The customer knows best

5 October 2010



To ensure the final choice fits the purpose, a paper and board packaging supplier needs intimate knowledge about the expected role of a product during its working life, writes Joanne Hunter.


Technically complex in terms of material and design, paper and board packaging products can be exactly tailored to the roles they will play during their working lives. Brand marketers are getting in on the act, too, expecting packaging choices to convey a greener corporate image. Ready-made or bespoke, the right stuff is out there – or in development and coming soon.

Chesapeake is developing speciality barrier coatings that have moisture vapour, flavour and grease-proof properties. The barrier coatings aim to improve performance and to be more ‘environmental’. They are a response to food producers wanting better grease barriers, especially for dried petfoods, which often have oil content in excess of 10%, says Chesapeake. Traditionally, a substantial layer of plastics has been applied to cartonboard. The new technique involves applying a grease resistant coating to the reverse - such coatings are not typically applied at the board mill during production.

Barrier coatings with a high percentage of plastics make recycling difficult, explains Chesapeake’s Head of R&D, Carol The customer knows best To ensure the final choice fits the purpose, a paper and board packaging supplier needs intimate knowledge about the expected role of a product during its working life, writes Joanne Hunter. Hammond: “We have focused on more environmentally considerate options such as water-based or organically derived coatings to deliver the same benefits. The results are very encouraging and we already have an improved coating for packs that require a flavour barrier. We are close to offering a more environmentally considerate grease-proof barrier as well.”

An ineffective flavour barrier will have an adverse effect on a product over long periods. A polyethylene coating is the most regularly used barrier when retention of flavour is important, as in dried beverages, herbs and other foodstuffs. Chesapeake, with a Scandinavian paper company, has developed a ‘naturally formed’ coating for paper with additional heat sealing properties, which is undergoing tests.

Legislation for paper coming into direct contact with food is not standardised across Europe. Germany, France, The Netherlands and Italy have their own national standards, while other countries conform to a more general, non-material specific regulation 1935/2004. The unintended impression has been given to buyers that compliance for paper and board is less clear than for other materials, says Jori Ringman-Beck, Recycling & Product Director at the Confederation of European Paper industries (CEPI).

For clarity among customers, the paper sector has compiled the voluntary Industry Guideline for the Compliance of Paper & Board Materials and Articles for Food Contact. The accompanying Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) provides a management system for keeping to the Guideline’s rules, covering the entire manufacturing process.

The Guideline allows for biological tests being developed in a European project known as Biosafepaper: “This will certainly address some concerns regarding assessment of hitherto non-authorised substances found in recycled packaging,” says Mr Ringman-Beck.

Clearer guidance on recycled fibre and food packaging will be good news for Unilever, which is looking to source 75% of its paper and board packaging from recycled material and from sustainably managed forests by 2015, rising to 100% by 2020.

For paper from virgin sources, preference will go to supplies delivered through the Forest Stewardship Council certification scheme ‘and other compliant schemes’. It will emblazon logos of such schemes on the packaging of Unilever brands as a means to promote ‘the expansion of certified forests in the world’ and ‘help combat deforestation and climate change through responsible sourcing’, says Marc Engel, Unilever’s Chief Procurement Officer.

Innovation

The creator of a paper-based water bottle claims it is an exemplar of ‘responsible design’ and an alternative to mineral water bottles made of plastics. The results of responsible design can become an invaluable asset and increase ‘brand equity’, says Brandimage’s Jim Warner, Managing Director, Industrial Design.

Still in its pre-commercial phase, the 360 Paper Water Bottle (PWB) uses sheets of bamboo and palm leaves, pressed into two halves to encapsulate a micro-thin, naturally derived, PLA (poly lactic acid) film that provides a liquid and oxygen barrier.

The bottle is shipped inverted and ‘pops open’ on filling through a conventional fill-portal at the base. The top is torn off to access the liquid. To reseal, the removed component peels apart to expose a sanitary plug, and the remaining part gets tethered to the finger loop to avoid litter. The single-serve container can be supplied as a multipack without additional packaging.

“Our aim is to find a client partner who would manufacture and commercialise the PWB,” Annette Klek, Director Marketing Europe at Brandimage based in Paris, France, tells Packaging Today.

Folding cartons in the ‘high-end’ personal care sector and for food applications can now make use of a novel packaging material made from 100% recycled fibreboard that employs powdered natural minerals to produce a premium surface for printing. A limestone-based coating gives EarthBoard its bright white finish, and the barrier properties required for oils, fatty acids and moisture make it FDA compliant for direct contact with food, the developer claims.

Debuted in spring 2010, Hugo Naturals’ All Over Lotion & Liquid Hand Soap gift set is among the first products to use EarthBoard from Smart Planet Technologies (SPT), an American R&D company.

Hugo president Debra Saavedra says it was challenging to find a ‘sustainable’ material that also helped make the line look ‘top-end’.

SPT states that limestone, or ground calcium carbonate (GCC), is routinely used as a filler in resins for thermoplastic films and injection-moulding applications. SPT has patented GCC’s use in composite packaging that qualifies as recyclable under US scrap specifications. SPT licenses the EarthBoard technology to printers and converters.

New markets

Advanced filling technology has presented new opportunities for paper-based cartons. Most of SIG Combibloc’s UK business comes from the ambient juice market, but the focus is shifting towards the liquid food market. The carton format is suitable for desserts, soups and cooking sauces, thanks to new technology that enables the filling of viscous and chunky products at the same high speed output as juice.

“We’re getting ready to open up a new chapter in our aseptic filling technology that will set benchmarks in both speed and efficiency within the UK liquid food industry,” says Cindy Haast, Marketing Manager for Europe North at SIG Combibloc.

“In sectors such as soup, consumers are looking for more content such as meat and vegetables and our coming formats, such as the CombiblocMidi, will be able to handle larger particulates. This new format is already in use at the Campbell Soup Company in France.”

Quality conscious

Often it is not worth compromising on quality, according to Johan Granås, Product Development Manager at Iggesund Paperboard, whose solid bleached board Invercote has been used in high-end packaging for 40 years.

Says Mr Granås: “Anyone launching a new fragrance knows that all the preparation and product development represent so much money that they can’t afford not to use the best when it comes to the packaging. Their product has to stand out on the shelves if the consumer is to choose it.”

Imaginative print and finishing can do wonders for brand image, he believes: “It sometimes seems that high-end graphic techniques such as embossing, hotfoil stamping and special effect varnishing are being forgotten about. Personally, I think that many printed materials could be raised to another level with simple embossing or special effect varnishing – and the cost is far from being insurmountable.”

Corrugated offers a ‘catalyst for improvement’

Manufacturers need to think about corrugated packaging as a catalyst for improvement in the supply chain, says DS Smith Packaging. It is possible to use corrugated packaging to create a ‘chain reaction’ that usefully affects important variables to save costs and benefit the environment.

DS Smith reports that a corrugated pack for www.goodnessdirect.co.uk, a natural and organic wholesaler, has delivered a ‘real, overall saving’ since it replaced a pre-formed polystyrene system, which had associated waste disposal and licence costs.

The new pack is recyclable with a 96% recoverable fibre content. It is made from C flute board with a moisture-proof polyester film on the inside and a silver metalised, thermal PET liner on the outside to help limit heat ingress and cold loss. It is currently being used for packing wet fish on dry ice.


Breaking into new markets: SIG Combibloc UK team (l to r) Senior Key Account Managers Regine McKenna and Imelda Harrington; MD Malcolm Allum; Marketing Manager Cindy Haast. SIG The 360 Paper Water Bottle (PWB) by Brandimage uses PLA, bamboo and palm leaves in its ‘responsible’ design. Brandimage DS Smith's corrugated pack for www.goodnessdirect.co.uk has delivered a ‘real, overall saving’ since it replaced a pre-formed polystyrene system. DS Smith

Brandimage Brandimage
DS Smith DS Smith
SIG SIG


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