Austrian packaging and recycling company ALPLA and its joint venture partner, Glatfelter, have partnered with Swedish start-up Blue Ocean Closures (BOC) to develop sustainable packaging solutions using dry forming technology.
The partners aim to use the technology to develop natural fibre-based closures and other moulded packaging products.
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Under the terms of the agreement, ALPLA and Glatfelter will support the development of cellulose-based products such as screw caps.
These fully bio-based packaging materials could potentially be ocean biodegradable.
The partnership is also intended to support BOC’s product development and reduce its products’ time to market.
BOC CEO Lars Sandberg said: “We are pleased about the partnership with leading companies from the industry.
“In addition to a common vision for a sustainable future, they also bring enormous competencies in the field of production technology and materials science into our company.”
Glatfelter senior vice-president and chief commercial officer Chris Astley said: “This partnership brings together like-minded companies that share similar sustainability objectives and goals.
“We are excited to partner with ALPLA and BOC to make more innovative and eco-friendly products that will have a lasting effect on our world.”
The partnership with Glatfelter and BOC is part of ALPLA’s strategy to increase its commitment towards a circular economy.
In line with this commitment, the company has been developing paper-based bottles in partnership with Paboco since 2019.
It also launched a home-compostable coffee capsule in 2018.
ALPLA corporate research, development and innovation director Christian Zmölnig said: “We are investing continuously in the research and use of alternative, bio-based packaging materials to complement our product portfolio.
“Now we are looking forward to bringing our expertise into the new cooperation with Glatfelter and BOC.”
ALPLA specialises in manufacturing custom-made packaging systems, bottles and caps for the food and beverage sectors among others.
In September, the company collaborated with packaging and bottling machine company Krones to develop a returnable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) container.
