Global Dry Molded Fiber (DMF) specialist PulPac says the technology has moved beyond early-stage development to become an established industrial manufacturing method, as the company’s global intellectual property portfolio surpasses 500 patent grants.
The milestone reflects broader market momentum for dry fibre forming, which is increasingly being deployed alongside conventional wet moulded fibre and plastic conversion processes, rather than positioned purely as an alternative.
PulPac’s patent portfolio spans fibre preparation and airlaying, forming and pressing methods, tooling configurations and integrated functional features. The company says surpassing 500 national patent grants globally reinforces its position within industrial dry fibre forming.
According to PulPac, the development of DMF has been underpinned by close to 800,000 hours of research and development, contributing to process refinement and reducing barriers to industrial scale-up.
“Dry Molded Fiber is no longer an experimental technology. It is an industrial category in its own right, and we are seeing the market move from curiosity to commitment,” says Viktor Wingård Börjesson, chief operating officer at PulPac.
Industrialisation is being supported by PulPac’s ecosystem of machine builders, bringing together companies with expertise across injection moulding, nonwovens, fibre processing and packaging automation. The company says continued platform developments within this network are supporting broader implementation across markets.
Wingård Börjesson says the technology is approaching a tipping point, pointing to growing engagement from global machine builders and regulatory drivers such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
“Implementation is increasingly happening alongside plastic conversion and traditional wet molded fiber production rather than replacing them outright, lowering the barrier to adoption,” he says, adding that “the fundamentals for large-scale implementation are now in place.”
