The packaging industry is one of the most important interfaces for implementing the principle of the circular economy in trade and industry. The packaging machine manufacturer Syntegon and the paper manufacturer Koehler Paper Group want to further promote the circular economy with a strategic partnership.
While the consumer looks to the manufacturer to fulfil their demands, the manufacturer must not only focus on packaging materials, but also on the technology that processes them. Sustainable packaging, to replace plastic with paper where possible, are not just a question of the availability of materials. Although flexible packaging paper is competing for space with plastic packaging, it still has to share the space on the packaging machine.
More sustainability is only possible through evolution
For the machine operators, therefore Questions about changeover times and even machine conversions and, above all, process reliability in processing are the top priorities.
„We know the pressure consumers are under when it comes to greater sustainability. As a supplier to the packaging industry, we have therefore entered into a strategic partnership with Syntegon, a leading global provider of process and packaging technology. Although the development towards greater sustainability is immediately favoured as a revolution, it is only possible in an evolutionary way. Syntegon and the Koehler Paper Group are strategically pooling their expertise to ensure that we move in the right direction step by step.“ Eckard Kallies, Head of the Flexible Packaging Papers Division at the Koehler Paper Group
According to Eckard Kallies, the close collaboration has been in place since 2018. Koehler Paper Group are regularly at the test centre of Syntegon for vertical packaging technology. The products of the newly founded Koehler Flexible Packaging Paper Division will initially run on pilot machines there.
„Together with our partner Koehler, we presented our new stand-up pouch made of paper (Doy paper bag). This sustainable packaging solution shows the value of collaboration: sustainability cannot be achieved alone.“ Pierre Hamelink, Key Account Manager & Sustainability Strategy for Vertical Packaging Technology at Syntegon.
Thanks to the transfer of knowledge between machine builders and paper manufacturers, the production of the functional papers has always been a success, according to Kallies: „The market has given us feedback that our flexible packaging papers are exceptionally good. good strength and good machinability have. This is only possible because we develop each other with each other's knowledge“.
At Koehler, product manager Alexander Rauer is one of the people responsible for this. The mechanical engineer has identified a clear goal: „We ensure that our customers can realise their existing machines, on which plastic multilayer and monomaterials were previously processed, can also continue to be used with paper. You change the rolls - and that's it. Of course, plastic is more patient than paper. But our colleagues at Syntegon know how to deal with temperature, pressure, friction coefficients, edges and mould shoulders. And we adapt to this in paper production. This is analysed on a microscopic level and results in the adaptation of our production.“
Cooperation between the Koehler Paper Group and TU Darmstadt
This interdisciplinary collaboration is supported by research work at the Technical University of Darmstadt supplemented. At the end of 2018, the Koehler Paper Group launched the Research partnership Green Coating Collaboration, to produce functional surfaces from renewable raw materials. The result is paper that is coated with a water-based polymer layer. Alexander Rauer: „The best thing about it is that our papers are completely recyclable. We are therefore providing a material for which there has long been a functioning cycle. And which takes us one step further in terms of sustainability in the packaging industry“.
[infotext icon] The Koehler Paper Group is an internationally active manufacturer of speciality paper. The family-run company from Oberkirch, south-west Germany, produces over 500,000 tonnes of paper, cardboard and groundwood pulp board annually at four locations in Germany. Its products include thermal paper, carbonless paper, decor paper, fine paper, recycled paper, groundwood pulp board, sublimation paper and flexible packaging paperSyntegon Technology is a leading global supplier of process and packaging technology. As the former packaging division of the Bosch Group, the company, headquartered in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, offers complete solutions for the pharmaceutical and food industries. Around 6,100 employees at 30 locations in over 15 countries generated a turnover of 1.3 billion euros in 2019. [/infotext]
Source: Koehler Paper Group
