Features Packaging Research & Innovation Tissue
Fabio Perini creates eco-friendly packaging for tissue converting

To accomplish this, Fabio Perini had to identify the most suitable alternative to plastic for primary packaging. This material had to be not only eco-sustainable, recyclable and/or compostable, but also as versatile as the polyethylene in terms of availability, product protection, packaging options, printability and resistance to production-related mechanical stress.

Fabio Perini and a partner company conducted numerous materials tests on the latest-generation packaging machines such as the CMW1000 and Carbon T, and ultimately developed an ecological material that combines paper and bioplastic to form properties that can be interchanged with normal polyethylene.

The new Paper Packaging Solution addresses the facts that paper alone is not strong or water-repellent enough for primary packaging and that bioplastic alone is not economically viable for use on an industrial scale. Paper Packaging Solution is a paper coupled with Mater-Bi, a totally ecological bioplastic having the same properties as plastic polymers, but with the added benefits of being recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.

Two different types of Paper Packaging Solution products are available: a low-weight paper, 25 gm2, and a thicker paper, 40 gm2. Both are FSC-certified and are laminated or extruded with bioplastics, with thicknesses ranging from seven to nine microns to ensure high pack weldability and product hygroscopic barrier.

Further, Paper Packaging Solution products are available in virgin paper or recycled paper. The 100 per cent biodegradable virgin paper is certified “Vinicotte OK compost,” which has the fibres closely joined to accommodate the higher heat needed for bioplastic fusion and perfect packaging seals, as well as being more resistant. The 100 per cent recyclable and compostable paper has looser fibres. The heat passes through it more easily to create package seals, but the looser fibres affect its resistance.

Paper Packaging Solution products are available in North America and compatible with Casmatic’s latest generation packaging machines — such as Casmatic A6T, CMW1000 and the new Carbon T — along with a “bio-pack kit.” This device makes it possible to select the desired type of packaging material from the control panel, and the Casmatic packaging machine automatically sets the various parameters, including heat and time, required to perfectly seal the packages according to the packaging composition.