UPM Specialty Materials and Paramelt have partnered to develop a new sustainable food packaging solution.
Made from paper and bio-based materials, the packaging is designed to protect against grease and offers improved end-of-life outcomes.
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It is positioned for use with bakery, fast food, and on-the-go food products.
The packaging concept uses UPM’s barrier base papers along with Paramelt’s bio-based heat-seal and barrier coating.
According to the companies, the resulting product is recyclable and meets the grease resistance and seal strength needed for food-related uses.
Each component has been independently confirmed as suitable for home composting.
Paramelt’s packaging coatings and adhesives business development manager Leon Krings commented: “Brand owners and converters are seeking scalable technologies that integrate easily into current production setups.
“Aquavate Bio SB 2383 is a bio-based and biodegradable coating designed for reliable performance on standard coating processes and existing converting lines, enabling a practical shift toward recyclable, home compostable fibre-based solutions.”
UPM Solide Lucent or UPM Prego papers are used as bases, both of which are developed for barrier coatings.
These are combined with Paramelt’s Aquavate Bio SB 2383, a water-based, fully biodegradable coating.
The finished material is intended to protect a range of products from dry snacks to greasy foods.
The collaboration also demonstrates compatibility with current packaging equipment, including vertical form fill seal (VFFS) lines, due to the low coating weights required by UPM’s engineered papers.
UPM innovation senior researcher Christiane Laine said: “Our collaboration with Paramelt enables us to offer a biobased packaging concept with strong grease protection and proven performance on packaging lines.
“Achieving this level of grease resistance at such low coat weights is highly challenging even with fossil-based coatings, and the combined concept of our barrier base paper properties and Paramelt’s bio-based coating delivers exceptional performance.”
Earlier this month, UPM Specialty Materials added its Forte precoating technology to its SCK release base paper products for the US market.
This technology aims to support silicone coaters and labelstock producers in improving efficiency and managing production costs.
