UltraThinPE Tec coating has been designed to minimise the share of plastic coating in FSB and applications such as single-use paper cups
Stora Enso has launched new sustainable UltraThinPE Tec coating for FSB products. (Credit: Stora Enso)
Finnish company Stora Enso has introduced a new UltraThinPE Tec coating for foodservice board (FSB) products.
UltraThinPE Tec coating has been designed to minimise the share of plastic coating in FSB and applications such as single-use paper cups.
UltraThinPE Tec, which is claimed to be the thinnest polymer coating for FSB products, allows packaging converters, brand-owners, and retailers to achieve their plastics reduction targets by designing paper cups with less than 5% plastic.
Compared to Cupforma Natura products with 15 g/m2 PE (polyethylene) or renewable PE Green coatings (bio-based polyethylene), UltraThinPE Tec is said to minimise plastic coating weight by up to 40%.
UltraThinPE Tec coatings are expected to reduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees by as much as 75% in countries such as Germany, said Stora Enso.
Based on local regulations, collection, and sorting infrastructure, FSB products with UltraThinPE Tec coatings can be recycled with paper or board.
When combined with other paper and board packaging, UltraThinPE Tec coatings can also enhance the recycling of FSB in standard recycling mills due to their one-sided and minimal-plastic coating features.
Stora Enso LPB Fresh & FSB business line head vice president Tuomas Puonti said: “By knowing the intended end-use of the product, like paper cups that will hold liquid for a short time, we can design coatings that use the absolute minimum material necessary.
“We do this by testing and verifying the exact amount needed for the end-use. UltraThinPE Tec enables brand-owners to further meet their sustainability targets, especially concerning plastics reduction, while maintaining the highest product hygiene and safety standards as in the case of paper cups.”
With better barrier performance, heat sealability and fast implementation time features, Cupforma products with UltraThinPE Tec coatings perform similarly to materials with traditional polymer coatings for converters.
The company is producing UltraThinPE Tec coatings at its Imatra site in Finland and Forshaga site in Sweden.
Cupforma by Stora Enso, a renewable and low-carbon material for paper cups, consists of Cupforma Natura for foodservice end-uses such as hot cups and Cupforma Special for end-uses such as ice cream cups and ice cream packaging.