The variety of modern flexible packaging products that are available today would not be possible without modern adhesive systems. The evolution of the packaging industry has closely matched the development of new adhesive materials and production processes. These trends have led to high quality and technically demanding packaging structures required by the consumer.

This free white paper will provide a primer on laminating adhesives and processes used mainly for flexible packaging. Thicker laminates (e.g., decorative laminates, wood laminates) can be produced by bonding substrates in a hot press. However, these adhesives are outside the scope of this article. The principles of the wet and dry laminating processes will be discussed first, followed by a general discussion of the main adhesive systems that are usually employed.