Releaf Paper: Converting fallen leaves into packaging material
09 Feb 2024 | Releaf Paper
Releaf Paper has launched three new products, including a self-assembled box and wrapping paper. We talk to the company’s co-founder, Valentyn Frechka, about how Releaf is expanding the use of fallen leaves to develop packaging materials. Frechka also shares how things have progressed for the EU grant winner while setting up a pilot facility in France.
Hello and welcome.
This is Radhika Sakkaria, journalist at Packaging Insights.
Today, I'm joined by Valentine Freska, who's the co-founder for Relief Paper.
Welcome, Valentine.
Hi, hello.
Thank you.
So, could you please introduce yourself and the company to us a little bit?
Sure, my name is Valentin, as you mentioned, and I'm the co-founder and the Relief and also technology developer.
So I'm the guy that created the way how to turn the leaves into the fibrous material for the paper and packaging.
Currently, I'm an operational chief technology officer.
So I respond for the all technical stuff in the relief like establishing equipment, developing improving technologies, and also improving the product properties for the market based on the market feedbacks.
So like a multi-tool technical guide.
Right.
So, we hear that Relief recently launched 3 new products.
Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Yes, actually, we started to produce notebooks because a lot of people asked us about, like, hi, is it possible to make the notebooks for like the different purposes of use?
Also we spent a lot of time to develop multilayer packaging, we call it the corrugated packaging for the making boxes and other kind of boxes for the individual packaging and also for the shipping packaging.
And the third one, like paper in a reels and paper in an A4 format, so like cutted paper, paper sheets.
So but like some people asking us also about the paper reels and the paper in sheets.
That's why we also decided to to launch these products.
So we have 3 main products, as you mentioned, because we started from making paper bags, but The feedbacks from the market demonstrated to us that the ability of the market is more huge, and we should also target the other kind of products if people want it, so we have all like opportunities to do it.
Of course we spent a lot of time to prepare this, to organize the supply chain, to also manage the stable quality of the final product.
And of course we could do it earlier, but now we can be very sure that the product is really good.
Right, so what markets or industry segments are you targeting with your latest packaging launches?
Actually, we have our e-commerce online shop, so where we're selling these products for like the different kinds of customers, mostly we're targeting European sector, but also, of course, we're open for the worldwide market.
And why do we do that?
It's because it helps us to understand better the market, what's going on, and what kind of products have demand on the on the market.
So it's some kind of, you know, like piloting to understand where we should target like the huge potential of this market.
That's, like e-commerce, B2C model.
But of course, we have also B2B model, where we work with the bigger clients which purchasing paperbacks with the printing and without printing, and also a corrugated packaging.
So currently the corrugated packaging is mostly affordable for the consumers in electronic segments and also like the delivery segment, but it's very preliminary analysis that we did and preliminary clients that we have.
Right, so, Valentine, could you walk me through your technology a little bit?
How do you produce, paper from the fallen leaves?
At this moment we are making this paper in a composition with the recycling fibers.
So how does it work?
We're accepting the leaves from big cities on our site.
We do the all processing of these leaves into the special fibrous mechanical filler, and after we are mixing this filler with the recycling fibers from the recycling paper.
So at the end we have a mix of these two ingredients and the final product.
Why do we do that?
It's just because we are not able at this moment to produce the pure origin fiber, cellulose fiber to produce like the big paper reels from the 100% of paper.
That's why we separated the technology for the two stages.
Now we are implementing the first stage and like very soon we will also be able to produce paper from the 100% of leaves, but currently it works like we're accepting these leaves, separating from the solid waste, washing, drying, and after making like the fibrous filler that's particles from the leaf blades and leaf petioles that we can transform into the functional filler.
And in the final paper we can achieve a bit more improved properties, mechanical properties, and some adhesive properties.
Also this paper looks very interesting because the structure of the surface is also, it looks very unique.
You can recognize that this paper is made from leaves.
You can also see like the small particles that we isolated from the leaf petioles and leaf veins.
Right.
So, relief won the EU grant in 2022, the 10 million EU grant.
How have things progressed for you since then?
Actually it's not 10 million grant.
The grant is only €2.5 million.
That's a grant that we can spend for the establishing our pilot facilities and to improve the current product that we have and the current technology to be able to.
A fundraise the next level.
That's the last part that you mentioned, so like 8 €7.5 million that we can rise to finalize like the huge production site where we will be able to proceed the lease.
And to pursue produce the fibers for the 100% paper.
Right, and how are things looking now?
Have you been able to utilize the funds for R&D and expand your offerings with the new launches and everything?
Everything is ongoing, like we're still be in the process of establishing the pilot facilities here in France.
Like we are working on the pilots, lab scale equipment, also.
We're focusing on the technology development, hiring different people to help us to go to the market, so developing our market, market strategy, trying to protect our technology from like different angles, through the IP protection.
Like, this is a very complex project and it's not only about establishing pilot, pilot facilities.
It's, you know, like it's, it's a mix.
Some kids are here, here, here, and at the end we have this all amount of the grant money that we will help us to be ready to fundraise more money because, you know, it will bring to us more credibility and we'll feel more stable on the market and we will know who are.
A customer, which segment, which amount was affordable price, and also to determine our weak, weak, our weakness that we can fix at this moment.
So that's what we are doing right now here in France.
Perfect.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Valentine.
It was lovely to hear from you.
Thank you also for these great questions that like gave me the ability to explain a bit more relief for the other people probably who did not know about us before.
That's my pleasure to share these green thoughts through the mass media like you.
Thank you, Valentine.
We look forward to more innovations from Relief.
