Metsä Board has collaborated with Futupack and Adara Pakkaus to create a food-safe packaging that would reduce both material and printing ink usage, benefitting the environment without compromising performance, function or print quality. The result is a high functioning pizza box that is possibly one the lightest in the world with this kind of performance. The innovative solution was showcased to the global packaging industry during Interpack.
“Compared to traditional solutions, the weight and material consumption of the box have been reduced by approximately 30%. The fresh fibre MetsäBoard Natural WKL Bright used for the box weighs 80 gsm. Despite the reduced weight, the E-flute corrugated box’s structure provides the box with the necessary rigidity and the fresh fibre material the necessary purity to carry a freshly baked pizza. All the corrugated board layers are made of the same material, which makes the production logistics efficient too,” says Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director, Metsä Board.
The visual outlook of the pizza box was designed by Futupack and the packaging was manufactured by Adara Pakkaus. The lightweight substrate was provided by Metsä Board to provide a better, safer, and more sustainable solution for food-grade applications. It is a fully bleached, uncoated white kraftliner suitable for flexo, offset, and digital inkjet printing and is available in a basis weight range of 70-160 gsm.
To showcase the excellent printing properties of the material, Adara Pakkaus was brought in to produce the corrugated material and printing of the box. The company is known for its innovativeness and high quality and was recently recognized with a gold medal and best of show award at the 2023 FTA Excellence of Flexography Awards in the USA.
Once the innovative pizza box was created, Metsä Board’s Sustainability Service compared the packaging to existing solutions and made a detailed analysis of its environmental impact by looking at both the material and the production. Compared to traditional solutions made of recycled fibre, the weight of the fresh fibre pizza box made of MetsäBoard Natural WKL Bright was up to 38% lighter and its carbon footprint up to 50% lower.
