A hybrid package that combines features of flexible pouches and rigid structures would be the “ideal pouch,” designers at Fujimori Kogyo Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, believe. That’s why they dubbed their new package the ID Pouch, a flexible stand-up structure with an injection-molded plastic trim around the edges for added rigidity.

The pouches are produced on Totani equipment, then placed in a cavity where the spout and plastic trim are molded to the outside of the pouch. A prototype design shown at Pack Expo 2002 in Chicago was a polyethylene/nylon/polyethylene structure, though Fujimori’s Kazuhiro Ikeda, manager of the new business planning department, says any multilayer structure can be used. The outside trim is polyethylene or polypropylene.

ID Pouch is marketed in Japan as a “flexible container” for refill applications. It is positioned as a more environmentally friendly alternative to PET bottles, says Ikeda, because of its source reduction. The pouch weighs 12 grams and can be formed into various shapes and sizes.