Water-based barrier coatings turn simple paper into a functional packaging material that combines product protection and recyclability. Last year, Sappi Europe commissioned one of the world's most modern systems for the barrier coating of paper at its site in Alfeld, Lower Saxony. We visited the site to find out what the new plant can do.
The Sappi plant in Alfeld is located south of Hanover, directly on the banks of the River Leine. Paper has been produced at this site for more than 300 years. Today, around 750 employees produce coated and uncoated speciality papers and bleached solid board on five paper machines (with widths of 3.3 to 4.8 metres). With the new in-house coating plant, the company is now setting a new standard in paper production.f Strategic expansion in the area of flexible packaging papers. According to the company, it can now meet the increasing demand for functional papers and barrier grades and respond particularly quickly to changing customer requirements.
„The future belongs to innovative speciality papers,“ says . „Our new coating system is the key to new markets, innovative products and sustainable solutions. Previously, we could only coat offline and the standard coating systems were not suitable for all requirements. Now the new in-house system offers a great deal of flexibility and opens up numerous possibilities - including not only a wide variety of different barrier coatings, but also perfect coordination with base papers with different surfaces on the printed side, such as natural, silk and gloss.“
Thomas Rajcsanyi, Mill Director and Managing Director of Sappi Alfeld GmbH
And: a second coating line is already being considered, as there is sufficient space available at the Alfeld site. „The market for speciality papers, including flexible packaging papers, is growing significantly. Sappi's share of total sales has also increased significantly over the last ten years - from nine per cent in 2014 to 25 per cent in 2024,“ explains Michael Bethge, Sales Director Flexible Packaging at Sappi. For more than a decade, the company has been developing functional papers Alternatives to conventional multilayer and plastic packaging and has been focussing on the growth market for years: in 2014, Sappi converted its PM 2 paper machine in Alfeld, which had previously produced graphic papers, into a system for packaging papers. In 2018, the speciality paper manufacturer Cham Paper Group was acquired. The most recent milestone is the commissioning of the barrier coating plant in 2023. These investments are intended to further develop in line with market demand and further optimise production capacities.
Functional papers for food
Sappi wants to use its functional packaging papers to replace paper-film laminates and extrusion-coated papers that are not recyclable. The water-based coatings create integrated barriers - with high, medium or low barrier properties, depending on the application - against oxygen, water vapour, fats, aromas, mineral oil and with additional heat sealability. This makes these papers - processed into portion bags, tubular bags or stand-up pouches - ideal for food.
„Our functional papers, including the Guard, AvantGuard and Seal product families, are the result of more than a decade of experience in barrier technology. Our recent Investment totalling several million euros The investment in a new, globally unique barrier coating system not only increases our production capacity, but also helps us to bring innovative products to market and expand our portfolio of next-generation functional papers.“
René Köhler, Director Paper & Packaging Solutions at Sappi Europe
The Sappi plant in Alfeld currently produces various barrier papers with different basis weights ranging from 44 g/m² to 120 g/m², which are produced with Various surfaces on the print side in the Natural, Silk and Gloss versions are available. According to the company, a number of other products are currently in various stages of development. At full capacity, the line, which runs at a speed of 450 metres per minute with a working width of 2.4 metres, will have an annual capacity of 320 million square metres. The system is flexibly capable of coating a wide range of papers with different barriers. It is used for a variety of water-based coating materials, including bio-based formulations.
