EASILY RECYCLABLE BARRIER BOARD
Kotkamills’ barrier grades can be easily repulped together with other standard paper waste in a way that plastic-coated boards cannot.
The secret behind these innovative materials is Kotkamills’ new BM2 board machine. It was built from scratch and was ready to run in summer 2016. The investment, in the range of €170 million, was the first new board machine built in Europe for a decade.
“The other innovation, apart from the plastic-free barrier itself, is that the board, coatings and barriers are applied in one go on the board machine,” says David Ingham, global sales director of consumer boards at Kotkamills Oy.
The background story for the new barrier board is that the market is looking for an easily recyclable alternative to plastic-coated barrier boards.
“Kotkamills have risen to the challenge and now provides a real alternative that can be used the same way as existing materials,” Mr Ingham points out.
TALL SHIPS CUP
The first live testing of the ISLA™ foodservice range on a bigger scale was at the Tall Ships Races in Kotka in July 2017 when 50,000 cups made from the new barrier board were used for catering at the festival area.
“The event clearly showed that the water-based, dispersion-coated barrier works as planned,” says Mr Ingham. “The barrier is formed when the barrier particles dispersed in water fuse together to form a thin layer as the water dries off in the production process. In the opposite direction, the coating will dissolve when the cups, plates or packaging are repulped together with other standard paper waste.”
This means that separate recycling streams are not required in the recycling process. It makes recovery and recycling a much more straightforward process; less trouble for both the convertor and the recycler.
The coating will dissolve when the cups, plates or packaging are repulped together with other standard paper waste
“Since our barrier technology is brand new, it took us a while to finalise the process,” says Mr Ingham. “But as of October 2017, we are ready to ship the barrier versions of both the ISLA™ food service and AEGLE™ folding boxboard ranges.
“All products are recyclable and produced from renewable virgin fibre procured from certified forests, which is vital to meet the hygienic demand of the end-use.”
STRONG AND LIGHT
The new machine has a capacity of 400,000 tons and is one of the world’s most efficient and versatile machines.
“In combination with the integrated CTMP [chemithermomechanical pulping] plant, the machine offers in many aspects the world’s most refined and flexible board production technology,” says Yrjö Aho, director of new business development at Kotkamills. “It can produce everything from light cup board to heavy folding boxboard, which can even be used instead of corrugated cardboard, still having all the properties needed for high-quality packaging.”
An example of the machine’s versatility is a gift packaging for Finnish Gustav Dill vodka, which was at the top podium in the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London recently.
“We were asked if we could deliver a high-class folding boxboard that is as strong as thin corrugated cardboard,” says Mr Aho. “In only two weeks, we developed a new 450gsm folding boxboard with a thickness of 800 microns, which is most likely the strongest and lightest Scandinavian folding boxboard on the market.”
If anybody wonders why the board machine was built in Kotka, Finland, the answer is simple. “In addition to being an important port for Finland, with daily connections to mainland Europe, Kotka has also been built around the wood, pulp and paper industry, ever since a sawmill was built in 1872 on the same spot where we are located today,” says Mr Ingham.
To learn more please contact Suvi Kalliomaki by clicking here or find out more at Kotkamills.com
