BillerudKorsnäs and AB Group Packaging deliver industrial-strength paper bag

BillerudKorsnäs and AB Group Packaging have unveiled their new reusable plastic bag - one of the strongest on the market - available now in UK supermarkets.

Reinforced using the 'FibreForm rPET' - a raw thermoformable paper material leads to its unparalleled strength in the face of a paper bag market that is constantly evolving and innovating to provide environmentally-friendly alternatives to classic plastic bags.

The new rPet is highly durable, stretchy and tear-resistant, giving it a long shelf-life.

The duo hopes this will help the packaging indsutry and retailers move towards 100% bio-recyclable products.

Plastic bags often take up to 300 years to biodegrade and take up considerable amounts of space at landfill sites.

Each person uses on average 83 plastic bags annually, meaning that 500 billion plastic bags go to waste every year. On average that equals out to one bag every four days.

The Swedish paper manufacturer claims FibreForm is one of the strongest kraft papers available on the market.

Veronica Fylkner, Sales Manager, Formable Solutions at BillerudKorsnäs, said:  "It’s been on the market for a while and we are still exploring its full potential. We see several new applications we can develop with FibreForm® and we are eager to replace less sustainable materials and solutions. It is a journey that we are pleased to be on as we can help decrease the number of plastics and aluminium in different applications on the market."

Laboratory tests have shown the paper can be reused multiple times. One bag lasted 43 cycles with a lift height of 16kg, according to Ms Fylkner.

BillerudKorsnäs' partner for this project, AB Group Packaging, who manufacture the bags in the UK, Ireland and Spain, have introduced the bag to several supermarket retailers across the UK.

Paper bags have not been a mainstay in many British supermarkets until recently, predominantly due to cost.

 Dermot Brady, Inc. founder and CEO at AB Group Packaging, said: “We are really pleased to be working with BillerudKorsnäs - which we have done now for about 30 years. They are number one in all categories.

“Reduce, reuse, recycle – this is my vision of how the industry should operate in the future. We are responsible for every product we put on the market, all should be renewable. We want zero negative influence when producing and using our products and we are so pleased to be able to offer this product to the market.”

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