Packaging Adhesives - Dow Laminating Adhesive Products

Your Flexible Packaging Partner

The world of flexible packaging is growing at an impressive rate, driven by consumer preferences shifting toward new, attractive packages, ease of use, sustainability, and environmentally conscientious ideals. As these preferences continue to change and move throughout the globe, we expect the flexible packaging space to continue evolving and increasing in complexity.

Bostik's laminating adhesive brands have a history dating all the way back to the 1940s and are sometimes still associated with their legacy brands, Morton and Rohm and Haas. Since the beginning, more and more technological breakthroughs have enriched the Bostik laminating adhesive offering, making it one of the most robust in the industry. Bostik continues to invest in their global presence and state-of-the-art technology to ensure they continue to lead the industry with products that push the limits of engineering.

When you choose to partner with ChemPoint on Bostik adhesives, you can rely on many decades of expertise, world-class technology, and an impressively broad portfolio, along with continued investment and collaborative development. Bostik’s recognized position as a world leader in technology and development, paired with ChemPoint’s uncompromising commitment to top-class customer service, ensures we can support your business with the best products when you need them. We know we succeed only when you succeed, so read on to find out how ChemPoint can add value to your business.

Customer Success Stories

Your Partner When You Need Us

See how Bostik’s broad portfolio of laminating adhesives gives your business the flexibility to transition between performance and cost levels while supporting your business

A Real Partner With Real Solutions

We understand the various regulations which impact your business and we will guide you through all your options to find the best available solution.

Bostik Packaging Adhesive Solutions

Heat Seal Coatings

Heat seal coatings are thermoplastic coatings used as adhesives to seal one substrate to another. The coating is typically applied to a flexible substrate, such as film, foil, paper, or nonwoven material, and allowed to dry. The coated substrate does not exhibit tackiness at room temperature and can be shipped to another destination for heat sealing onto another substrate. This final seal is formed between the substrate that the coating was applied to and the substrate that the coating is sealed to when the adhesive is reactivated using heat and pressure.

Bostik manufactures a full line of water-based and solvent-based heat seal coatings for multiple packaging applications, including flexible packaging. Commonly, heat seal coatings are used to create flexible lids for food packaging containing items such as vegetables, meat, cheese, condiments, and dairy. Some heat seal options that comply with the appropriate FDA 21 CFR regulations are also used for lidding onto retortable and ovenable containers.

Non-food contact applications include in-mold labeling for food, beverage, and household packaging. Medical instrument packaging, pharmaceutical blister packaging, and some industrial applications also make use of heat seal adhesives. Bostik offers multiple grades of heat seal adhesives to suit most common coating application methods, including gravure, flexographic, reverse roll, slot die, air knife, and wire wound rods. Bostik's full offering of heat seal coatings is listed below.

Learn More

Primers

Primers are used to promote or improve the adhesion of a topcoat to a variety of base films, including foil, metallized films, paper, and board stock. Often, they are applied and immediately top coated. In some cases, however, they may be applied and wound but top coated later. Both water- and solvent-based chemistries are available.

Learn More

Solvent-Based Adhesives

Solvent-based laminating adhesives contain organic solvents as a carrier for the adhesive resins present in the adhesive system. These solvents are dried after application to facilitate a process known as dry bond laminating, which leaves the active resin system on the substrate to be bonded to a secondary substrate to perform laminations between film and foil materials used to construct flexible packaging.

Solvent-based adhesives constitute some of the oldest chemistries used for flexible packaging applications, and they are still widely used today for several reasons. These adhesives develop good green bond strength quickly, permitting laminates to be postprocessed faster and facilitating shorter turnaround times to complete final packaging. They also create packaging and laminate materials with good appearance and high heat and chemical resistance.

Flexible packaging laminates made with Bostik's solvent-based adhesives can be used in a variety of food packaging applications, including snack food, meat, cheese, frozen foods, chemically challenging foods, and foods that are oily or greasy. Bostik's solvent-based laminating adhesives also cater to multiple FDA regulations concerning food packaging that enable high-demand applications, such as boil-in-bag, ovenable, hot fill, and retortable packaging. They are also used in industrial laminating applications, such as solar control window films, thermal insulation, sailcloth, and photovoltaic backsheets, which bond materials such as plastic films, foils, and fabrics. Bostik's solvent-based laminating adhesive portfolio is one of the broadest and most versatile available in the industry. For more information on these laminating adhesives, explore our options below.

Learn More

Solventless Adhesives

Solventless laminating adhesives contain 100% actives and do not have water or solvent carriers. These laminating adhesives are typically used in flexible packaging applications. They are specifically two-component adhesives consisting of an isocyanate and a polyol that are mixed and react to form polyurethane. Solventless laminating adhesives provide packaging converters with cost savings by eliminating the requirement of ovens to remove water or solvent carriers in water-based or solvent-based adhesives.

Solventless laminating adhesives are applied to base substrates like films and foils using solventless laminators that can coat the adhesive via smooth roll transfer coating techniques. Coated substrates are subsequently nipped and bonded to a secondary substrate to make the lamination. These laminations may contain multiple laminate layers used to construct flexible packaging.

Flexible packages made with Bostik's MOR-FREE™ and PACACEL™ solventless laminating adhesives are used in an array of packaging applications for food and beverages and meet a broad range of FDA regulations. For example, Bostik offers several solventless adhesive options with appropriate compliance for snack food, hot fill, boil-in-bag, microwavable, and frozen food packaging. Bostik's solventless adhesives also offer moderate chemical resistance and allow for aggressive fill and fatty food applications. These solventless adhesives are suitable for making laminates using most types of films, foils, and paper.

Continue below to view Bostik's solventless laminating adhesive options.

Learn More

Water-Based Adhesives

Water-based laminating adhesives use water as a carrier for their resins. These adhesives are subsequently dried after application to facilitate dry bond lamination. After drying, the adhesive resin system remains on the substrate for bonding to a secondary substrate to form the laminate under heat and pressure. These water-based adhesives provide advantages in sustainability over solvent-based adhesives since they use water as their carrier; they do not release hazardous air pollutants or large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the surrounding environment during the coating and drying processes.

These laminating adhesives are highly versatile and can be used to create strong bonds on a variety of materials, including several types of film, foil, and paper. End-use applications for these adhesives include food packaging, medical packaging, and industrial laminates. Laminates made with these adhesives carry food contact approval for snack food, frozen food, microwaveable food, and warm fill and boil-in-bag packages. These adhesives also provide good chemical resistance and are compatible with chemicals and solvents used in medical applications. These laminating adhesives can create industrial laminates used in thermal and electrical insulations that bond materials such as PET, polyolefin, and nylon plastic films and foil.

These water-based adhesives are typically machine-ready, requiring no dilution, whereas solvent-based laminating adhesives require dilution prior to coating onto substrates. This enables faster slit-to-ship turnaround times. Learn more about our water-based laminating adhesives by reviewing our options below.

Learn More