Metsä Spring has launched pre-commercial sales for Muoto – its three-dimensional, wood-based packaging – and may consider investment into its first commercial factory in 2025.

Metsä Group and Valmet’s demonstration plant in Äänekoski, Finland, has produced Muoto products on a single production line since May 2022. It is a largely automated process, Metsä Spring explains, and utilizes machine learning to improve its safety and reliability.

Pulp slurry is fed into a mould, formed, dried, and cut into shape to be delivered directly to customers. Due to its ‘effective’ water circulation, this process is said to require a ‘minimal amount’ of water and resources.

Metsä Spring adds that Muoto surpasses ‘multiple supply chain steps’ required for other packaging solutions on the market. This is said to reduce customers’ carbon footprints via low-carbon delivery processes, with the products themselves already believed to be low-carbon.

As European food manufacturers seek out sustainability-minded alternatives for their packaging under the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), Muoto is recommended as a suitable replacement. It is described as lightweight, strong, recyclable, and easy to mould into different shapes.

The product is now available for pre-commercial sale. If the results are successful, Metsä Group will consider investing in a commercial factory in 2025 – thus kicking off the Muoto business.

“We have been extremely pleased with the early results of Muoto,” says Jarkko Tuominen, vice president of Projects at Metsä Spring. “In wood-based product development, it’s quite rare to have a product ready after only a few years of development.

“Designed for durability and safety, Muoto is ideal for a wide range of uses, from serving dishes to food containers – so we are ready to expand cooperation with pilot customers.

“By offering early access, we aim to gather valuable feedback and insights from customers to further refine our product. Together, we can explore new applications based on the market and customer needs.”

“At Metsä Group, we are constantly looking into potential innovations that could bring more wood-based alternatives into everyday products, thus replacing, among others, various fossil-based products,” adds says Niklas von Weymarn, CEO at Metsä Spring. “With Muoto, we can offer an alternative to the plastic-dominated market, proving that functionality, responsibility, profitability, and design can go hand-in-hand.”

Back in April, Metsä Group announced that it would evaluate the feasibility of a commercial-scale Muoto factory in a pre-engineering project aligning with its ongoing demonstration phase. It planned to consult the outcomes of pre-engineering and demonstration work and weigh up the possibility of investing in a new business and supporting facility in Rauma, Finland.

In other news, Paptic has recently packaged sanitary towels and other feminine care products in its recyclable, wood fibre-based material. This can be recycled in the same stream as paper and cardboard, the company says, and aligns with both the SUPD and PPWR.

Source: packagingeurope.com