From the introduction of numerous sustainable, paper based packaging alternatives to an increasing number of paper companies joining carbon reduction initiatives and forming partnerships with major corporations, the pulp and paper industry is making significant strides towards creating a more sustainable environment. With the ongoing momentum in corporate sustainability initiatives, the collaboration between pulp and paper companies and major corporations to create sustainable alternatives for their product lines is on the rise. The essence of sustainability is to create and preserve long-term value.
As the demand for sustainable practices grows, major companies are increasingly looking towards paper packaging to meet their corporate sustainability goals. In response, pulp and paper companies are innovating and forging new partnerships to address these needs. With a surge in new solutions and collaborations, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the rapid pace of change.
While consumers say they would pay a premium for sustainable products and brands, some perceive them as being too expensive. Different segments of consumers tend to engage at different levels. Sustainability is a huge deal right now and is only going to get bigger and more involved. For the paper industry, educating consumers about the circularity of paper and paper-based packaging is critical. Globally, paper producers continue to innovate and develop sustainable substitutes for plastic packaging. To get a better understanding of this evolving landscape, here are the latest advancements in the pulp and paper industry driving a more sustainable future.
EcoProTM Paper-Wrap
Orlandi, an innovative leader in packaging and sampling solutions, announces the launch of its new product, EcoProTM Paper-Wrap. The company is family owned and operated, with roots dating to 1865, is headquartered in Farmingdale, NY, USA, and has operational facilities and laboratories in USA, France and Brazil. Designed to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly packaging, EcoProTM represents a significant advancement in recyclable packaging options as it does not contain plastic film or foil.
EcoProTM is a high barrier coated, heat-sealable, paper-wrap material that is recyclable, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional plastic film or foil pouches, packets, and sachets. It offers lower costs compared to folding cartons. With its innovative design, it provides a barrier against oxygen, water vapor and grease, ensuring the freshness, cleanliness, and proper containment of various products. Whether for e-commerce, shelf display, point of purchase (POP) arrangements, or peg-rack retail applications, it offers a solution for every packaging need.
Plastic-free Toilet Tissue and Kitchen Towels
DS Smith has collaborated on innovative packaging for Oceans, offering eco-friendly toilet tissue and
kitchen towels. With a focus on sustainability, the company has crafted a variety of designs for its debut packs, in line with Oceans’ environmental ethos. The box is crafted from 100% recyclable materials, featuring optimized dimensions to minimize waste and storage space. DS Smith has worked on new packaging for Oceans – one of the first UK manufacturers to offer plastic-free toilet tissue and kitchen towels.
Elimination of Plastic Wrap from Roll Pack Process when Shipping Mattresses
Essentia Organic Mattress, a United States manufacturer of the trailblazing eco-luxury mattress brand renowned for its revolutionary mattresses, continues to set new standards for comfort and sustainability in the sleep industry. In line with the theme of Earth Day 2024, “Planet vs Plastics,” Essentia proudly announces the launch of the elimination of plastic wrap from its roll pack process when shipping mattresses. This groundbreaking initiative makes Essentia the first company to forgo plastic wrap entirely, opting instead for biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable kraft paper wrap for the inner and outer packaging when roll-packing, perfectly reflecting Essentia’s commitment to Beyond Organic principles.
Essentia by adopting roll-packing techniques, reduces truck space and packaging material usage by 75%. All packaging materials are crafted from 100% recycled paper, and the transition to kraft paper wrap eliminates plastic usage entirely.
“HeatWave” Packaging Solution
Westpak, a UK based company, has introduced its revolutionary “HeatWave” packaging solution,
specifically crafted to enhance the heat retention of delivered and takeaway pizzas. This innovative product addresses the common issue of pizzas losing heat in standard boxes by incorporating a liner with a distinctive dome design. By elevating the pizza, reducing contact, and creating a thermal barrier, the “HeatWave” liner has proven to keep pizzas up to 27% hotter even after 15 minutes.
Made from recyclable kraft paper, these liners are not only environmentally friendly but also serve as a grease shield, eliminating the need for additional securing measures. This cutting-edge development aims to elevate customer satisfaction and ensure the quality of pizzas during delivery.
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Plastic-free, Fibre-based Hot Beverage Lids
Canada based, Tim Hortons has launched a pilot program in select restaurants in Ottawa and Gatineau to test plastic-free, fibre-based hot beverage lids. The new fibre lids are designed to mimic the functionality of traditional plastic lids but are made from plant-based materials. This initiative is part of the company’s broader effort to reduce single-use plastics. Tim Hortons introduces new white hot beverage lids as part of its “Tims for Good sustainability” platform.
Paper Wine Bottles
Aldi launched the UK’s first supermarket own-brand paper wine bottles. The Cambalala South African Shiraz, and Cambalala South African Sauvignon Blanc will be available to buy in lightweight paper bottles. Made from 94 percent recycled paperboard and lined with a food-grade pouch to contain the wine, the new bottles are fully recyclable and five times lighter than a standard glass bottle.
By replacing glass bottles with paper and stocking in stores nationwide, Aldi has generated a carbon footprint reduction that is equivalent to driving around the planet 5.8 times – giving eco-conscious wine lovers even more reason to say cheers.
Sustainable Sourcing Practices
Adidas has pledged its commitment to Canopy’s CanopyStyle and Pack4Good initiatives, signalling a shift towards embracing low-carbon and circular Next Gen alternatives for its textiles, paper, and paper packaging products. The brand is not only dedicated to sustainable sourcing practices but is also actively exploring innovative solutions to reduce waste and lessen its dependence on virgin forest fibre. By utilizing agricultural residues for paper packaging, Adidas is not only repurposing waste materials but also alleviating the strain on crucial forests. With a focus on increasing the use of recycled materials in its paper packaging, Adidas is prioritizing sourcing from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests whenever virgin forest fibre is required.
Paper Replacing Aluminium-foil Structures
Huhtamaki is a Finnish-based global player in the flexible packaging industry, which specializes in
sustainable packaging solutions, and is committed to making packaging more circular. For BOBST, sustainability is an integral part of its industry vision to shape the future of the packaging world, and one of its four key pillars – along with digitalization, automation and connectivity. The two companies first joined forces when BOBST and its partners developed a high-barrier, paper-based, recycle-ready solution, which Huhtamaki validated by making it into a full customer ready solution on commercial scale equipment for the first time.
Now, the collaboration has generated a broad product range, from base to maximum barrier level, able to replace current aluminium-foil structures. The range consists of fully recyclable solutions using metallization technology, in both mono PE and paper. Crucially, current recycling streams will be able to sort and recycle the new solutions. The new product range of sustainable solutions includes ultra-high barrier PE and paper flexible packaging solutions.
Modern Luxury Paper Packaging for Whisky
James Cropper, a UK based company, has partnered with Islay single malt Scotch whisky brand Bruichladdich, bringing the first of its Luxury Redefined range to market with a fully sustainable outer wrap. The launch follows the integration of the award-winning moulded fibre innovation, “Colourform”, into James Cropper’s broader luxury packaging offering. The coloured wrap for The Bruichladdich Eighteen and The Bruichladdich Thirty is the first of its kind in the whisky space. Made from fully recyclable paper pulp and moulded to the shape of the Bruichladdich optimised, proprietary glass bottle, the wrap is the definition of conscious modern luxury.
Bespoke in colour and shape with unique emboss and deboss features, the design also includes a branded, oversized custom clasp feature. Using 100% fresh fibre the wrap is significantly lighter than previous packaging solutions without compromising strength or integrity while significantly reducing Bruichladdich’s CO2 impact.
James Cropper produces the moulded fibre packaging using 100% green energy and the wood pulp used in its creation is sourced from sustainably managed forests, certified to FSC® or PEFC® standards. Brought to life using a single material with no glue, the packaging is 100% recyclable in every household.
Paper Fibre Takeaway Cups
UK-based retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced the introduction of fully recyclable paper fibre takeaway cups across all its UK cafés starting in April 2024. The retailer introduced the paper fibre coffee cup in October 2023, thereby claiming to become the first high street coffee retailer to offer a cup that is completely recyclable in both household and on-the-go recycling systems. The move aligns with the retailer’s commitment to reducing plastic packaging.
The retailer said it achieved its ‘Plan A’ target to eliminate 75 million units of plastic by 2023-24. The full rollout of the aforementioned paper fibre takeaway coffee cups is set to further remove 20 million units of plastic packaging annually from its food business. Earlier this year, M&S introduced recyclable paper packaging for its sandwiches and toasties within its cafés, a move that will result in the removal of an estimated 4.5 million units of plastic.
Treekind: Plastic Free Leather Alternative
Sappi North America Inc., a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products
and pulp, announced recently its innovative collaboration with Biophilica, the company behind Treekind®.
Treekind is one of the only plastic free leather alternatives that is 100% biobased, home compostable, non- toxic, and PETA vegan certified, notably benefiting from Sappi’s textured release paper to give the material an ultra-realistic look and feel.
Understanding the important role that touch plays in consumers’ relationship with products, it was paramount for Biophilica to create a product with an authentic, non-plastic-like feel. Touch has the power to shift consumers’ minds into a deeper level of engagement – one more conducive to building a lasting relationship and connection with a brand. To help facilitate this vision in 2022, Sappi stepped in to deliver a high-fidelity, 3D, leather grain solution to impart texture to Treekind through the application of Sappi’s Ultracast Viva® release paper.
Hexacomb
Biobest, a world leader in biological crop protection and pollination, approached the packaging giant, Smurfit Kappa, to design an insulated and weather-resistant box to replace the EPS pack it was using to transport live bumble bees. It also had to be robust enough to withstand long periods outdoors as the boxes are used for outdoor pollination of fruit and vegetables.
Smurfit Kappa looked to its Better Planet Packaging portfolio to create a solution which was made from water-resistant AquaStop paper and included hexacomb fitments inside to protect and insulate the insects. Tests were conducted to see if the new pack could survive outside for 6-8 weeks and it passed with flying colours, keeping the bees safe and ready to pollinate. Smurfit Kappa’s, AquaStop paper has performed very well across many sectors and one of its biggest selling points is the fact that the coating that makes it water-resistant doesn’t compromise its recyclability.
‘First’ Chocolate Bars in Germany with 100% Paper Packaging
The close collaboration between Koehler Paper and Leipzig-based chocolate manufacturer nucao is paying off: nucao chocolate bars will be packaged exclusively in paper with immediate effect. The flexible packaging paper “Koehler NexPlus® Advanced” from Koehler Paper, which has excellent oxygen, mineral oil, and grease barrier properties is suitable for packaging of chocolate-coated fruit products.The 100 percent recyclable paper is suitable for vertical packaging machines and now also for processing on horizontal packaging machines. The nucao bars “Crisp & Crunch“, “Almond Butter & Sea Salt“, “Roasted Hazelnut Butter“, “Creamy Strawberry“ and “Salted Caramel“ are the first chocolate bars in paper packaging to be available on the German market.
OPRL Approved Recyclable Paper Crisp Packet
The British Snack Co has unveiled what it claims is a category “first”, a kerbside recyclable paper crisp packet. Created in partnership with sustainable packaging manufacturer EvoPak, the inside of the wrapper is coated with a microscopic layer of aluminium and a layer of Hydropol, a water-soluble polymer resin developed and patented by British university. The composite layers help the crisps inside the packs stay fresher for longer without impacting their recyclability. The hydropol layer, meanwhile, can be easily washed away from the paper wrapper in recycling plants.
As a result, the packs have been OPRL (On-Pack recycling labels) approved, which was “absolutely critical” to their launch. OPRL, green recycle logo certifies that the packets are recyclable in standard paper recycling mills. The new packs were the result of over three years’ development in partnership with EvoPak, which was in the process of developing paper packs for confectionery products. An estimated eight billion crisp packets are thrown away each year in the UK, ending up in landfill or incinerated. The initiative has created the first fully recyclable crisp packet – something that consumers have been demanding for a long time.
Also Read: Wood-based Carbon Capture: Major Opportunity for the Climate
Paper Packaging for Porridge Pots
Quaker Oats, the UK’s largest porridge brand, is rolling out new paper packaging across its entire range of porridge pots. The move is set to reduce the brand’s use of virgin plastic by up to 200 tonnes each year, and make it even easier for people to recycle their pots alongside other paper packaging at home or on the go.
While Quaker porridge pots were previously recyclable, the plastic inner packaging had to be separated from the card sheath for recycling. The switch to paper means consumers now only need to recycle one piece of packaging, making the process much simpler. With Quaker Oats representing almost half (47%) of the UK porridge pot market, the new packaging will deliver a significant reduction in the virgin plastic used in porridge pots sold across the country.
It is the latest in a series of packaging changes announced by Quaker’s parent company PepsiCo this year. Last month, PepsiCo brand Walkers launched new paper outer packaging across its full Walkers Baked multipack range and has also recently trialled bagless multipacks for Snack A Jacks.
Reusable Single Paper Envelope
French luxury brand Hermes International has introduced a single paper envelope, which has been crafted in France and is reusable. It comes wrapped in silk and is a part of Hermes’ collection of high-end stationery which also includes items such as notebooks and pens. The whopping price tag has got the internet talking. While some have stated its overpriced, others are viewing it as a symbol of status.
“Wrapped in silk, reusable, and come in two different sizes (A4 and A5), this keepsake can be sent as a special invitation or even a declaration of love. A long-lasting way to turn your records into beautiful memories,” reads the description on the Hermes site.
Capri Sun will roll out FSC-certified, ‘stronger than ever’ paper straws across its entire range in pursuit of completely recyclable packaging. Apparently, the straws – developed by Capri Sun’s team of packaging experts – will feature 36% more bending force resistance, withstand 18% more compression force, and will increase vertical compression resistance by 42%. It is anticipated that the new straws will help young consumers enjoy the drink while aligning with the company’s goals to transition its entire UK range into fully recyclable packaging.
Conclusion
With the growing demand for sustainable options, companies are increasingly focusing on areas for enhancement and innovation in their priority lists. Understanding and learning from other company initiatives can provide valuable insights and guidance in this pursuit.
