The Fedrigoni Group – a manufacturer of specialty papers, labels and RFID - has acquired a minority stake in start-up Papkot, which has apparently developed a large-scale paper coating technology with the same properties as plastic.
Papkot’s solution is said to replace silicone and cellulose with a nanostructured material that eliminates plastic from single-use packaging. Fedrigoni says the deal is part of its corporate venture capital program to identify ‘industry-changing’ startups with a proven, industrially scalable reality.
The two companies plan to accelerate the deployment of Papkot’s technology worldwide, aiming to give major fast moving consumers goods (FMCG) and food and beverage (F&B) brands access to ‘high-performance, fully recyclable, fully biodegradable’ packaging solutions at scale.
Papkot is said to already be serving food and consumer goods brands, with research and development hubs in France and China and contract manufacturing partnerships in France, the U.S., and China. The company’s advanced barrier technology reportedly has high resistance to water, grease, oil and glycerol, and provides properties such as transparency or other tailored surface properties.
Apparently, all Papkot’s coatings are fully recyclable, free from harmful substances like PFAS and have been validated across a range of paper substrates including virgin and recycled fibres. Ongoing industrial trials hope to expand compatibility to meet the needs of converters and brand owners for applications such as disposable packaging, fire retardant or transparent paper and disposable cups.
In related news, NBCo recently announced the launch of its Fast Forward 50 initiative, aiming to help brands transition from single-use plastic to fibre bottles and provide a ‘viable, high-performance alternative’ to plastic. Made from bamboo and bagasse, NBCo’s fibre bottles are said to offer high durability and strong barrier protection against moisture and oxygen.
We recently spoke to Ankur Gupta, co-founder and chief business officer at Cirkla, about the role of moulded fibre packaging when it comes to finding alternatives to plastic packaging. Gupta discussed with Elisabeth Skoda what drives the shift, challenges companies face when wanting to make the switch, and how product innovations such as fibre MAP trays support it.
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