The Papierfabrik Niederauer Mühle has introduced a white-coated testliner with PaperLoop, which contains at least 25 percent paper fibers from recycled beverage cartons. The corrugated cardboard paper is intended to be used, among other things, for transportation packaging by beverage manufacturers.
According to the company, the Niederauer Mühle is currently the only paper mill in Germany that processes used beverage cartons and reprocesses the resulting paper fibers into raw paper. With PaperLoop, these fibers can be used specifically for the production of corrugated packaging.
Recycled fibers for trays and transport packaging
According to the manufacturer, the material opens up the possibility for manufacturers of milk, juices and other beverages to use, for example, corrugated cardboard trays with a defined proportion of fibers from recycled beverage cartons.
„Our PaperLoop is a highly interesting product especially for beverage carton recyclers. In it, the paper fibers from the beverage cartons get a second life. If they are used for packaging our own products, circular economy becomes tangible and verifiable,“ says Dr. Karsten Derks, CEO of Niederauer Mühle.
According to the company, around 180,000 tons of beverage cartons are produced annually for the German market. This corresponds to approximately eight billion pack sizes. Paper fibers therefore account for up to 70 percent of the packaging material. The Niederauer Mühle states that its processing capacity for beverage cartons is up to 120,000 tons per year.
Testliner for the corrugated cardboard production
Paperboard manufacturers can also use Testliner to offer their customers a guaranteed minimum percentage of fibers from recycled beverage cartons. PaperLoop is particularly interesting for applications where a connection between the beverage carton and the downstream transport packaging is intended to be made.
The white-coated testliner is available in grammages between 110 and 160 g/m². According to Niederauer Mühle, its whiteness level is between 71 and 73 percent. The paper is not additionally tinted brown, but is color-matched to the materials used. Regarding its dimensional properties, PaperLoop is based on the company’s existing EifelLiner.
The Niederauer Mühle paper mill, based in Kreuzau, produces corrugated cardboard based on recycled paper. As a non-vertically integrated paper manufacturer, the company supplies various downstream processors in the corrugated cardboard industry.
Source: Paper factory Niederauer Mühle
