20
Ilkka Harju Packaging Services Director, Metsä Board
tion with recycled fibre-based rigid box solu- tions traditionally used in gift packaging, they found the newcomer to be up to 50 per cent lighter. “Thanks to its lightness, the new packaging solution helps our customers reach their car- bon reduction targets.” Half the carbon The Sustainability Services also calculated the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of the new solu- tion, which considers value chain stages from raw materials extraction until the paperboard product leaves the mill – and it’s 59 per cent lower than that of traditional solutions.* And that’s not all, notes Harju. “Since no harmful adhesives or other plastic laminates are used in the packaging solution, the recycling of the package becomes much more efficient.” According to Harju, plastic reduction and lightweighting (i.e. minimising material us- age) are always at the “very heart” of the Pack- aging Design Team’s total effort. “In addition, Metsä Board’s sustainability spe- cialists help customers compare packaging ma-
terials and designs, pro- vide third-party verified calculations on emis- sions caused by the pack- aging and find solutions which enable smaller en- vironmental impacts,” he explains. Simulation savvy The Excellence Centre professionals deploy a
range of hi-tech simulation tools to explore var- ious sustainable alternatives – probably pro- viding intriguing glimpses into the future of packaging. Harju is convinced that the micro-flute solu- tion is very much part of that future. “We’re launching the first commercial pilots for the solution in the autumn of 2023, but we’re already getting a lot of attention from our cus- tomers about it,” he reveals. “The interest level is so high that we feel that this is clearly the right packaging solution right now in the eyes of many brands.” •
The new micro-flute solution – on the right – is lighter, uses less material and has a significantly smaller carbon footprint than traditional rigid boxes.
Powered by FlippingBook