Fibrepak cellulose is expected to make significant progress in the field of thermoformed food packaging.

Edited by Lily Manolis Sherman

TEQ (Thermoforming Engineering Quality), a global customized packaging thermoforming machine located in Huntley, Illinois, recently acquired by Sonoco in Hartsville, South Carolina, announced that Fibrepak cellulose, a natural wood fiber derived from sustainably managed forests, will receive Declaration of Compliance (DOC)) EU food contact materials. This is after the implementation of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) for food contact packaging.

TEQ acquired Polish packaging manufacturer Fibrepak and British Plastique in 2016. Fibrepak is currently produced in Poland, but it is possible to introduce it to the US TEQ plants in Huntley, Illinois and Fremont, Indiana, the source told PT. This natural packaging material using thermoformed wet pulp is expected to make waves in the food industry after meeting strict EU regulations. The EU’s food contact legislation provides mandatory requirements, requiring operators to provide written DOCs for certain types of food contact materials-including recycled plastics.

In the manufacturing process, natural fibers are transformed into high-resistance thermoformed pulp products using unique vacuum technology and "in-mold curing" technology. This uses heat and pressure to squeeze and evaporate fluid from the fibers, leaving a completely dry product at the end of the process, ready for packaging. Fibrepak solutions can be created according to the customer's exact specifications, while complying with ISTA and TUV performance standards. These include flaps, trays, and inserts.

Anne-Sophie Belamine, TEQ's European Sales Director, said the company has a British manufacturing base in the Hackner Industrial Park near Nottingham. "We launched Fibrepak to meet the growing needs of customers who are eager to embrace sustainability. Now that it has obtained a compliance statement, we hope it will become a leader in the food industry. The emergence of thermoformed fibers provides us with a great Opportunity, we can combine this latest technology with our rich experience in thermoforming to provide customized, complex and high-quality packaging for a range of customers including fruits and vegetables."

According to reports, Fibrepak is non-toxic, microwaveable, non-static and has incredible shock absorption. It can also be treated as continuous moisture protection. Unlike rigid porous plastic foam packaging, the use of Fibrepak can also save a lot of logistics costs, because it can achieve product stacking and "nesting".

Extruded decorative panels are still driving the development of the wood-filled plastic market. However, injection and compression molding wood composite materials are becoming more and more powerful, and extruded profiles are moving toward more complex shapes of wood products.

Wood-plastic composites or WPC is already a 1.3 billion pound market, and it is growing at a rate of 20% every year.

The newly launched cast sheet and thermoformed grades of Mirel bio-based polymers open up new applications for containers and other molded parts that require renewable ingredients and biodegradability.

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