PulPac partners with SustainaPac for North American expansion of Dry Molded Fiber

18 Jan 2023 --- US-based manufacturer SustainaPac joins PulPac’s growing licensee network to introduce Dry Molded Fiber technology to North America. SustainaPac intends to establish itself as a source of highly economical natural fiber and single-use foodservice packaging products for the growing North American quick service restaurant (QSR) environmentally sustainable market. 

The Dry Molded Fiber technology, invented, owned and licensed by PulPac, enables the replacement of multiple single-use plastic products with fiber-based alternatives at a commercial scale. 

SustainaPac intends to build a series of Dry Molded Fiber production facilities across the US. The process would begin with a dedicated high-volume fiber hot and cold drink cup lid plant in Jacksonville, Florida.  

“North American QSRs are clamoring for economical, domestically produced, compostable fiber products to replace their single-use plastic packaging where appropriate, and SustainaPac with PulPac fiber forming technology will be out front meeting that demand,” says Les Schaevitz, CEO at SustainaPac.

PulPac, with the help of SustainaPac, will bring fiber-based QSR packaging. North America gets Dry Molded Fiber 
SustainaPac plans on creating fiber drink cup lids, hinged containers, bowls, trays and related products with Dry Molded Fiber technology for the QSR industry in the North American region. 

“I expect to see progress in sustainable barrier solutions. Given the ‘fiber frenzy,’ there is a lot of research and development effort going into barrier development for fiber-based packaging. The packaging industry needs to move away from forever chemicals,” Ann Dynehall, Chief Communications Officer at PulPac, previously told PackagingInsights regarding packaging options for QSR’s.  

The economic dry fiber forming technology allows fiber products made in North America to be reasonably competitive on a cost basis, like plastic products. It is a manufacturing technology designed for the circular economy – using renewable pulp and cellulose resources to produce low-cost, high-performance, fiber-based packaging and single-use products.  

“Time is increasingly becoming the most important factor in dealing with environmental challenges,” adds Sanna Fager, chief commercial officer at PulPac. 

“With converters like SustainaPac stepping up to the plate, we can accelerate the shift toward sustainable fiber-based packaging and away from single-use plastics. Next generations deserve new generations of packaging where sustainability is just a given.” PulPac implements its Dry Molded Fiber technology to aid with the restaurant industry's shift toward ecological packaging solutions. 

Taking Dry Molded Fiber global
Previously, PulPac and PA Consulting (PA) signed a collaboration agreement to build on PA’s role as a global development and scale-up partner for PulPac’s Dry Molded Fiber technology. 

PulPac raised €31 million (US$31 million) in investments to expand its Dry Molded Fiber tech production late last year. “The combined equity raise and partnerships of the cross-industrial alliance will greatly improve PulPac’s ability to cater to the global market of sustainable packaging,” Linus Larsson Green, CEO at PulPac, previously told PackagingInsights.

Around the same time, PulPac was granted a patent in Japan covering bottle-forming using its Dry Molded Fiber technology to replace current plastic options to combat waste. This procurement gave the company Dry Molded Fiber protection with 32 different patent families, more than 150 national patents and 60 pending patent applications. 

Edited by Sabine Waldeck 

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