Paper-based packaging leader Graphic Packaging International launched two innovations to extend its award-winning PaperSeal tray range for new applications.

Following the success of the PaperSeal tray, both the new PaperSeal Slice and PaperSeal Wedge offer brands and retailers a recyclable, barrier-lined, paperboard packaging alternative to plastic thermoformed trays for sliced meats and cheeses. Both PaperSeal Slice and Wedge offer enhanced branding capabilities with high-quality graphics that deliver on-shelf differentiation, the company said.

Ricardo De Genova, Graphic Packaging’s SVP, global innovation and new business, commented: “Compared to traditional plastic trays, PaperSeal Slice typically reduces plastic by 75 per cent and PaperSeal Wedge by 80 per cent. The innovative new designs also use lighter weight paperboard to deliver reduced pack weights that can support our customers’ packaging sustainability goals. Both are available as formed or flat trays.”

Both solutions have been designed to withstand the rigors of today’s supply chain with excellent seal integrity and shelf life equivalent to traditional plastic trays. As with the existing PaperSeal trays, the top film and liner can be separated from the paperboard for ease of post-use recycling.

The new PaperSeal Slice and Wedge solutions combine the safety, flexibility, efficiency and enhanced branding opportunities that partners have come to expect of the PaperSeal Tray range, while opening up the solution’s capabilities to new product categories.

De Genova concluded: “Demand for sustainable fiber-based alternatives to plastic packaging is very high, and we are working on a variety of new PaperSeal tray innovations to assist our customers in meeting their environmental targets. PaperSeal Slice and Wedge are just two examples of how we can diversify our flexible PaperSeal range to meet the sustainability priorities of the individual brands and retailers we work with.”

The Graphic Packaging Vision 2025 aims to make 100 per cent of its products fully recyclable by 2025. The company is joining other like-minded customers around the world in the journey to realise ambitious packaging sustainability strategies.

Both Slice and Wedge solutions are ready to commercialise and designed to meet the requirements of high-speed food manufacturing lines, the company said.

Meanwhile, the company has partnered with Estrella Damm to replace all its plastic shrink wrap packaging, equivalent to 99 tonnes annually, with paperboard alternatives on multipack cans.

In line with its commitment to achieving more eco-sustainable packaging in 2021, Estrella Damm has launched a unique rounded-corner pack, designed and developed by Graphic Packaging.

The pack will stand out on the supermarket shelves with its novel silhouette, and its range of opening options will not only make interesting merchandising options possible, enhancing the point of sale, but they will also elevate the consumer experience, Graphic Packaging said.

According to Ana González, innovation and design manager at Graphic Packaging,: “This is the first structure of its kind in the beverage market. We have worked closely with Estrella Damm’s team to ensure that the plastic replacement solution created is innovative and strengthens the brand. The elevated shelf appeal of this solution is the culmination of a long and successful collaboration between Graphic Packaging and Estrella Damm.”

The solution is made from recyclable paperboard, which highlights efforts to develop eco-sustainable alternatives in packaging.

Graphic Packaging has installed the first of two QuikFlex machines, which, thanks to their flexibility, meet production and market needs.