Finland-based Pankaboard says its recently relaunched coated cartonboard grades PankaBrite and PankaWhite are “remarkably improved in terms of sensoric properties”, describing them as: “Bulkier, stronger, optically whiter”.
Over the past year, the company says it has made “substantial efforts and investments in order to bring forward the overall product quality of its major packaging grades”.
By optimising process conditions Pankaboard has improved the quality of its ground-wood pulp, which is used for the middle-layer of the boards, allowing for increased product thickness.
Throughout the entire range of PankaBrite (GC2) the thickness of the board has been increased by 30 microns, while for PankaWhite (GC1) the increase has been 10 microns.
This is said to have improved the CD bending stiffness of PankaBrite by up to 3%, bringing the stiffness ratio of the board closer to the optimum – an improvement that will have “a direct impact on ready-made packaging”, by helping to protect the contents better than before and guaranteeing that cartons will stay in better shape.
Development in the quality of the ground-wood pulp has also enabled quality improvements regarding the visual and surface characteristics of PankaBrite and PankaWhite.
More consistent surface smoothness and appearance enables immaculate print reproduction in both offset and flexo printing.
Both products are now said to be optically whiter than before – the shade of whiteness has been brought significantly towards “blueish-white” by optimising the surface coating.
And in order to better meet the increasingly demanding requirements of brand-owners, Pankaboard has also carried out extensive work to improve the sensoric (odour and taint) properties of both PankaBrite and PankaWhite.
Pankaboard can today guarantee a level of 1.5 units for its products in the Robinson scale for odour and taint.
“The products are therefore ever-more suitable and reliable for use in a wider field of end-uses,” the company says.
