Begone, oil and grease! Stora Enso-HS Manufacturing partnership develops sustainable barriers for formed fiber products
28 Nov 2019 --- Stora Enso has partnered with HS Manufacturing Group (HSMG), a plant-based barrier coatings producer, to develop sustainable barriers for formed fiber products. Stora Enso will apply HSMG’s PROTĒAN technology to its renewable and recyclable PureFiber by Stora Enso product offering. With this partnership, Stora Enso aims to apply the PROTĒAN technology to its PureFiber to make the fiber-based packaging resistant to water, grease and oil.
“As the packaging industry is moving toward reducing single-use plastics, it is important that partnerships and new technologies are accelerated to develop appropriate substitutes. With this, as well as other technology partnerships, we strive to develop products that offer similar functionality as plastics but with a lower climate impact,” Sohrab Kazemahvazi, Vice President and Head of Formed Fiber for Stora Enso, tells PackagingInsights. 
PROTĒAN provides a barrier coating alternative free from platic, silicone and fluorine.These sorts of products respond to the needs of eco-conscious consumers and producers looking for innovative alternatives to plastic. The first products forged from this partnership will be available on the market at the beginning of 2020, targeting short-lifecycle packaging for fast food restaurant chains, Kazemahvazi says.
Stora Enso’s formed fiber packaging is mainly made from chemical and/or chemithermomechanical pulping (CTMP). The PureFiber technology enables the manufacture of single-use products that are renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and plastic-free. In turn, PROTĒAN is a platform coating technology for paper and paper packaging. Its applications are numerous; a few examples include paper-mulch, disposable coffee cups, hot and cold food containers and cleaning materials.
Through the collaboration, Stora Enso will add next-generation barrier properties to new application areas for plastic-free products, Kazemahvazi indicates. To guarantee the water, grease and oil resistance properties, he illustrates that Stora Enso follows international and generally accepted testing methods in a laboratory environment. Moreover, the company trials all new products with customers to ensure that the performance is sufficient for the specific intended use.
PROTĒAN creates a grease-, oil- and water-resistant barrier for paper-based containers while facilitating recyclability.New standards for sustainability
PROTĒAN does not contain volatile compounds, delivers a small green footprint and is an easy, drop-in solution that can be used by all commercial mills without a large capital investment. HSMG’s technology is also US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for food contact, meets several Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notices and is free from zero plasticizers, Bisphenol A (BPA) or fluorocarbons.
PureFiber, StoraEnso’s formed fiber technology, enables manufacturing products that are designed for circularity, meaning that they are renewable, recyclable and biodegradable.
Stora Enso's formed fiber solutions for food containers are renewable, recyclable and biodegradable, the company says.Start-up collaborations
With an abundance of interesting technologies coming from start-ups, many of them are seeking established partners to accelerate their development. This is an opportunity which Stora Enso has tapped into and Kazemahvazi envisions other large industrial companies will endeavor in this direction as well.
Stora Enso has been looking for technology-based startups working on novel approaches to provide fiber-based products with barrier properties. HSMG’s competence and an interesting technology makes for an ideal combination for Stora Enso’s formed fiber application.
“For this specific technology partnership, we aim to drive the commercialization process quickly in order to put new products on the market. In the future, we want to continue building on our formed fiber portfolio to move into applications other than single-use packaging,” he concludes.
By Anni Schleicher
