Citeo and the Centre technique du Papier (CTP) have announced a new stage in their partnership, made official with the signing of an agreement by Jean Hornain, Managing Director of Citeo and Gilles Lenon, Managind Director of the Centre technique du Papier (CTP), in France. The signing ceremony took place on 24 November at the All4Pack trade fair in Paris (picture). The aim is to enable the development and industrialisation of paper and board packaging that meets the increasingly demanding needs of the market, including alternatives to plastic packaging. To this end, Citeo is committing more than €10 million over a six-year period. The innovations concerned are intended to be used by manufacturers for new generations of products that meet the growing demands of consumers. Improving the recyclability and efficiency of graphic paper recycling is also covered by this partnership.
« As part of its mission to reduce the impact of paper and packaging, Citeo is working to develop new solutions for all players in the value chain, explained Jean Hornain. Among the promising materials: paper-board! It is to explore these opportunities and develop sustainable solutions that Citeo joined forces with CTP in 2017, and that we are taking a new step together today. »
Through the signing of this new Specific Innovation Programme (SIP), the two partners aim to continue their joint research actions, accelerate the development of solutions and, above all, launch their industrialisation. The ambition is to enable the industry to market these solutions in a few years’ time and make them available to consumers.
« The CTP was born out of the desire of French pulp, paper and board manufacturers to have a development and innovation capacity capable of supporting them in their efforts to improve their performance, said Gilles Lenon. Pooling risk-taking through collective action makes it possible to conceive the inconceivable and to give new horizons to cellulose fibre “in all its forms”. Giving a sustainable future to commodity products and reinforcing their added value, through a virtuous loop of the material, is the “raison d’être” of our initiatives and the fruit of the first close collaborations with industrialists and Citeo! ».
Within the framework of this new partnership, two projects are already under development:
- Moulded cellulose trays made from a single material that is water, grease and gas resistant. Suitable for contact with food, they will be used in particular in fast-food restaurants and collective catering,
- Cellulose fibre cushioning foams, which are particularly interesting for the e-commerce sector, for which there is a significant and growing need, to replace traditional cushioning.
Since 2017, Citeo and the CTP have been actively partnering on cellulose fibre, which currently represents more than 1.1 Mt of household paper and board packaging sold each year in France (72% recycling rate) and 1.6 Mt of graphic paper (62% recycling rate).
The work carried out focuses on three main areas:
- Ensuring the recyclability and improving the recycling of paper and paperboard packaging;
- Developing new properties for paper and board packaging (water and air barrier, transparency, closure, elasticity, etc.);
- Improving and demonstrating the suitability for food contact of the new solutions developed, while respecting health issues.
This work has led to the development of new alternative packaging solutions to plastic, such as the e-bliss project, a transparent, heat-sealable, low-weight paper packaging for newspapers and magazines sent by post.
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