ALPLA Group

ALPLA part­ners with Glat­felter to develop sus­tainable pack­a­ging solutions

Joint invest­ment in Blue Ocean Clo­sures in the field of cellulose-based products

Hard, 16 December 2021 – The ALPLA Group, the global pack­a­ging solu­tions and recy­cling spe­cia­list, in coope­ra­tion with joint ven­ture partner Glat­felter Cor­po­ra­tion, a lea­ding global sup­plier of engi­neered mate­rials, announces their part­ner­ship with Blue Ocean Clo­sures (BOC), a start-up based in the region of Värm­land in Sweden, to develop inno­va­tive natural fibre-based clo­sures and other moulded pack­a­ging pro­ducts using dry forming technology. 

We are inves­ting con­ti­nuously in the rese­arch and use of alter­na­tive, bio-based pack­a­ging mate­rials to com­ple­ment our pro­duct port­folio,’ stated Chris­tian Zmölnig, Director Cor­po­rate Rese­arch, Deve­lo­p­ment and Inno­va­tion at ALPLA. ‘Now we are loo­king for­ward to brin­ging our exper­tise into the new coope­ra­tion with Glat­felter and BOC.’

As part of this sus­tainable part­ner­ship, ALPLA and Glat­felter are joi­ning tog­e­ther to invest in the deve­lo­p­ment of high-quality cellulose-based pro­ducts like screw caps that are fully bio-based and poten­ti­ally ocean biode­gra­dable. This unique col­la­bo­ra­tion will sup­port BOC in its pro­duct deve­lo­p­ment and shorten time to market even further.

This part­ner­ship brings tog­e­ther like-minded com­pa­nies that share similar sus­tainable objec­tives and goals,’ said Chris Astley, Senior Vice Pre­si­dent and Chief Com­mer­cial Officer of Glat­felter. ‘We are excited to partner with ALPLA and BOC to make more inno­va­tive and eco-friendly pro­ducts that will have a las­ting effect on our world.’

Lars Sand­berg, Chief Exe­cu­tive Officer of BOC, said: ‘We are pleased about the part­ner­ship with lea­ding com­pa­nies from the industry. In addi­tion to a common vision for a sus­tainable future, they also bring enormous com­pe­ten­cies in the field of pro­duc­tion tech­no­logy and mate­rials sci­ence into our company.’

Advan­cing the cir­cular economy
The part­ner­ship with Glat­felter and BOC is in line with ALPLA’s stra­tegic focus of increased invest­ment in the cir­cular eco­nomy. The four Rs – Replace, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – are cru­cial in order to advance forward-looking acti­vi­ties and to iden­tify areas of action.

The Replace rese­arch field com­prises rese­arch into and the use of alter­na­tive, bio-based and recy­clable mate­rials to expand and com­ple­ment the pro­duct portfolio.

ALPLA has been involved in the deve­lo­p­ment of paper-based bot­tles with the com­pany Paboco since 2019, and in 2018 unveiled a home-compostable coffee cap­sule to the public.

Reduce focuses on an ongoing reduc­tion in mate­rial con­sump­tion, Reuse is all about opti­mi­sing the pro­per­ties of pla­stic bot­tles for reuse sys­tems, and Recycle addresses the over­ar­ching objec­tive of kee­ping as much pla­stic as pos­sible in the recy­cling cycle.

More infor­ma­tion about the com­pa­nies: www.alpla.com; www.glatfelter.com; www.blueoceanclosures.com

 

About the ALPLA Group
ALPLA is one of the leading companies involved in plastic packaging. Around 21,600 employees worldwide produce custom-made packaging systems, bottles, caps and moulded parts at its 178 sites across 45 countries. The high-quality packaging is used in a wide range of areas, including for food and drinks, cosmetics and care products, household cleaning products, detergents and cleaning agents, pharmaceutical products, engine oils and lubricants.

ALPLA operates its own recycling plants for PET and HDPE in Austria, Poland, Mexico, Italy and Spain, and in the form of joint ventures in Mexico and Germany. Other projects are being realised elsewhere around the world.

 

Enquiry infor­ma­tion for editorial
ALPLA, Erik Nielsen (Senior Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Manager), tel.: +43 (0)5574 6021 701, email: erik.nielsen@alpla.com
Pzwei. Pres­se­ar­beit (media agency), Joshua Köb, tel.: +43 (0)5574 4471 522, email: joshua.koeb@pzwei.at