Bendable paper straw innovation unveiled by BillerudKorsnäs collaboration
17 Jul 2019 --- BillerudKorsnäs has launched a functional 180° bendable straw made out of paper in collaboration with The Paper Straw Co. The latter will produce the U-Bend straw in Manchester, UK, and the US for individual drink cartons such as juice, milk and water. Made from BillerudKorsnäs’ shapeable patented paper – FibreForm – the collaboration says the patent-pending U-Bend has the potential for long-term market success and extensive, positive environmental impact.
The U-Bend is durable, recyclable and biodegradable. It is based on materials from sustainably sourced forests and can result in a positive impact on pollution and littering when compared to plastic straws, the companies state.
The collaboration indicates that it is ready to take the solution to industrial trials with the goal of commercializing the U-Bend straw by the end of this year.
The companies set out to create a paper straw that had similar characteristics in terms of durability as plastic straws. It also has to be adaptable to existing manufacturing machinery for drinking cartons with similar speeds and minimal change costs, Geert Pijper, Co-Founder of The Paper Straw Co, tells PackagingInsights.
“We had to source appropriate base paper to create a bendable straw since standard paper straws tear easily in the bending process and their form lacks memory,” Pijper says.
“In terms of durability, paper straws will generally perform less well than plastic straws. For The Paper Straw Co, standard straight straws provide at least 1.5 hours’ usability. For the U-Bend Paper Straw, we aim for at least 1-hour usability,” Emma Hellqvist, Formable Solutions at BillerudKorsnäs also tells PackagingInsights.
The U-Bend straw is made from BillerudKorsnäs’ shapeable patented paper called FibreForm.FibreForm paper is made of 100 percent virgin fibers and, since there is no plastic in the final U-Bend product, it can be recycled in household paper recycling streams.
The Paper Straw Co is owned by Hoffmaster Group. Aardvark Straws is part of Hoffmaster Group and will enable the production of the U-Bend for the US market.
“We will be launching commercial volumes of U-Bend straws with a select number of customers throughout Europe and North America by the fourth quarter, 2019,” Hellqvist says.
”Today many billion bendable straws are produced in a year, which means that the potential for our business and our contribution to a more sustainable packaging world is, to say the least, considerable,” she concludes.
In May, the Council of the EU officially adopted measures proposed by the European Commission to tackle marine litter by banning the 10 single-use products most commonly found on European beaches, including plastic straws. The Member States will now have two years to transpose the legislation into their national law.
Innovation in paper straws that have the potential to replace single-use plastic straws has predictably been on the rise. For example, UK-based iced drinks company Polar Krush has developed a 100 percent biodegradable spoon straw made entirely from paper, which the company says may replace the millions of traditional plastic straws they distribute annually.
In February, SIG launched an FSC-certified paper straw made from three layers of paperboard and two layers of adhesive, while Huhtamaki also introduced a PEFC-certified paper straw solution.
By Joshua Poole
