Swedish company Iggesund Paperboard has developed a new, sustainable material for pressed and folded trays used in food packaging.
The material, called Inverform, is a solid bleached board made of pure cellulose fibres sourced from sustainably managed forests. A polymer barrier is added to Inverform making it ideal for tray forming and heat sealing. Inverform is a food grade material without added optical brightening agents and it has all the required food safety certificates, including being safe for use in microwaves and conventional ovens.
The company says Inverform is an ideal replacement for traditional solutions such as plastic trays.
Iggesund Paperboard sales manager Stefan Söderberg said the company has a long tradition of working sustainably and producing material that won’t harm the environment.
“Inverform was developed largely in response to the plastic pollution problem,” he said.
“We were determined to come up with a renewable and recyclable material for food trays that would be more environmentally friendly than plastic, while maintaining the same high packaging performance throughout the value chain.”
Food and retail companies that are looking for more ways for their products to support a sustainable future can now ask for trays made of Inverform.
Iggesund said trays made of Inverform with a plastic barrier have a substantially lower carbon footprint than the common plastic tray and can be recycled in existing paper packaging recycling schemes. And, in addition to helping to lower the climate impact, Inverform packaging meets the highest standards for food hygiene and protection, ensuring longer life and less food waste.
Söderberg said: “Inverform is the first of a new product application and we are in the process of developing the next generation of barriers since there is an increasing demand for sustainable packaging solutions and the requirements are becoming tougher each year. We are continuously improving our products to help our customers with their challenges now and in the future.”
