Laminating Adhesives for Flexible Packaging: How to Select the Right Technology

Table of Contents

• Flexible Packaging Sructures and Adhesive Requirements
• Solvent-Based vs. Solventless vs. Water-Based Adhesives
• Laminating Adhesive Chemistries
• Common Laminating Adhesive Problems and Their Causes
• Sustainability Trends in Flexible Packaging Adhesives
• Laminating Adhesive Product Families
• Conclusion
• Need Help Selecting a Laminating Adhesive?

What Are Laminating Adhesives?

Flexible packaging has become one of the most widely used packaging formats because of its lightweight construction, material efficiency, and ability to protect products throughout transportation and storage. Laminating adhesives are critical to these structures because they bond films, foils, papers, and specialty substrates into a single package that delivers the desired barrier, sealability, appearance, and durability. 

A laminating adhesive is more than a bonding layer. The adhesive can influence package performance, processing speed, regulatory compliance, recyclability, visual appearance, and shelf life. For this reason, selecting the proper adhesive technology is often one of the most important decisions made during package development. 

Many adhesive technologies can bond similar structures, but the optimal technology depends on package design, converting equipment, required performance, production goals, and end-use conditions. 

Flexible Packaging Structures and Adhesive Requirements 

When selecting an adhesive, the package’s end use and the substrates being laminated must be considered. A chemistry that performs well in one structure may not be ideal for another structure with different barrier, seal, surface-energy, temperature, chemical-resistance, or regulatory requirements. Below are a few example structures that utilize laminating adhesives, along with their typical use cases and factors that influence adhesive requirements.

Solvent-Based vs. Solventless vs. Water-Based Adhesives

One of the main distinctions among laminating adhesives is the carrier system it uses. The carrier system affects application method, drying or curing behavior, VOC profile, equipment requirements, regulatory considerations, and line speed. 

Water-Based Adhesives 

Water-based laminating adhesives use water as the carrier and volatile component. These systems commonly include acrylic emulsions, acrylic hybrids, and polyurethane dispersions. They are often considered when converters want reduced VOC emissions, strong sustainability positioning, and performance across many food, medical, and industrial laminate applications. 

• Potential benefits: Lower VOC profile, broad formulation flexibility, compatibility with many packaging applications 
• Considerations: High drying energy and drying times, specific dryer equipment configurations, and high-end limitations in the performance envelope required by the package 

Solvent-Based Adhesives

Solvent-based laminating adhesives use organic solvents as the carrier. These adhesives are well established in flexible packaging and are often selected for demanding structures requiring strong adhesion, heat resistance, chemical resistance, and fast green bond development. 

• Potential benefits: Broad performance range, strong adhesion, and proven use in demanding flexible packaging structures 
• Considerations: VOC management, solvent handling, stringent drying requirements and environmental controls, and regulatory expectations 

Solventless Adhesives

Solventless laminating adhesives are typically 100% reactive systems and do not use a volatile carrier. Many converters consider solventless systems for productivity and sustainability reasons, especially where equipment, substrate, and packaging requirements align with the technology. 

• Potential benefits: No solvent handling, lower environmental burden, and reduced drying energy 
• Considerations: Coating equipment compatibility, mix ratio control, cure profile, and end-use performance requirements 

Laminating Adhesive Chemistries

Polyurethane Laminating Adhesives

Polyurethane adhesives remain one of the dominant technologies in laminating adhesives because they offer broad adhesion, heat resistance, chemical resistance, flexibility, and substrate versatility. Polyurethane systems are built from reactions between isocyanates and polyols, and the chemistry can be tuned for specific packaging structures and converting requirements. Polyurethane adhesives are classified as aromatic or aliphatic and are used in different applications detailed below. 

Acrylic Laminating Adhesives

Acrylic technologies continue to gain attention because of their sustainability profile, low viscosity, high solids potential, shear resistance, and weatherability. Water-based acrylic or acrylic-hybrid systems can be attractive where converters need balanced performance with reduced solvent use. The correct fit depends on the package structure, application method, compliance needs, and required resistance profile.  

Common Laminating Adhesive Problems and Their Causes

Converters often encounter issues that can be traced back to adhesive selection, substrate compatibility, cure conditions, coating weight, web handling, or ink or adhesive interactions. The table below is designed to help convert chemistry knowledge into troubleshooting value. 

For more information on how ChemPoint can help support converters develop and troubleshoot flexible packaging, check out this article. 

Sustainability Trends in Flexible Packaging Adhesives

Flexible packaging manufacturers are increasingly focused on reducing VOC emissions, lowering energy consumption, improving recyclability, and designing mono-material package structures. Adhesive choice can affect each of these goals. Solventless polyurethane, water-based polyurethane, and water-based acrylic systems are commonly evaluated when sustainability and regulatory objectives are central to a project. 

• VOC reduction: Consider water-based or solventless systems where performance and equipment fit allow. 
• Recyclability: Evaluate how adhesive chemistry interacts with mono-material structures and downstream processing requirements. 
• Energy consumption: Review drying or curing requirements by technology. 
• Performance balance: Sustainability targets should be balanced with bond strength, chemical resistance, heat resistance, and package integrity. 

ChemPoint offers recyclable laminating adhesives that have been recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR). Explore these options here.  

Laminating Adhesive Product Families

Once the application requirements are clear, converters can use product families to connect the right adhesive chemistry to the package structure, processing needs, and performance targets. 

The table below summarizes several laminating adhesive product families ChemPoint offers and the types of applications or performance needs they are commonly used to address. 

Conclusion

Selecting a laminating adhesive requires balancing package performance, processing requirements, sustainability goals, regulatory needs, and production economics. The best adhesive is rarely determined by chemistry alone. The optimal solution depends on the interaction between packaging structure, substrate selection, converting equipment, end-use environment, compliance expectations, and long-term performance requirements. 

Understanding how solvent-based, solventless, water-based polyurethane, and acrylic technologies differ allows converters to make more informed decisions and avoid costly development cycles. 

Need Help Selecting a Laminating Adhesive?

Whether you are developing a new flexible packaging structure, improving sustainability, increasing line speeds, or troubleshooting laminate performance, ChemPoint can help identify the right adhesive technology for your application.