Berry Global, a leader in the design and manufacture of innovative, sustainable packaging solutions, recently opened the doors to its “Circular Innovation and Training Center” in Tulsa, OK. The new 12,000 square foot center will accelerate the development of highly innovative products driven by superior materials science and engineering, foster a collaborative space for training, and incubate cutting-edge stretch film projects that help keep materials in use and out of the environment.

“Now more than ever, the ability to access premium films with tailored performance and circularity benefits is crucial for our distributors, as they strive to meet the evolving sustainability demands of consumers and the market at large,” says Phil Stolz, EVP & general manager for Flexibles. “This new center represents a significant investment in education, technology, and sustainability to help our customers unpack complexities and understand what’s possible for the flexible packaging market.”

Stretch films are made with thin, light-weight, extruded plastic and wrapped around a product to achieve load integrity. This promotes sustainability by eliminating or reducing breakage, damage, and loss of products during shipment. Showcasing a range of state-of-the-art pallet wrapping machines and film evaluation equipment, Berry’s new center will spur the development of new Bmore Circular Solutions across ultra-high-performance films that support a circular economy through the use of recycled content, material downgauging, and more. Lighter weight stretch films require less raw materials and energy to produce, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plastic waste.

Utilizing state-of-the-art film characterization and performance testing technology, the new site will measure the variable properties and behaviors of stretch films, including:

• Film characterization and quality measurement to quickly analyze fundamental film properties, like thickness, width, length, weight, density, modulus, elongation, tensile strength, puncture resistance, tear resistance, and cling force.
• Performance testing to accurately assess how film properties will perform in the field, including pre-stretch ratio, force-to-load ratio, neck-down ratio, roping ratio, film memory, film relaxation, load deformation, load shifting, and load failure.

The center will also create a space for distributors to broaden their knowledge of Berry’s stretch film products and applications through a range of educational and immersive training sessions led by internal subject matter experts. To cater to the unique interests of distributors, these training courses will cover a variety of topics, including Stretch Film 101, Wrapping Dynamics and Optimization, the Benefits of Berry’s Ultra and Premium Circular Films, Partnership Building, and more.