Barrier Coatings The Keys Of Demanding Packaging Applications

What can barriers do?

How does a paper cup hold hot coffee without falling apart? And how can brand owners guarantee food safety with a fiber-based tray of ready-made lasagna? The answer is barrier coatings – the keys of demanding packaging applications.

To enable the use of fiber-based materials, i.e., board and paper, for a range of demanding and sensitive packaging end-uses like food and liquids, barrier coatings are essential. Barriers appear most often in primary packaging and directly contact the product. Their key task is to enhance the protective properties of the fiber-based material so that it can serve in various demanding end uses, including exciting new applications where plastic packaging is replaced. In the example of fruit packaging, barriers prevent loss by controlling ethylene gas exposure. In this guide, we will explain barrier coatings in detail, sustainability considerations, innovation insights, our wide range of barrier solutions, and a few product examples. If you are new to packaging food and liquid, or if you are curious about replacing plastic in your current packaging, this is a great place to start.

A primer on barriers

Barriers are like plant leaves: depending on where they grow and the features needed to survive, leaves can be thick or thin, and waxy or not. The right combination of paperboard and barrier coating yields a high-quality finished package, ensures optimal performance, saves material, and simplifies the package manufacturing process. On top of this, fiber-based materials and barriers together – referred to as “barrier boards” - are a sustainable solution that increase the share of renewable material in packaging and prevent food waste. In the next section, we begin with a comprehensive discussion on common types of barries, how they are made, and how they function.

These highly functional coatings can offer several benefits including:

• Moisture resistance

• Gas (oxygen and CO2 ) and aroma barrier

• Grease-proofing and resistance

• Light protection

• Sealing properties

• Additional heat resistance

• Peelability

What are barriers?

Barriers expand the packaging potential of paperboard by supporting sensitive and demanding products, e.g., food and liquids, improving packaging integrity and structure, and increasing shelf life and preventing food waste. Barrier-coated boards are used in several non-food applications, but in this guidebook, we will focus on barriers in food and liquid packaging.

Barrier boards are ideal for:

• Food service packaging: clamshells, salad bowls, hot and cold beverages cups, and lids

• Liquid packaging: milk, juice, and soup cartons

• Frozen and chilled food: tray-packaged ready meals for oven or microwave heating, and cartons for frozen vegetables

• Flexible packaging: paper-based pouches and sachets

Barrier Innovation

Barriers have come a long way to the highly functional coatings that they are today. Innovation has made barriers thinner, and lighter, and more circular; has increased end-use possibilities; and has given customers 100% renewable options.

When brand owners choose barriercoated paperboard over fully plastic alternatives, they prevent a substantial amount of plastic from entering the market. However, many value chain stakeholders are demanding further plastic reduction due to, for example, increasingly ambitious sustainability targets, new regulations, producer fees (e.g., EPR fees), and consumer demand.

The efficient combination of fiber-based materials and renewable barriers demonstrates that scalable amounts of fully renewable solutions are possible. As the smallest component, the barrier is only needed its critical purposes while the board provides other functions.