Sustainable Converting Making paperboardsustainably
made from fresh fibre. The company targets three key packaging sectors: Consumer goods, retail- ready and food service and for each of these there is a focus on developing products that meet the needs of both point of sale and the consumer. One key reason Metsä Board is able to make
M
paperboard sustainably is because it is part of a parent company, Metsä Group, which is owned by a 106,000 forest owner members. Metsä Group supports sustainable forest management, biodiversity and the multiple uses of forests. Metsä Board always knows the origins of the
fibre it uses. Products that are based on natural wood fibres offer excellent alternatives to more carbon-intensive products. Soili Hietanen, Metsä Board’s VP sustainability and energy, says, “Metsä Board uses only pure fresh fibres and has a strictly controlled production process. This is how we ensure that our paperboard has no harmful substances. Traceability of all raw materials is essential in ensuring product safety.” In 2016, Metsä Board was awarded a position in
CDP’s Water A List for the second year in row. CDP is an international not-for-profit organisation promoting sustainable economies. Earning a position on CDP’s Water A List demonstrates that the company manages water responsibly in all
etsä Board, part of the Metsä Group, is one of the leading European producers of folding boxboards and white linerboards
processes. “Even though we operate in water rich areas, we continuously develop our production processes to minimise water use,” adds Hietanen. Complementing the CDP Water A list ranking,
Metsä Board has also been recognised as a global leader by CDP for its actions to combat climate change. Metsä Board has made great progress in water and energy efficiency, which translates into reduced fossil CO2 emissions as well as over-all cost efficiency. The company has reduced its fossil CO2 emissions by 45 per cent since 2009. Metsä Board puts emphasis on developing
lightweight paperboards. Producing lighter paperboard also requires lower quantities of raw material for the same application. “Lighter packaging products simply means reduced environmental impacts at every stage of the product life cycle, as well as generating less waste at the end of the value chain,” says Hietanen. Thanks to its quality-consistency, Metsä Board’s
products also perform smoothly and reliably on printing and converting machines and packaging lines, so this reduces machine down time and reduces production waste too. “We also promote the fact that Metsä Board’s
paperboard products are designed to be recycled depending upon the local recycling systems. In Europe, paperboard packaging has an 82 per cent recycling rate, which is considerably higher than other packaging material categories,” says Hietanen.
Metsä Board presented its new paperboard cup
design concept, Lidloc, for the first time at the Packaging Innovations Exhibition earlier this year. The Lidloc patented design is based upon an
extension to a standard cup structure that folds and locks into an integrated lid. This design completely removes the need for a separate plastic lid. The integrated lid is spill proof and offers extra branding power as it can be printed as one piece with the rest of the cup. Hietanen says, “Lidloc is a great example of how
Metsä Board is supporting customers to enhance their brands by delivering sustainable and innovative packaging solutions to the industry.”
www.metsaboard.com
Flexo Concepts’ 100 per cent solar-powered building
F 26
lexo Concepts announced that it has completed the installation of a solar renewable energy system. The system ‘went
live’ on October 17, 2017 and the building occupied by the company is now 100 per cent powered by solar-generated electricity. Last Autumn, company owners Kevin
McLaughlin and Greg Howell hired Hopkinton- based Solect Energy to do a solar feasibility study for the multi-use commercial property housing Flexo Concepts and several tenants. The study
December/January 2018
confirmed the economic viability of the project, and Solect began work on the development, design, engineering, construction and interconnection of a solar energy system. Installation, which included 850 panels on the
roof, 40 power inverters and all materials required to connect the energy to the building and electric grid, was completed over a five-month period. The system generates 290kW of power — equivalent to the electricity used by about 30 homes in the US — and powers all lighting, heating, air conditioning,
and machinery and equipment for Flexo Concepts and co-located companies. The solar project is part of a bigger Flexo
Concepts’ initiative to ‘go green’. In 2016, the facility was outfitted with LED lighting, a move that resulted in an annual reduction in energy use significant enough to power six homes for a year. The company also recycles about 80 per cent of its blade material scrap along with all its cardboard waste and employee food packaging.
www.flexoconcepts.com
www.convertermag.co.uk
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