With the goal of minimising the use of plastics while providing optimal product protection and performance, AR Packaging has developed Safeboard, a plastic-free cartonboard packaging solution, that is now used by Bel Group for its Boursin cheese range.
As part of a process that aimed to reduce its environmental impact, Bel Group was looking for a solution to remove the plastic coating on the cartonboard packaging used for its entire Boursin range of flavoured cream cheeses.
After two years of research and testing in collaboration with the group, AR Packaging’s unit in Cholet, France has developed a solution. The Safeboard packaging has made it possible for Bel to move away from the use of PE-coated cartonboard for its entire Boursin range (80g, 155g and 250g). According to the company, the elimination of plastics in its new packaging is equivalent to a reduction of 35 tonnes of plastics per year.
“Bel Group has set a clear agenda for how to minimise our environmental impact. The reduction of plastics in the cartonboard packaging for Boursin is one important step towards achieving our target to have 100% recycle-ready packaging by 2025,” said Boursin’s packaging development team and corporate purchasing lead, Romain Dufrêne. “We are very pleased to have accomplished this together with our AR Packaging team.”
The AR Packaging Safeboard solution offers possibilities for tailored barriers to moisture, grease, and aroma. The company says that it can replace plastic-coated cartonboard and thereby enable repulpable and compostable packaging. Meanwhile, AR also claims that the cartonboard used in the new product is based on fibres from sustainably managed forests.
"I am proud to see this innovation in full commercial use on the market now. We have developed a unique process for applying the barrier in a cost-efficient way. Safeboard allows our customers to have a cartonboard packaging without a gram of PE, giving an optimised sustainable packaging with minimised additional costs," explains Olivier Moysan, general manager of AR Packaging France.
