Both centres are built to simulate and test client operations, treatment programmes and paper/paperboard qualities to optimise performance, efficiency and expenditure

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Both centres support customers to develop more sustainable packaging. (Credit: Solenis)

US-based speciality chemicals producer Solenis has inaugurated two new international centres of excellence to develop more sustainable alternatives for the consumer paper packaging sector.

The company has built one centre in a new facility in Mönchengladbach, Germany and another one is designed as a virtual centre, allowing clients to take part in lab tests remotely.

According to the firm, both centres are built to simulate and test client operations, treatment programmes and paper/paperboard qualities to optimise performance, efficiency and expenditure.

The virtual is accessible via a website portal where customers can meet with Solenis experts remotely and in real time, the company said.

Clients can also watch a live stream of pilot-scale equipment running lab trials in technical areas like packaging strength, digital print and barrier coatings.

Solenis said that the virtual centre includes custom tests and tests for more than 70 paper packaging features, as well as tests for food and beverage packaging in areas like strength, size, transport phenomena and sustainability.

The equipment available for use is a pilot paper machine, a pilot coater, a Dixon coater, and DigiCut A3+ coaters.

The firm also intends to add a moulded pulp machine to develop, test, and evaluate improved PFAS-free barrier solutions for moulded fibre products like paper plates, bowls, and clam shells on a small scale.

Solenis Consumer Packaging global marketing director Richard Brooks said: “Our ongoing investment in eco-friendly paper packaging solutions allows partners across the value chain, from paper converters to brand managers, to improve packaging performance and build a more sustainable future.

“Whether customers access our expertise virtually or at one of our physical centres, our new packaging centres of excellence make it easier than ever to develop innovative, sustainable solutions more quickly.”

The Mönchengladbach centre is equipped with application and testing tools like Rapid-Köthen and dynamic sheet formers, a lotion paper coater, and several refiner types along with a hot air sealing mechanism.

According to Solenis, the centre provides repulping and recycling capabilities for barrier coating performance testing in addition to contaminant control evaluations.

The facility in Germany has a total floor area of 3,100m² and offers on-site access to brand-new client application laboratories.

The labs are equipped with advanced instrument-based analytical capabilities for compound analysis, deposit identification, and product determination, the company added.