Stora Enso's CKB Now Available with Bio-based PE Coating

Stora Enso, Finland, reports that CKB® packaging board made at its Skoghall Mill in Sweden is now available with a polyethylene coating made from renewable raw materials. The development and launch of the bio-coated packaging board is made possible through cooperation with the Swedish company Trioplast/Ekmans, according to Stora Enso. The first consumer products that will be available in packages coated with the new laminate are fish gratin products of the Norwegian fish and seafood company Domstein ASA, manufactured in Kungshamn, Sweden.

Domstein ASA gives high priority to sustainability issues, Stora Enso notes. Its environment policy states: "Our operations are to be environmentally benign, and uphold a high environmental standard." The company wants to ensure that its own and associated activities take place in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The launch of the renewable fish gratin packages is scheduled for early 2013.

"It is important for us at Domstein to find opportunities where we can help the consumer to make a choice that is good for the environment. We want to see the product and the package as one unit and try to find new things for both," said Ulrica Wahlund, sales manager at Domstein in Sweden.

Polyethylene (PE) is the most widely used type of plastic in the world, used extensively as a humidity or grease barrier of packaging boards. The bio-based PE used for coating the CKB board is manufactured with sugar cane as raw material in Brazil. It has exactly the same performance characteristics as traditional, fossil-based PE, making it usable in a variety of applications, according to Stora Enso.

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