In keeping with its tagline, “not paper, not plastic,” Paptic is out to “forge a category of it s own”. The Finnish company, launched four years ago by a trio of engineers hailing from Finnish research institute VTT, has debuted the sales of its first family of products.
Dubbed Tringa, the collection is geared mainly for bags, but is also conceived for a wide variety of other applications, such as e-commerce packaging, gift-wrapping and covering materials. Tringa is available in three weights: 60gsm, 80gsm and 110gsm, the latter being tear-resistant and twice as strong as traditional kraft paper (as well as spill- and rain-proof), explains Paptic chief sales officer Kari Laukkarinen.
The material can also be stitched, zipped and sewn. In terms of decoration, in addition to printing (flexo, offset, digital, screen and inkjet), Tringa supports foiling, embossing and varnishing processes. While what gives Paptic its soft-touch feel and high-resistance is a well-guarded secret, the company does reveal that the material is produced using cellulose fibers and the same chemical additives used in traditional papermaking.
However its production process is based on a foam-forming technology, which the supplier says makes the material more environmentally friendly as it consumers around 40% less water than traditional paper. It is also recyclable with traditional carton board. Tringa is the fruit of Paptic’s first industrial scale production run, which debuted last autumn with a partner company in Germany.
The next phase for the supplier will be the acquisition of its own proprietary line equipped with Paptic-production technology. A third step in the development process will be to reach a manufacturing capacity of 30,000 tons of different grades of Paptic. “This collection is just the beginning for us. After textile, paper and plastic, we see Paptic as the fourth dimension!” enthuses Laukkarinen. A second family of products is planned for launch later this year.
