H.B. Fuller recently announced that it has launched a series of products that are free of epoxy silane commonly known as GLYMO within its Flextra™ range of adhesives for flexible packaging. According to the company, this range also does not contain organotin or BPA. In addition, specific grades are free of cyclic esters.

Converters and food manufacturers face growing regulation and increased pressure from consumers. H.B. Fuller reports that its Flextra line for flexible packaging provides a compliant and food-safe adhesive solution. The Flextra range includes both solvent-based and solvent-free products for medium- and high-performance applications. Individual solutions also offer additional benefits such as room temperature curing, fast curing, and PAA decay, as well as the option to use an aliphatic system to avoid PAA altogether.

According to H.B. Fuller, this launch is in line with recommendations from FEICA, the Association of the European Adhesive & Sealant Industry, for members to replace GLYMO in food packaging adhesives before mid-2020. This follows guidance from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that GLYMO, which is typically used to improve adhesion to inorganic surfaces such as aluminium or SiO_x-coated films, has a genotoxic potential. It is expected that the regulatory classification will soon change from 10 ppb to 0.15 ppb.

Additional details are available at www.hbfuller.com.