Kuraray pioneers sustainable packaging with innovative barrier materials

Hattersheim/Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), July 15, 2025. Kuraray, the global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Japan, is driving sustainable innovation in the packaging industry with new high-performance materials for recyclable mono-material barrier packaging concepts – including biocircular EVAL™ EVOH, biodegradable PLANTIC™ , KURARAY POVAL™, EXCEVAL™, ELVANOL™, and MOWIFLEX™. These speciality barrier technologies empower food and beverages brand owners, plastics converters and packaging manufacturers to produce performant circular barrier packaging while reducing their environmental impact and food waste by extending shelf life. Polyvinyl butyral MOWITAL® used as a binder for multi-layer packaging products further expands Kuraray’s offering for packaging innovation. Whether combined with paper or plastic-based substrates, the company’s materials are key enablers to help meet the circularity requirement set by the regulations now in place as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and help reduce additional fees set by the Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR) when ECO-Modulation is considered. Kuraray’s solutions support sustainability across a wide variety of packaging formats by recently adding ISCC PLUS-certified products to its product portfolio. Through close collaboration with industry partners (co-creation), the company turns complex packaging challenges into practical, future-proof solutions. At K 2025 the world's leading trade fair for plastics and rubber (8 to 15 October 2025 in Düsseldorf), Kuraray will present its packaging solutions (Hall 7a, Booth D06).

ISCC PLUS-certified solutions and production sites
Sustainability starts at the source. Kuraray’s ISCC PLUS-certified grades such as EVAL™, KURARAY POVAL™, ELVANOL™, EXCEVAL™, and MOWITAL® support the use of renewable feedstocks via a mass balance approach. This certification ensures transparency, traceability, and sustainable practices throughout complex supply chains and allows brand owners to reduce their Scope 3 emissions while maintaining the high performance required in modern packaging. Depending on the grade, verified carbon footprint reductions of up to 60% can be achieved with Kuraray’s materials.

Recently, Kuraray’s Bayport Plant in Pasadena, Texas has received ISCC PLUS certification, following its La Porte Plant, the manufacturing site for ELVANOL™, as the company’s second site in the United States to receive this certification. In Bayport Kuraray produces the polyvinyl alcohol resins KURARAY POVAL™ and EXCEVAL™.

Co-creation: Innovation through partnership
Kuraray believes in the power of collaboration. By working together with converters, brand owners, retailers, and machine manufacturers, the company supports the development of tailored packaging solutions that are practical, compliant and future-proof. A recent example is the co-development of vacuum pouch packaging based on PE and EVAL™ EVOH with Dow and Niederwieser – offering a top-tier oxygen barrier for extended food shelf life and the support of mechanical recyclability.

Product highlights for sustainable packaging
At K 2025, Kuraray will be presenting the following product highlights:
 

• EVAL™ EVOH
  EVAL™ is a high-performance oxygen barrier for recyclable mono-material packaging in plastic and paper formats. A 1-millimetre layer of EVAL™ provides the same gas barrier performance as a 10-metre-thick wall of LDPE – enabling ultra-thin, lightweight, and resource-saving multilayer structures and therefore helping to reduce waste. New EVAL™ grades for metallisation offer an aluminium-free alternative for dry food such as snacks, coffee, milk or soup powders packaging. Moreover, biocircular ISCC PLUS-certified versions are available from the Antwerp plant.
• KURARAY POVAL™, EXCEVAL™, ELVANOL™, and MOWIFLEX™
  KURARAY POVAL™, EXCEVAL™, ELVANOL™, and MOWIFLEX™ are Kuraray’s polyvinyl alcohols (PVOH) developed for sustainable packaging. They are water-soluble, film-forming, and support recyclable and compostable pack¬ag¬ing. KURARAY POVAL™ is used in biodegradable cushioning foams as an alternative to EPS, offering enhanced structure and insulation. EXCEVAL™ is biodegradable in water, repulpable, and provides strong gas barriers – even at elevated humidity – as well as strong resistance to oil and grease. ELVANOL™ also offers excellent resistance to oil and grease as well as solvents, making it ideal for water-soluble film applications. Kuraray’s novel MOWIFLEX™ TC polymer compound is a thermoplastically processable film designed specifically for packaging applications. In addition, Kuraray's biocircular polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) products are also available at the Frankfurt plant.
• PLANTIC™
  Renewable PLANTIC film is now also available in pellet form as PLANTIC™ EP. This thermoplastic starch-based, biodegradable and compostable biopolymer is ideal for packaging dry goods such as coffee, tea and animal feed, as well as MAP food applications. Its excellent oxygen barrier helps preserve aroma and product quality. Furthermore, PLANTIC™ is dispersible in water, enabling the separation of multilayers and allowing for easy repulping of paper packaging.
• MOWITAL®
  MOWITAL® polyvinyl butyral can also be used as an optimal auxiliary in coatings and as a binder for multi-layer packaging products.

Ready for PPWR: Future-proof packaging materials
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) sets clear targets for the circularity of packaging, adding design for recycling criteria. Kuraray provides concrete solutions to produce ready-to-recycle packaging with functionally equivalents to current non-recyclable structures with EVAL™, EXCEVAL™, or PLANTIC™. Kuraray teams provide expertise in working together with industry stakeholders to identify the right material combinations that ensure mechanical recyclability, compliance, and high performance across all barrier packaging.
 

Arrange an appointment with Kuraray at the K 2025
Interested parties can book an individual appointment with the Kuraray experts at the trade fair in advance at https://go.kuraray.com/K2025.

About Kuraray
Established in 1991, Kuraray Europe GmbH is based in Hattersheim, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 2023 the company generated annual sales of EUR 1.1 billion. 
It has more than 850 employees in Germany at its sites in Hattersheim, Frankfurt and Troisdorf. Kuraray is a global specialty chemicals company and one of the largest suppliers of industrial polymers and synthetic microfibers for many sectors of industry. Examples are KURARAY POVAL™, MOWITAL®, Trosifol® and Clearfil™. Kuraray Europe also has around 209 employees at seven other European sites. They are also working on the development and application of innovative high-performance materials for a wide range of sectors, including the automotive, paper, glass and packaging industries, as well as for architects and dentists.

Kuraray Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly listed Kuraray Group, which is based in Tokyo, Japan, and has more than 11,900 employees worldwide and sales of EUR 4.7 billion.

About EVAL Europe N.V. / Kuraray
Kuraray is the world leader in high gas barrier technology, production and technical development of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH). Our EVOH resin have been available worldwide under the name of EVAL™ since 1972 and are produced globally in Belgium (at EVAL Europe), the USA and Japan. A very thin layer of EVAL™ EVOH adds a superior barrier to efficient multilayer structures, making it possible for these multilayer structures to provide functional protection using a minimum amount of material. This way, the packaging weighs less and still protects the product and the environment. What is more: due to the minimal amount of EVAL™ needed, packers can use the resin with polyolefins – such as polyethylene – to create a package that will still be considered mono-material and fits well into the recycling stream. For more information, visit www.eval.kuraray.com 

Press contacts:

Carmen Mundt
Manager Corporate Communications 
Kuraray Europe GmbH
Philipp-Reis-Strasse 4
65795 Hattersheim am Main
Phone: +49 69 305 85734
Email: Carmen.Mundt@kuraray.com 
Internet: www.kuraray.eu

Julia Schreiber
Head of Communication Management
möller horcher c/o trivid GmbH
Frankfurter Straße 151A
63303 Dreieich
Phone: +49 3731 2070 915 
Email: julia.schreiber@moeller-horcher.de 
Internet: www.moeller-horcher.de