Mondi partners with Syntegon on kraft paper solutions for dry food packaging

19 Jun 2023 --- Mondi is linking with Syntegon to bring a recyclable paper-based packaging solution to dry food products such as flour, sugar and pasta. The packaging utilizes Mondi’s EcoVantage kraft paper and Syntegon’s spot coating technology.

Mondi’s EcoVantage has been approved by ISEGA and is made from recycled and responsibly sourced fresh fibers. It was previously mainly used for paper shopping bags. With R&D investment and industry collaboration, the company is expanding the material’s application to meet increasing consumer demand for paper-based packaging.

Mondi supplies EcoVantage roll-stock to Syntegon, who then applies spot coating to create dust-tight, heat-sealable packaging that eliminates contamination throughout the product lifecycle – from production to the consumer’s home. 

Syntegon’s technology reportedly ensures that the minimum amount of sealing agent needed is used while protecting powdered food goods and providing packaging strength.

“Thanks to the close partnership with Syntegon and our extensive technical expertise and knowledge of paper, we can support our customers in making more sustainable choices,” says Elisabeth Schwaiger, head of R&D and intellectual property, flexible packaging at Mondi.

“With high paper recycling rates and the use of wood as a renewable material, we are delivering a packaging innovation that embraces resource efficiency, waste reduction and recyclability.”Food paper packaging with recycled content created by Mondi and Syntegon (Image credit: Mondi).

Torsten Sauer, director of sustainability at Syntegon, adds: “Our goal is to create sustainable packaging solutions with the minimum environmental impact possible. With paper packaging that is both recyclable and contains recycled material, we are making a big step toward closing the circularity loop for primary food packaging.”

Fiber – boon or bane?
While paper-based packaging solutions are hailed for environmental sustainability gains, recent wildfires have led international actors to question the effectiveness of forest management.

Canada has been facing widespread and destructive fires raging for weeks with some civil society organizations and NGOs stressing the urgency for sustainable forest management and Indigenous leadership, while others blame industrial logging, which weakens trees and sparks fires.

“Sustainable forest management is one of the most powerful tools to address this growing risk to human health and lives,” Derek Nighbor, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada, told Packaging Insights.

“Simply protecting forests across a natural fire-prone region like the boreal is neither an effective climate strategy nor public safety plan. This is further supported by findings of Parks Canada that show many of Canada’s parks are now net carbon sources due to worsening natural disturbances. We need more active sustainable forest management, not less,” 

In February, Chile’s pulp industry also battled “the worst wildfire” in its modern history, sparking speculations about intentionally manufactured fires and climate change-driven factors. 

While the EU held climate change responsible for the fires, a Viva Chile Packaging spokesperson pointed to other man-made factors. “Most of the fires are intentionally caused by humans. The current situation is quite critical since there are many outbreaks in different places, and the weather conditions with high temperatures and a lot of wind are unfavorable for this wave of fires to stop soon,” they told us.

Edited by Radhika Sikaria