Stora Enso adds wood fiber-based trays for ready meals to Trayforma range

23 Nov 2021 --- Stora Enso has extended its renewable Trayforma range with a solution for conventionally heated food packaging applications, featuring less than 10% PET.

Trayforma is a wood fiber-based material for ready meals packaging, enabling brand owners and retailers to switch from fully fossil-based materials to a bio-based alternative.

The new Trayforma PET34 material offers core properties, such as food protection and heat resistance, but boasts a significantly reduced amount of fossil-based barrier materials. When heating food in conventional ovens, board materials need a PET coating to provide heat resistance and protect food.

The Finnish pulp and paper company says meeting the threshold of 10% PET will be an important step in making Trayforma trays a better fit for fiber-based packaging recycling streams, and for achieving recyclable labeling in markets like the UK.

“We believe Trayforma products will have many future applications because they are low-carbon and help brand owners reduce their carbon footprint and use of fossil materials, offering these benefits to consumers,” says Tuomas Puonti, VP head of business line LPB Fresh & FSB at Stora Enso.

“Thanks to its renewable origin in wood fiber and its optimized barrier options, Trayforma range offers the right performance and several alternatives for the ready meals category, now also better fit for recycling.”

Microwaveable Trayforma
Earlier this year, Stora Enso introduced Trayforma PP, a material suitable for heating in microwave ovens. This solution is based on material containing up to 95% wood fibers.

For conventional ovens where PET coating is still needed, the reduction to 34 gsm is a significant improvement and can still withstand temperatures up to 220 °C.

Trayforma is now also available in 420 gsm for producing larger and sturdier microwave and conventional oven trays. In addition to Trayforma PET, Trayforma Bio and Trayforma PP will also be available in a 420 gsm option.

Trayforma is a renewable wood fiber-based packaging solution for frozen and chilled food and safe for oven and microwave heating when functional barriers are used. It guarantees food safety and is highly formable and convertible.

Stora Enso has also introduced a carbon-neutral cartonboard in what it says is a market first. Meanwhile, the supplier is exploring plastic-free solutions for hot drinks packaging.

Edited by Joshua Poole