At DuFor, we believe that real material innovation happens when chemistry meets practical processing. A formulation may look promising on paper, but only when it is converted into a functional product do we truly see how our materials behave in actual applications. Our in‑house film extruder helps bridge the gap between formulation and practical extrusion, making this critical step both faster and more accurate.
Having a pilot film extruder enables us to process polyester compounds directly into test films. This allows us to observe how a formulation behaves during extrusion. For example, how actual product temperature varies throughout the extruder, how the die influences processing, and how the material responds to cooling and winding etc. Furthermore, we can determine properties of these films (tear resistance, sealing behavior, etc.) which provides critical information for applications such as lidding films for PET trays in food packaging, where a reliable sealing window and minimal deformation are essential.
By performing these in-house tests we can rapidly test multiple trial formulations and identify which recipes are technically the most promising, offer better sealing performance, or process more consistently. Only the formulations that perform well in practice move forward into further development. Since the introduction of the in-house film extrusion capabilities we have been able to accelerate our new product development and can optimize our products faster. It also enables us to provide improved extrusion and post-processing guidelines.
Beyond speed and precision, our film extruder plays an important role in supporting our sustainability ambitions. The market is moving toward mono‑material packaging, where tray and film can be recycled together. Traditional seal layers pose a well‑known challenge in this transition. By developing and testing PET‑based sealing layers on a small scale, we can create solutions that fit better within a fully PET recycling stream.
Besides our in-house development we have been working with partners throughout the value chain for many years to compare the real‑world performance of our materials with our laboratory findings. For example, we have extruded a thin seal layer from one of our materials together with a film producer, while we have used the same material to produce thermoform trays together with a tray manufacturer. These tray–film combinations were then sealed at different settings using an industrial sealing machine, both with and without contamination to simulate real production conditions. The resulting trays and sealed samples were returned to our lab, where we analyzed the outcomes and compared them with our in‑house film tests. This approach shows us exactly how the properties we measure in our laboratory translate into performance at product level.
By validating each step ourselves, we develop materials that process reliably and support a circular future. Our film extruder bridges the gap between what we design and what works in practice, accelerating the development of high‑performance, future‑proof polyester materials.
Curious about what our polyester specialties can do for your application or market? Contact us to explore the possibilities.