ExxonMobil and Bandera show conventional blown-film lines can now produce recyclable all-PE pet food pouches with PET-like stiffness — a cost milestone for sustainable packaging.
One of the biggest barriers to recyclable pet food packaging has been cost: the machine-direction-oriented (MDO) films used to give all-PE pouches PET-like stiffness required specialized, capital-heavy extrusion equipment. That changed in July 2026, when ExxonMobil's Signature Polymers and Italian extrusion maker Bandera demonstrated a fully recyclable all-PE pet food pouch produced on a conventional blown-film line — with stiffness, optical clarity, and barrier performance comparable to traditional PET-based structures.
For brands, the significance is simple: more converters can now offer genuinely recyclable high-barrier pouches without premium tooling, which means mono-material packaging is about to get noticeably more affordable across the industry.
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