Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President Hiroshi Yoshida) will start full-fledged sales of its “DIAWRAPTM SUPER i-PC,” a polyolefin-based stretch film for food packaging from mid- February this year. The film is energy-saving without the need of heat shrinking in the food packaging process, and has enhanced durability necessary for delivering food from food processing centers to supermarkets.

 

 Mitsubishi Plastics is one of the largest manufacturers of commercial wrap films for food packaging. Rolls are available in two different types: large rolls with mainly 1000m length used at supermarket workspaces and so forth and small rolls with 100m length used at restaurants and hotel kitchens. Since the late 1990's, the Company has been pioneering manufacturing of chlorine-free polyolefin-based stretch films in order to enhance its line-up of environmentally responsive products. The DIAWRAPTM series are very popular with customers, being recognized as the world's finest commercial wrap films for food packaging.

 

 Recently, in order to enhance production efficiency, major supermarkets have tended to conduct their food-processing operations such as cooking and packaging at food processing centers, rather than doing so on supermarket sites. While processed and packaged foods are being transported to supermarkets, the surface of the film that wraps around foods will get wrinkled or dented due to bouncing movements or stacking load during shipment; therefore, films for food packaging require a good level of tension and resilience. For this reason, many customers prefer shrinkwraps that shrink tightly over objects when heat is applied to stretch films that are elastic at ambient temperatures. The stretch film “DIAWRAPTM SUPER i-PC” which Mitsubishi Plastics is going to launch is almost 20% stronger in tension than its conventional products, which can satisfy customers' requirements for quality. This was achieved by improving film composition and adjusting the thickness of film layers. In addition, since the film does not require heat shrinking, it is possible to downsize the product, thus reducing waste. Electricity consumption and CO2 emission can also be significantly reduced* in the process of the production of stretch films compared to that of shrinkwraps, as the stretch films do not require facilities and workloads for heat shrinking.

 

 “DIAWRAPTM SUPER i-PC” has already undergone quality testing by major supermarket customers, and received orders from their food processing centers. Mitsubishi Plastics strives to promote this new product through vigorous marketing activities to supermarkets, food processing operators and retail shops.

 
* According to our estimation, when a single facility for heat shrinking (tunnel generally used for packaging with shrinkwrap) is operated for 12 hours/day, 360 days/year, about 8,640 kw of electricity is consumed, 170,000 yen of electricity expense is incurred, and 4.2t of CO2 emission is produced. “DIAWRAPTM SUPER i-PC” will eliminate the process that generates such costs and emissions.

[Facility conditions]
Output 1200V; power consumption 2kwh; electricity expense 20yen/kwh; Co2 emission 0.484 Co2-kg/kwh

 

 

  

 

[Product profile]
  Product name: DIAWRAPTM SUPER i-PC
  Length of roll: 1200m

The product is designed to offer domestic customers in principle: there will be a need for various procedures for confirmation in the case of export.

Inquiries by media regarding this material should be directed to the
Public Relations Section, General Administration Dept., Mitsubishi Plastics Inc.
TEL: +81-3-3279-3800