Stora Enso has improved the recycling qualities of its new fibre-based Trayforma tray material range, which now contains less than 10 per cent plastic.
The company says its new Trayforma PET34 material continues to offer core properties such as food protection and heat resistance, but has a significantly reduced amount of fossil-based barrier materials.
When heating food in a conventional oven, board materials need a PET coating to provide heat resistance and protect food. Meeting the threshold of 10 per cent PET plastic will be an important step in producing trays made of Trayforma, and a better fit for fibre-based packaging recycling streams, as well as for achieving recyclable labelling.
“We believe Trayforma products will have many future applications because they are low-carbon and help brand owners reduce their carbon footprint and use of fossil-materials, offering these benefits to consumers. Thanks to its renewable origin in wood fibre and its optimised barrier options, the Trayforma range offers the right performance and several alternatives for the ready meals category, now also better fit for recycling,” said Tuomas Puonti, VP, head of Business Line LPB Fresh & FSB from Stora Enso.
Earlier this year, Stora Enso introduced Trayforma PP – a material suitable for heating in microwave ovens – based on material containing up to 95 per cent of wood fibres. For conventional ovens where PET coating is still needed, the reduction to 34gsm is a significant improvement and can still withstand temperatures up to 220 °C.
Trayforma is now also available in 420gsm for producing larger and sturdier microwave and conventional oven trays . In addition to Trayforma PET, Trayforma Bio and Trayforma PP will also be available in a 420gsm option.
