Packaging and Case and Carton Sealing Hot Melts Fifty Years of Change and Progress, 2001 Hot Melt Symposium Proceedings

Robert S. Forsyth--Over the past 50 years the packaging industry has seen major changes. Examples are the emergence of the snack food industry, new plastics and plastic films, environmental regulations, a realization of the consequences of insufficient packaging in some of the developing countries, higher and higher speed packaging lines, supermarkets, microwave packaging, aseptive packaging, to name but a few. Likewise packaging adhesives have changed and progressed from borated dextrins, to polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymer adhesives to hot melts. The latter, a whole new packaging form and technology over the past 50 years, has emerged. Today, packaging is the largest market for hot melts and other adhesives. This paper will trace some of the packaging developments over the past 50 years particularly those related to adhesives and what has happened to packaging adhesives for case and carton sealing over that time span.