Stora Enso’s Skoghall Mill in Sweden is now producing the company’s CKB multilayer packaging board with a polyethylene coating made from renewable raw materials derived from sugar cane.
In the development of the bio-coated packaging board, Stockholm-headquartered Stora Enso worked with Sweden-based polyethylene packaging manufacturer Trioplast/Ekmans, using material supplied by Braskem in Brazil.
Stora Enso’s CKB is a fully coated multilayer board with unbleached kraft on the reverse, in the grammage range 175-390gsm, targeting primary end uses in beverages and multipacks, chocolate and confectionery, foods and pharmaceuticals.
“Adding a barrier coating based on renewable materials to our product portfolio is totally in line with our mission to offer our customers sustainable and innovative packaging materials,” says Fredrik Werner, market support & product manager at Skoghall Mill.
“We see an increasing interest in the market for sustainable barrier coatings, and the advantage with this particular bio-based PE is that it has the very same properties as fossil-based PE. The customer will not notice any difference in performance and the laminate can be recycled as usual.”
The first consumer products that will be available in packages coated with the new laminate, scheduled for launch in early 2013, are fish gratin products from the Norwegian fish and seafood company Domstein ASA, manufactured in Kungshamn, Sweden.
“It is important for us to find opportunities where we can help the consumer to make a choice which is good for the environment,” says Ulrica Wahlund, sales manager at Domstein in Sweden. “We want to see the product and the package as one unit and try to find new things for both.”
With a profound knowledge of PE films for demanding end use applications, Trioplast is continuing to roll out its Triogreen green polyethylene brand.
“Our cooperation with Stora Enso enables the launch of Triogreen in combination with tree-based packaging boards, and thus broadens the availability of bio-based PE,” says Pär Wik, marketing manager at Trioplast/Ekmans, Sweden.
In the long-term, Trioplast says it foresees the possibility of manufacturing polyethylene using raw material growing in the Nordic forests.
Stora Enso CKB board will first be used for fish gratin products from Domstein, Norway
