provide several perks: They have a high-gloss finish, offer reverse printing ability, and perform well in high-speed printing applications.

Finally, BOPP bags are not affected by moisture. They don’t wrinkle or shrink with environmental changes. Plus, they’re recyclable!

The disadvantages are limited, but BOPP bags are not biodegradable. However, they are considered recyclable and classified in the No. 5 plastic recycling stream accepted by some recycling facilities.

One long-standing disadvantage of BOPP bags was sealing. However, Sonoco has recently announced the first heat-sealable BOPP barrier bag available for industrial bulk packaging applications, such as animal and pet food manufacturing.  

Choose the Right Bag for Your Needs with Sonoco

Need help figuring out which bag is best for you? Consider these questions: 

What grade of safety does your product require (e.g., food-grade, medical-grade)?

How important is crystal-clear branding for your product’s success? 

Think about the equipment and processes you already have in place. Do you heat-seal your bags, for example? 

Do you require a specifically sized bag? 

If you’re interested in speaking with a packaging expert to determine the best bag for your needs, reach out to Sonoco. Our friendly representatives and materials science engineers will be more than happy to discuss your packaging needs! 

Uses And Attributes Of Bopp Films – Its Pros And Its Cons

BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) films are widely used in various industries for their versatile attributes. One significant use of BOPP films is in packaging applications. Due to their high clarity, good gloss, and excellent printability, BOPP films are commonly used to package products, such as snacks, chocolates, and confectionery items

Website URL :- https://www.cosmofilms.com/blog/uses-and-attributes-of-bopp-films-its-pros-and-its-cons/

Uploaded 5 months ago

Direct links

Image link

Image URL

Full image (linked)

Website (HTML)

Forums (BBCode)

Fanciful Uses and Attributes of Bopp Films

Bopp is abbreviated as biaxially oriented polypropylene; BOPP film is flexible in both machine and transversal directions, creating molecular chain orientation in 2 directions. BOPP film is developed by a cannular process, in which a cannular bubble is blown up, or a tenter frame procedure, in which a heavy extruded sheet is inflamed to its buffering point and is automatically extended by 300–400%. Stretching out in the tenter cast procedure is commonly 4.5:1 in the simple machine direction and 8.0:1 in the transversal direction, while these ratios are amply adaptable. It is a widely utilized procedure, more common than the cannular procedure, and a shiny, transparent film is developed.

BOPP can be utilized as heat-shrinkable Bopp films in shrink-wrap coatings or heat adjust to allow multidimensional stability. Heat sealing off is hard in BOPP films. Still, it can be made more facile by either covering the film after working on it with heat-sealable stuff (specified as polyvinylidene chloride) or by co-extrusion with single or, more excellent extent, copolymers before processing to get different layers of film. Copolymers utilized in sealing off layers must have rich gloss and transparency and should have low sealing off temperatures to keep aberration of the oriented polymer during waterproofing.

Random copolymers carrying 3 to 7% ethene are often utilized as sealing levels; the lower melting point (<132°C; <270°F) leads to a 30% addition inline races, and they can be reprocessed without any significant loss of durability or lucidity. Coating or coextrusion step-ups the barrier attributes of BOPP film, diminishing its permeability to gases. Basic barrier polymers are ethene vinyl alcohol, polyamide, and polyvinylidene chloride, 5 or more levels might be coextruded or laminated, or the barrier polymer can be distributed in the matrix polymer.

Unique Attributes of BOPP Films as base material:

These are such films that have BOPP as the primary material. Its unusual and unique attributes are listed below:

These BOPP films have a concentration more approximate to 0.90 g/m, and thence it delivers high yield at as is the price as compared to additional films, that is to say polyester films.

BOPP films have the first-class gloss and advanced transparency that make it a fantabulous look and superior finish.

Additional polyester films are not resistive to external pollution, whereas BOPP films play an adequate moisture resistive barrier and are inclined to defy pollution and adverse chemicals.

This Bopp film has a spectrum of an extensive range and is very readily available, that is to say. Dull, Glossy, Silky count, and so forth.

Excellent lucidity.

Best multidimensional constancy and flatness.

Very low electrostatic charge.

Presents as an effective barrier to water vapor.

BOPP films maintain good and optimal performance on the eminent speeding printing process.

Aside from being resistive to adverse chemicals and pollution, these Bopp films play as resistive to oils and lubricating oil.

Good puncture and flex crack resistance over a wide range of temperatures.

In addition, BOPP films are not impressed by the moisture and do not crinkle or flinch with modifications in the environment.

They are reusable.

Benefits of BOPP Films:

BOPP films have bang-up benefits suchlike:

They are really environmentally friendly.

They are very light in weighting.

They are recognized easily all over the world.

The harm of the production due to transport, weather condition, and so on are brought down to the great extent.

Has the disposition to keep the product air-dry.

Zero de-lamination is needed.

They have sound clarity and are resistive to ultraviolet light or rays.

BOPP Films Applications:

BOPP films have an extensive range of product applications.

Grade F1 Bopp films are utilized for packing of food, and their lock-in.

Basic BOPP films are being used for electrical applications, printing processes, and lamination.

Textbook coating.

Additional applications let in extrusion application, flower packing, backward printing, and lamination.

They are as well utilized as adhesive material tapes and pressure tender tapes..

White and glaucous colored Bopp film is utilized for general functions like printing process protruding, cable over wraps up, strip packaging for coughing drops, and estrus sealable BOPP films used for all-purpose and overwrapping up.

Drawbacks of using BOPP Films in packaging:

All the same, BOPP lamination films have a few drawbacks, viz.

BOPP sealing is not too much strong.

On that point, there is an advanced range of crystal explicit nature in BOPP films as the shallow of these films is nonionic.

The functioning of this film in the printing process is short and has deficient relativity as to ink as of down surface energy.

Despite a couple of drawbacks, BOPP films have turned the most advanced buzzword in the food packaging and another packaging arena, and they are really in the good books of both the producers and the end-users or the buyers. Bopp film is widely used nowadays almost in every food packaging.

Printing Layer Materials

The materials for the printing layer must undergo corona treatment of over 36 dynes (single side is sufficient). Its function is to firmly adsorb ink and glue, thereby preventing delamination after lamination, crucial for digital flexible packaging.

Nylon

Also known as BOPA, it exhibits excellent gas barrier properties, is primarily used in the lamination of vacuum bags, and can also serve as a composite material for high-temperature cooking bags or be used as an intermediate material.

Nylon/PE has good strength and can be used as a composite material for ordinary vacuum bags, suitable for packaging rice, frozen foods, etc.

Nylon/PE/CPE is impact-resistant with good strength and suitable for packaging products that require resistance to squeezing and dropping.

Nylon/R-CPP is heat-resistant with good strength, making it suitable as a composite material for high-temperature cooking bags.

PET

Also known as Biaxially Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate.

PET/PE and PET/PE/CPP have good mechanical properties and are suitable for packaging some powder items and medical equipment.

PET/AL/R-CPP offers high barrier performance, and heat resistance, and is suitable for sterilization cooking bags due to its capability to withstand high temperatures.

KOP

Coating the base material of OPP with a layer (K-Polyvinylidene Chloride, PVDC) enhances its barrier properties (especially in terms of the gas barrier), making it also suitable for moisture-proof packaging.

KOP/PE, and KOP/CPP are fragrance-preserving and are better barrier composite materials, suitable for packaging items such as jerkies, dried tofu, etc.

OPP

Also known as BOPP, it is characterized by its good transparency and hygienic properties, making it an environmentally friendly packaging material that is also cost-effective.

OPP/CPP, and OPP/PE feature high transparency, simple manufacturing processes, and low cost, making them suitable for packaging candies, ornaments, and similar items.

PTT

It is OPP’s matte film has a high haze level, ranging from 40-70%, and is semi-translucent. It is primarily used for packaging snacks such as prunes, cherries, etc., to enhance their pattern effects and give a sense of layering. The composite materials include PTT/PE, PTT/CPP, and so on.

TNylon

Co-extruded nylon is a composite of NYLON+PE co-extruded together. It has high tear strength, good gas barrier properties, and a tensile strength greater than PE but less than NYLON; its elongation rate is greater than NYLON but less than PE, mainly suitable for heavy-duty packaging or vacuum packaging.

The typical composite structure is TNYLON/PE, mainly used for rice bag packaging.

Barrier Layer Materials

The barrier layer, or the middle layer, requires double-sided corona treatment of over 36 dynes. This material primarily acts as a barrier against oxygen and moisture (some materials also have a light-shielding effect). Its main function is to protect the food inside, extend the shelf life, and effectively preserve the original color, aroma, and taste of the food.

In the international packaging community, the barrier properties of materials are commonly classified into three levels:

• High barrier (oxygen transmission rate below 10 mL), with materials such as aluminum foil and PVDC (Polyvinylidene Chloride resin), currently considered high barrier materials for flexible packaging.
• Medium barrier (oxygen transmission rate between 10-150 mL), such as nylon and polyester (PET).
• Low barrier (oxygen transmission rate above 150 mL) materials include PE (Polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene), etc.

Here are several common types of intermediate materials:

AL

It has good glossiness and a metallic sheen, easy to press into shape. Its barrier properties are very good, capable of blocking gas, water, and light.

Pearlescent Film

It is made from OPP mixed with pearlescent pigments, offering a light-blocking pearl color. It can be used as an intermediate material, suitable for packaging items like ice cream and noodles, enhancing the perceived quality of the packaged products.

VMPET

It possesses a metallic luster, good barrier properties, and is extensible. Its barrier performance is slightly inferior to pure aluminum, but it is cheaper to produce.

Heat Seal Layer Materials

This material requires single-sided corona treatment of over 36 dynes, and some materials have heat-sealing properties through the coating, such as heat-sealable BOPP and PET.

Below are some commonly used heat seal layer materials:

PE,CPE

They have high elongation, tear resistance, good heat resistance, and are cost-effective. PE is also known for its good hygienic properties and is called the “flower of plastics.”

CPP

It has good glossiness, high transparency, high elongation, and tear resistance. It is also one of our commonly used base materials. Additionally, R-CPP is a type of heat-resistant CPP, with other properties similar to CPP.

TCS

It has high elongation, tear resistance, and good slipperiness. It is generally suitable for heavy-duty packaging or base materials for lids, but it is more expensive.

EVA

It has a lower heat sealing temperature, good glossiness, excellent flexibility, and cold resistance. Modified EVA can be easily torn and is commonly used as a peelable lid film for yogurt, jelly, cold drinks, etc., with structures such as PET/PE/EVA, PET/VMPET/PE/EVA, etc.

Several Commonly Used Product Structures

Ordinary Packaging Structure

OPP/CPP, OPP/CPE, or PE, etc., mainly use ordinary composite inks for printing and ordinary glue for lamination. The composite strength is generally above 1N. Its main features are high transparency, simple production process, and low cost. It is suitable for packaging snacks, cereals, candies, frozen foods, ornaments, clothing, etc.

Vacuum Packaging Structure

Nylon/CPE or CPP, co-extruded nylon/CPE, etc., can use ordinary composite inks for printing and ordinary glue for lamination, with good composite strength. Its main feature is good gas barrier properties, suitable for packaging some ordinary vacuum-packed foods, such as rice, frozen foods, etc.

The former can also use nylon composite inks for printing and nylon glue for lamination, with high composite strength, capable of withstanding 100°C sterilization, suitable for packaging some ordinary low-temperature sterilized foods like bamboo shoots, sausages, etc.

High-Temperature Cooking Packaging Structure

Nylon/R-CPP, PET/AL/R-CPP, etc., are mainly used for printing and lamination, with high composite strength. The former has high transparency and good water resistance, suitable for packaging some vacuum-packed high-temperature cooking foods like bamboo shoots, marinated foods, etc.

The latter has high barrier properties, good gas, and light barrier properties, and is suitable for packaging some high-temperature sterilized foods like sweet corn, cooked foods, etc.

Barrier Packaging Material Structure

Depending on the packaged items, there can be many types. For packaging tea bags, coffee, medicines, high-end biscuits, shampoo, etc., PET/PE/AL/PE/CPP, PET/VMCPP, PET/VMPET/PE/CPP, or R-CPP can be used, featuring UV resistance, high mechanical strength, impact resistance, and high barrier properties, mainly using nylon composite inks for printing and nylon glue for lamination.

For packaging dried tofu, jerky, medical equipment, biscuits, snacks, etc., KOP/PE/CPE, PET/PE, KOP/CPP, PET/PE/CPP, etc., can be used, mainly using ordinary composite inks for printing and ordinary glue for lamination, with good mechanical properties, high strength, and high water resistance, forming a medium barrier packaging combination.

Easy-Tear Lid Material Packaging Structure

PET/VMPET/TCS, PET/PE/EVA, PET/CPE, etc., can use ordinary composite inks for printing and ordinary glue for lamination. Its main feature is easy opening, suitable for packaging pudding lids and food lids, etc.

Anti-Fog Packaging Structure

OPP/Anti-fog PE, using ordinary composite inks for printing and anti-fog glue for lamination. Its main feature is the anti-fog function, suitable for packaging heated foods like roast chicken, etc.

Conclusion

This text provides a detailed introduction to the structure, material selection, and application areas of composite packaging bags. Different types of materials such as Nylon, PET, KOP, and OPP each serve specific functions, such as barrier properties, transparency, and hygiene. By carefully selecting materials for the printing layer, barrier layer, and heat-seal layer, packaging solutions that meet the specific requirements based on the characteristics of the contents can be designed.

The text also lists several common product structures, including ordinary, vacuum, high-temperature cooking, and barrier types, each targeting different packaging needs and application scenarios. This information is very useful for those looking for suitable packaging materials and structures in the food, pharmaceutical, and other industries.