New tray helps manufacturers of ready made meals lower plastic use significantly

Packaging Solutions

Holmen Iggesund has launched Inverform PET 30, a 30 g/m2 version of its popular ready made meal trays. This product will help customers lower their climate impact substantially. Compared to the 40 g/m2 version, the reduction is more than 25%.

The combined PET coating and paperboard products are ideal for making ready made meal trays. They have all the advantages of trays made entirely from plastic. Created from fresh wood fibres of known and traceable origin from sustainably managed forests, the trays are a far more sustainable alternative with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

Food trays made from combined paperboard and PET coatings offer better recyclability than trays made entirely with fossil based materials. And as well as having a fat and moisture barrier, the PET coating ensures extreme temperature resistance. This makes it ideal for trays that are placed into microwave or conventional ovens with ready made chilled and frozen food.

Until now, Holmen Iggesund has provided its PET coating in a 40 g/m2 version. But thanks to product innovation undertaken at the company’s research and development centre, as well as considerable customer input, a 30 g/m2 version is now available. The new version has 25% less plastic compared with the 40 g/m2 version, while offering the same high quality and functionality.

‘Our new PET 30 g/m2 product enables food packaging that has the required temperature resistance and fat and moisture barrier, but with a very low plastic content,’ said Malin Ekroos, product manager added value. ‘We created this product in line with our ambition to decrease the use of plastic in packaging. This is something consumers want to see, as well as brands, and we can contribute to that change.

‘Our new product has the lowest plastic content of any comparable extrusion coated PET product currently on the market. The launch of the new Holmen Iggesund PET 30 product is part of our product development process. It is a good step forward in our journey to provide our customers with increasingly sustainable alternatives, a journey we will continue through more and more product innovation.’

The new PET 30 g/m2 product can be used in combination with Holmen Iggesund’s Inverform paperboard products. The new, lower plastic content means that the company can now offer its customers some of its combined paperboard and PET products at a ratio of 90% fibre to 10% plastic.

The PET coating is available in black, white or transparent versions. In addition to its high temperature resistance, PET seals very well and provides an excellent oxygen and fat barrier. The PET coated reverse side also has a glossy finish for improved surface characteristics.