Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s LamiBak™ Enables the Use of Release Liners in an Entirely Fiber-Based Container For Food Processing, Cooking or Serving
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Ahlstrom-Munksjö has added a new release paper solution to its offering of sustainable alternatives to aluminum and plastics in single-use products, which provide high standards of safety and compliance for food contact.
Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s customers and brand owners are increasingly focused on finding sustainable food packaging that protects food, while minimizing the environmental impact.
The demand for safe, resource-efficient and sustainable packaging has more recently resulted in life cycle assessments of different packaging solution options. Such assessments consider the entire product life cycle from the production of the material to disposal or, alternatively, the recycling of packaging after use. The sustainable use of packaging will increase the focus on how we can reuse, recycle and recover the packaging in the various phases of its entire lifecycle.
Packaging is often made from two or more different materials — for example, paper combined with plastic or aluminum foil, that once combined, can be challenging to separate. The paper can be incompatible with the foil recycling process and the foil can be incompatible with the paper recycling process. The available recycling opportunities for the consumer are limited.
Another example is packaging made with multiple layers of plastic. The layers serve different purposes, one of them being to prevent air or moisture from preserving the food inside. Once combined, the layers can be challenging to separate or recycle.
Many bio-based products can be recovered in their lifecycle via composting or recycling, to widen the options for an entirely fiber-based packaging solution for food processing, cooking and serving, that is completely renewable and compostable. Ahlstrom-Munksjö has launched the LamiBak™ release liner product range.
LamiBak™ is used in applications that require a paper layer coated with silicone on one side and laminated on the back side against another material, such as board or corrugated cardboard. The end products are used in industrial and single-use food serving, processing or cooking trays. Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s solution is ideal for end-products that provide rigidity to the food container and also need to fulfill the demanding safety requirements set for food packaging solutions.
"The use of sustainable materials is a priority for many of our customers as well as consumers, who prefer renewable materials as a replacement of non-renewable ones. Our company is constantly developing alternatives to replace aluminum, plastics and plastic laminated papers. This new product gives our release liner customers the possibility to exploit opportunities in a wider number of product and market segments," says Ludovica Peretto, Head of Sales and Marketing, Ahlstrom-Munksö Release Liners.
The LamiBak™ solution is currently being evaluated by several converters in Europe, who wish to offer consumers entirely fiber-based packaging solutions.
