UPM Specialty Papers has announced that six of its packaging papers are now certified as both home compostable and industrially compostable, according to recognised standards.
The papers are:
- UPM Prego, a water vapour barrier paper for packaging of baked goods and food, with a natural look and feel;
- UPM Asendo, a barrier paper with good grease and moisture resistance;
- UPM FlexPack, a high white coated one side paper for food packaging, designed for flexo printing, and suitable for uses such as sugar and spice sachets and cake mixes;
- UPM UniquePack, a glossy coated one side paper for high-end packaging, designed for a variety of lamination processes and flexo and gravure printing;
- UPM UniquePack Strong, a premium coated one side packaging paper that is ‘excellent’ for flexo printing; and
- UPM Solide Lucent, a strong, smooth and dense speciality kraft paper that is versatile, natural white and translucent.
All these products are now certified to the French NFT51-800:2015 standard (home compostable) and European EN13432:2000 for industrial compostability. Given the right conditions (a temperature of 20 to 30oC), home compostable materials are designed to biodegrade within 12 months and disintegrate within six months into non-ecotoxic compost.
‘Recycling should always be the first option to consider, when possible,’ commented Susanna Hyrkäs, senior manager for sustainability at UPM Specialty Papers. ‘However, compostability is a good option when recycling of packaging papers is not possible, due to food residues, for example. Compostability can also play a role when recycling infrastructure is limited.’
