Almost exactly ten years ago, BillerudKorsnäs, then just Billerud, announced the signing of an exclusive agreement with an Italian company, which had developed a stretchable paper technology. Billerud was able to produce the paper on a large scale and so the new product, FibreForm, was launched. Since then, intensive development work has been ongoing to investigate areas where the material can be used. Today, it is used in applications such as sleeves on coffee cups and laminates for trays, but it has so much more to offer. New areas and new engineering techniques mean that BillerudKorsnäs now sees major opportunities for the material, which in many applications can be viewed as a replacement for plastic. We met Annica Rasch, director Formable Solutions, and Göran Ölander, marketing manager, to find out what is going on.
In brief, the patented method developed by the Italian company means that through various physical treatments of pulp fibers, and technical solutions in the paper machine
itself, it’s possible to produce a ‘compressed’ packaging paper, which thus has a built-in ‘stretch potential’ substantially higher than for plain paper. This stretch, or extensibility, is up to 15%, and this creates interesting opportunities for functional and strong packaging solutions. “Over the years, we have built up an invaluable network of partners throughout the entire value chain. Together with a dedicated team within the company, we are now ready to market the full potential of FibreForm,” says Annica Rasch. “And the future looks very bright.”
Sleeves
For a long time now, coffee cups with FibreForm sleeves have been available on the market. By embossing the material, you can produce exciting 3D effects and at the same time create an insulating effect that prevents the cup from getting too hot. A traditional way of doing this is to have a double-wall material as a sleeve, but with BillerudKorsnäs’ solution you only need one layer of material – you save material and you can create exciting effects.
It will be possible to pack fresh foodsin deeper, gas tight trays made from
FibreForm
“By combining print with unique embossing, brand owners can market themselves in a completely new way. Just think how long a customer holds a coffee cup in their hand. There are few other items of packaging, which offer such a long opportunity for attention. One customer already using this solution is McDonald’s in Ukraine. There it has become increasingly popular for customers to take pictures of themselves with the mugs in different public environments and upload them to Instagram.
“It is becoming increasingly common for consumers to post pictures of packaging they like on social media,” says Rasch. Sleeves are currently the largest application area for FibreForm, but there are many other interesting areas where growth is expected. For sleeves, there is a partnership with the Chinese machine company SEE Machinery, which has developed a special unit that molds the material and sleeves the mugs. This can be
connected to a traditional production line for mugs.
FreeForm Pack
A more sustainable solution forpacking sliced sandwich toppings
In cooperation with the Italian company Curti Costruzioni Meccaniche, BillerudKorsnäs has launched FreeForm Packaging. FreeForm Packaging sells a packaging concept consisting of a forming machine and packaging material to manufacture formed paper containers. The material used for the packaging is manufactured from FibreForm and the forming machine is very flexible in terms of the size and shape of the packaging. The concept is currently suitable for dry foods, but ongoing development work is under way to develop barrier properties in the packaging.
Trays
Trays are one area where a great deal is expected. Many brand owners around the world are interested in being able to offer alternatives to traditional plastic trays. There are a number of converters using FibreForm in their paper-based laminates for the thermoforming of trays.
“To ensure that the concept works, we have also collaborated for a long time with manufacturers of thermoforming machines, both in Form Fill Seal (FFS) and for preformed packaging. Of course we need to know how the material performs in the machines and what you might need to adjust in order to make it work better,” says Göran Ölander.
“It’s important that everyone in the value chain, from converters and machine manufacturers to packaging manufacturers and brand owners, understands how paper laminate works.
FibreForm trays offer an alternativeincluding print to plastic trays for
food packaging
“It has been found that it is generally easy to switch from a roll of plastic to a roll based on FibreForm and that no major adjustments in machine settings are required. To get maximum forming of the material, a new forming tool may be needed, adapted to the maximum angle at which the sides of the tray can be formed, which is 40 degrees.”
Other manufacturing methods make it possible to achieve steeper angles in the sides of the packaging, to produce deeper packaging. For example, pressure molding is being explored. This is the technology in use today, for example, for paper trays for deep-frozen ready meals. “Today’s pressure-molded tray has a wrinkled sealing edge so it is difficult to get a gas-tight package. We think our material will solve that problem and that it will be possible to pack fresh foods with longer durability in deeper, gas-tight trays, made from FibreForm. With FibreForm you can also produce unique embossing and patterns in the bottom and
on the sides of the packaging.”
On the market
Combining print with uniqueembossing, brand owners can
market themselves in a new way
In other words, there are limitations on how deep it is possible to shape the material, but what is possible today is sufficient for use as a tray, for example, for sliced sandwich toppings, cheese or salmon. During the last year, two newproducts have been brought to the market in Sweden, partly via Atria, which packs sliced, Lönneberga chicken, and partly via ICA, which packs products such as sliced, roast beef in a tray based on FibreForm. Packaging material recycling rules vary in different countries and packaging trays are available on the market today based on FibreForm that meet local requirements for recycling.
“There is huge market potential here. Currently there are vast numbers of plastic trays being used throughout Europe; trays that could be fiber-based,” says Ölander.
Deeper embossing is used onFibreForm sheets laminated together
by Kapag Karton + Papier AG in
Switzerland and TCPL Packaging in
India
Interestingly, both Atria and ICA have chosen to clearly tell consumers that they are using climate-friendly packaging. It’s also interesting to note that people are prepared to pay a little more for such a packaging solution. “Our sales people generally find that higher costs for climate-friendly packaging are less important today. We are experiencing quite a big change in the market. Previously, cost was the key consideration, and if a more sustainable option was more expensive, people weren’t interested. A change is under way,” says Rasch.
Increased thickness
FibreForm is available in substance weights between 80 and 200 grams per square meter, and if you want a stiffer, more cartonboard-like material, you can laminate sheets together. FibreForm Board has been developed in close collaboration with two laminators, Kapag Karton + Papier AG in Switzerland and TCPL Packaging in India. “With a cardboard quality in FibreForm, you can achieve even deeper embossing, and here we’re seeing markets such as boxes, greetings cards and labels. Because it is virtually impossible to copy an embossed label, it can act as a certificate of authenticity, for example in clothing,” adds Ölander.
Embossed stand-up pouches
FibreForm cap – winner of SpecialJury Award at Luxe Pack in Monaco
2018
Another development, shown for the first time during Pack Expo 2018 in Chicago, is the result of a collaboration with the machine manufacturer Volpak. They manufacture machines for stand-up pouches and have developed a technology to integrate an embossing station in the pouch machine. With FibreForm, you can now get a paper pouch with an exclusive embossing. One challenge was to get a sufficiently strong force in the embossing station, but this has now been solved.
The development list also includes different types of lids for jars and this work has undergone considerable progress. The toughness of the material means that lids can be made with sharp impressions and in a single piece. “Here, we’re working with the German machine manufacturer Hörauf on a prototype machine. The first lids we can show now are handmade. The intention is to be able to machineproduce lids with print and embossing.”
FibreForm Cap– winner of Special Jury Award at Luxe Pack in Monaco 2018
FibreForm Cap is an innovative new paper-based decoration for the neck of bottles of sparkling wine. FibreForm replaces the traditional aluminum and PEbased foil and can be used in existing packaging machines. “Because FibreForm is 100% recyclable and 100% biodegradable, this product contributes to lower environmental impact,” says Ölander. “It’s also really stylish and attractive!”
Photographs: Bo Wallteg and BillerudKorsnäs
