What if paper could do more than wrap a product? flexC base is a new paper base developed for flexible packaging. Made with plant fibres, including sugarcane bagasse, it is designed to be strong, smooth and suitable for printing. It can also be made transparent enough for people to see what’s inside.
To develop flexC base, Sudhir travelled to Ljubljana, Slovenia, to test the paper on ICP’s pilot machine. The trials explored different paper recipes and machine settings to understand how the paper performs and how its strength, smoothness and transparency can be improved.
The team produced bleached and unbleached paper in a range of weights from 40 to 70 gsm, with 30–40% transparency. The trials helped Sudhir and the team arrive at an improved formulation and learn how the paper behaves on a machine. flexC base is a starting paper; packaging partners can print and coat it for their specific applications.
The results are promising, but the next step is to see how the formulation performs on Pakka’s PM4 machine and whether it meets the needs of packaging partners.