Stora Enso, Finland, reports that it has developed a specialty paper that will allow the industry to reduce the use of non-renewable material required for packaging produced in injection-molding processes. Every day, the company notes, literally millions of packages, for the most part made of polypropylene, are produced using this technology. In the past, this process involved placing a printed film label – as the carrier of information, brand, and advertising – in the mold before injecting plastic melt to create a finished pot.
With the new InnoMould paper produced at the company's Uetersen mill in Germany, the film label can now be replaced by a paper label, reducing the amount of material of fossil origin. The special properties of InnoMould also result in additional benefits. The paper combines with the plastic melt to an integral unit that is much stiffer than packaging made using a conventional film label. The higher bearing pressure of the pot permits higher stacking and the walls of the pots can be produced with up to 50% less material. That means brand owners can achieve a significant reduction in the percentage of non-renewable materials in their packaging.
InnoMould is applicable for injection-molding processes used to produce everything from pots for yoghurt and dairy products, containers for processed fish and butter, and even paint buckets.
TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/