With regard to a functioning circular economy, flexible paper packaging as a substitute for plastics, also known as “paperization,” is becoming increasingly important. Flexible paper packaging is predicted to grow by 4.5 percent annually until the end of the decade. An expert survey conducted by the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Heilbronn (DHBW) and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) confirms this trend.
As the head of the study, Prof. Dr. Carsten Kortum, says, “This is not a short-term trend, but a profound change driven by new legal requirements, increased environmental awareness in conjunction with changing consumer behavior, and technological innovations.”
However, the big challenge is to find suitable materials that act as a barrier to water, water vapor, hot and cold liquids, oils, and fats, while also fulfilling the sustainability principle of a circular economy. Until now, however, paper packaging, which had to fulfill important barrier functions for food, beverages, cosmetics, and certain non-food items, had reached its technical limits. HEIDELBERG, together with Solenis, a leading manufacturer of barrier coatings, has achieved a breakthrough. The results will be presented at FACHPACK 2025 in Nuremberg.
HEIDELBERG is a strong driving force behind paperization
The process developed jointly by Solenis and HEIDELBERG enables the industrial, partial and therefore cost-effective application of barrier coatings to paper packaging. As a system integrator, HEIDELBERG has integrated Solenis’ technology into the flexographic web printing process with the Boardmaster. During the ongoing process, the barriers are transferred to the paper web with precise registration only at the necessary points. The aim of the collaboration is to leverage the advantages of the individual Boardmaster assemblies for applying Solenis barrier coatings in order to make the process technology quickly and easily available to packaging producers.
“Economic innovations are crucial if we are to replace plastic packaging with recyclable or compostable paper packaging. By collaborating with Solenis to develop coatings and inks and produce coated paper packaging inline, HEIDELBERG is reinforcing its claim to be a strong driving force behind paperization,” says Dr. David Schmedding, CSO at HEIDELBERG. “We are thus acting as a full-service provider of end-to-end solutions in the growth market of mass production of fiber-based packaging solutions.”
Innovative applications in focus at the FACHPACK trade fair presentation
At this year’s FACHPACK (September 23-25 in Nuremberg), HEIDELBERG and Solenis will present the innovative process at their joint booth 4A-342 in Hall 4. Visitors will receive samples to take away so they can test the results of the coating process for themselves. Experts from HEIDELBERG and Solenis will be on hand at FACHPACK to talk to interested parties about the future of sustainable paper packaging production.
