Paper manufacturer Arjowiggins has launched Sylvicta, which the company says is a new sustainable alternative to plastic packaging.
According to the company Sylvicta is a translucent, functional barrier paper that has been proven to preserve the quality of food and cosmetics just as well as conventional plastics. Inline with sustainable properties, the paper is fully recyclable, compostable, marine degradable and made from renewable raw materials.
The product’s biggest attribute is its high barrier to oxygen – the leading cause of food spoilage – which means it can reduce food waste by prolonging shelf life during the transportation, retail and consumer phases of the value chain.
Through precision fibre refining, Arjowiggins’ experienced R&D teams have developed this translucent paper with a natural bonding, without the need of any harmful chemicals. The result is a paper with a barrier to oxygen, aroma, mineral oils and fatty foodstuffs.
When running through conventional converting lines, Sylvicta offers limitless creative possibilities: it can be foil-stamped, glued, embossed, printed in offset, gravure, and flexo, metallised, or coated with heat or cold-sealable materials.
Additionally, Arjowiggins says it is working continuously with packaging converters to open up an endless array of applications — from pouches for dry fruits, bags for salads, sachets for solid soap, sacks for pet food and flow-packs for chocolate bars, all the way through to metallised versions of Sylvicta for butter or margarine packaging.
‘Despite the ongoing movement towards more sustainable packaging solutions, plastics still remain a popular choice, largely for practical reasons. Until now, most of the existing offer, mainly in single-use packaging, use unrecyclable, multi-layered laminates incorporating plastics or aluminium foil’ explained Christophe Jordan, managing director of the Translucent Papers division at Arjowiggins.
‘With Sylvicta, such solutions can be turned into fully recyclable, compostable and biodegradable paper packaging. The product is simply revolutionary – it can help to create the circular economy society we all desire.’
