Finland-headed branded foodstuffs major Paulig Group is testing a laminate that combines Mondi's packing paper with UPM BioVerno naphtha, the latter made from the pulp and paper industry by-product tall oil, for its bio-based coffee packaging. The first test batch with Paulig Café New York has been successfully packed at its Vuosaari roastery in Finland and released to the market.
A family-owned company, Paulig Oy has ambitious climate targets, approved by the UN’s Science Based Targets initiative. By 2030 it will reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations by 80 percent and its value chain by 50 percent.
The company has also committed to switching to using only packages that are recyclable and made from renewable or recycled materials by 2030.
Recyclability is currently our focus and we also look for feasible solutions for renewable or recycled packaging materials. Even though the carbon footprint of the products comes mainly from the product itself and packaging plays a small role, all these improvements in the packaging contribute to the circularity and climate target of the value chain. We are always curious and seeking even better solutions and now we are exploring a new tall oil-based raw material option for our coffee laminates, said Kati Randell, Strategic Packaging Development Manager at Paulig.
Forest-based renewable and recyclable packaging
According to Paulig, the most important purpose of the packaging material is to make sure that the coffee inside the package is protected from light, oxygen, and humidity, and to ensure that the valuable contents stay fresh and usable.
As the packaging development partner, we are collaborating closely with Paulig in finding the most sustainable and fit-for-purpose packaging for their coffee. Our customer-centric approach, EcoSolutions, helps us to satisfy the needs of the products, the audience, and the environment. Increasing the amount of renewable resources used to create recyclable packaging allows us to reduce the carbon footprint of Paulig’s coffee packaging, said Pål Wikstrøm, Sales Manager Nordic Consumer Flexibles, Mondi.
As an integrated manufacturer and supplier of paper and flexible plastic packaging Mondi Group is well-positioned to find the most sustainable and suitable packaging solutions – “paper where possible, plastic when useful” as its EcoSolutions division puts it.
In this case, the most sustainable and suitable replacement for fossil-derived plastic comes from the forest industry major colleague UPM. UPM BioVerno is produced from tall oil, a residue of pulp making, in the UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery.
We are committed to replacing fossil-based raw materials with renewable ones. Paulig’s initiative to use our wood-based UPM BioVerno as a raw material in the laminates of their coffee packs is a further step towards creating more circular and sustainable packaging, said Panu Routasalo, VP of UPM Biofuels.
The first test batch with Paulig Café New York has been successfully packed and released to the market.
The aim is to run larger tests and if they prove to be successful, our target is to replace so-called first-generation biobased materials in coffee vacuum packs with tall oil-based material, which is a residue from the forest industry, said Kati Randell.
Consumers can sort the coffee packages into the plastic waste collection. If there is no plastic waste bin available, the second-best option is to place it in mixed waste for chemical recycling or energy recovery.
First CarbonNeutral production site
At its Vuosaari coffee roastery, Paulig produces 100 million coffee packs a year. Since 2018, all Paulig coffee beans have come from sustainable verified sources.
Last month it achieved “CarbonNeutral” building certification for its Vuosaari coffee roastery becoming the Group’s first certified carbon-neutral production site. The roastery building emissions have been reduced by 98 percent since 2014 and the remaining emissions have been offset through carbon finance projects.
Paulig’s global ambition is to make all its ten production sites in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the UK, carbon neutral by the end of 2023.
