Elopak, a global carton packaging and filling solutions provider, is set to strengthen its research and development capabilities through investment in Blue Ocean Closures (BOC).

BOC is a Swedish company involved in the manufacture of fibre-based closures for packaging applications.

The deal follows the introduction of Elopak’s strategic initiative, ‘Repackaging Tomorrow’, which was launched in September last year.

The move presents an opportunity to combine the expertise of both companies, enabling collaborative efforts to develop the next generation of closures.

BOC will continue to bring its initial product offerings to the market alongside its existing brand partners, with Elopak now providing additional support to speed up these early-stage developments.

As part of the agreement, Elopak has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to market, distribute, and sell BOC’s fibre-based moulded caps for gable-top cartons, including the well-known Pure-Pak and D-PAK cartons.

Elopak CEO Thomas Körmendi said: “We are proud to be partnering with Blue Ocean Closures in further exploring this exciting technology, complementary to our ongoing R&D [research and development] activities.

“BOC’s fibre-based closures are a promising solution that can support Elopak’s vision for a more renewable, low-carbon, and low-plastic dependant packaging sector.

“This innovation fits within our ‘Repackaging Tomorrow’ strategy for sustainability-driven growth.”

BOC CEO Lars Sandberg said: “BOC is delighted to have Elopak join our partnership of leading industrial owners.

“We share Elopak’s vision for reshaping the future of packaging and are excited to learn from their global network and decades of experience in sustainable innovation.”

In September last year, Elopak outlined plans to boost growth by expanding production at its Arkansas, US, plant.