Enviro Barrier & Advantage Speed: A Cost-Effective, Sustainable Alternative To Paper Sacks Containing HDPE Film

Pope Packaging and Mondi Sack Kraft Paper have developed the world’s first HDPE film-free, 100% recyclable and biodegradable paper sack – now a WorldStar Packaging Award winner

Collaboration leads to innovation and awards, especially when two major packaging and paper companies join forces: in this case a leading producer of sack kraft paper and an Australian supplier of industrial paper sacks. Together, Mondi and Pope Packaging have created the 100% recyclable and 100% biodegradable paper sack called Enviro Barrier™ using Mondi’sAdvantage Speed sack kraft paper. Pointing to the advantages of the end product, Conny Josefsson, sales director Sack Kraft Paper Mondi Europe & International, says, “Thanks toEnviro Barrier™, paper sack customers now have a cost-effective, fit-for-purpose and fully sustainable alternative to paper sacks containing HDPE film.”

The core of this partnership was shaped by the drive of the two companies to create a paper sack that dispenses with HDPE film in order to conserve natural resources and reduce waste. “The primary challenges with Enviro Barrier™ were to maintain the moisture resistance that traditional paper sacks currently offer whilst avoiding any filling constraints in view of the absence of HDPE film. Over the past four years trials and testing at our Mondi Bag Application Centre in Frantschach, Austria, and directly on customer sites have tailored the design to withstand all shelf life demands and allow fillers to enjoy their usual output,” comments Josefsson. The Mondi BAC (Bag Application Centre) clearly played a critical role during this journey from an ambitious idea to an award-winning product.

Mathew Sullivan, General Manager Pope Packaging, likewise regards the BAC as one of the key factors to success, “Given the highly advanced analytical services of the Mondi BAC in Austria, including its Mega Gurley and storage testing capabilities, we were able to develop a game-changing solution and provide our customers with hard evidence of the Enviro Barrier™credentials.”

Pope Packaging: “Mondi’s Advantage Speed made the difference”

Enviro Barrier™ has been endorsed both within Australia and worldwide. It has been certified to AS 4736 and EN 13432 standard after meeting the performance requirements for characterisation, disintegration, aerobic biodegradability and ecotoxicity. “A combination of the required green credentials, functionality and the right price point has resulted in Enviro Barrier™ obtaining swift and significant traction in the Australian market, whilst also grabbing the attention of global parties. In Mondi we have the right partner by our side. Its experience and know-how in sack kraft paper production helped us to optimise the final product.Advantage Speed, an unbleached extensible sack kraft paper that combines high tensile energy absorption, excellent runnability, high porosity and a surface structure that complements our special coating, is the very best paper for Enviro Barrier™,” insists Mathew Sullivan, Pope Packaging.

Acknowledged partnership – Design and World Packaging Award for Enviro Barrier™

Pope Packaging and Mondi have scored a hat-trick with this game-changing solution by winning three gold medals at the Australian Packaging Design Awards in late 2015 in the industrial supply chain, sustainability and innovation categories. Following on from these successes, Enviro Barrier™ also secured the coveted WorldStar Packaging Award, which was presented at a gala dinner and ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on 26 May this year.