Mondelēz partners with Battelle on new packaging reclosure: Gallery

In a successful case of open innovation, snack food giant Mondelēz Intl. has partnered with Battelle, the world’s largest nonprofit research and development organization, to develop new packaging reclosure as an economical replacement to zippers and other reseal technologies. Called Low Tack Adhesive (LTA), the product only sticks to itself when simply pressed together but with high enough bond strength to provide a secure yet easy-open reclose feature.

Developed for snack food packaging, LTA has far-reaching applications for dry goods—cereal, for example. Consumers have been asking for easy resealing for bag-in-box cereal packaging for decades. Because LTA sticks to itself and nothing else, packages might be less messy without the product inside clogging or interfering with the reclosure feature.

One little hitch, though, on immediately using it for foods. Low Tack Adhesive has not received food-contact regulatory clearance yet. Mondelēz and Battelle are working diligently to make that a reality. But LTA can be used now as a reclose device on non-food items as diverse as wet wipes, detergents, trash bags, makeup and other personal care products.

According to the companies, LTA is cost effective to manufacture and apply. The adhesive is applied to a variety of packaging films using conventional printing and coating technologies. It is then ultra-violet (UV) cured. Films with LTA applied can be run on existing packaging machines with little to no modifications and at existing line speeds.

Stu Stein, director of open innovation at Mondelēz Intl., and Cindy Conner, senior market manager in Consumer, Industrial & Medical Products at Battelle, give specific details in a Packaging Digest exclusive.