Ahlstrom, has recently announced that its Cristal transparent packaging papers have met the efforts of ChemFORWARD, a company dedicated to creating broad access to chemical hazard data, highlighting safer alternatives and ending exposure to toxic chemicals. It provides access to trusted, comprehensive data, benchmarking and reporting to help brands and retailers make measurable progress towards safer chemistry. ChemFORWARD gave birth to SAFER, a programme that provides a rigorous assessment of human and environmental criteria for safer alternatives. Cristal's transparent papers are ideal alternatives to non-renewable materials, from replacing a plastic or film in a package to creating an entirely fibre-based end-use structure.
Guillaume Latourrette, Global Vice President of Food Packaging at Ahlstrom, explained:
"The use of transparent paper in packaging enables the food and e-commerce industries to effectively convey a value of trust in the minds of customers. The strong sustainable attributes that Cristal already addresses as a natural, compostable and recyclable packaging solution will now be strengthened by achieving SAFER status".
The aim of the programme is to ensure human and environmental safety, build trust throughout the supply chain through third-party verified transparency, and help suppliers demonstrate leadership in chemical management. This innovative technology has continued to evolve and Cristal products, including both transparent papers and PurposeSeal heat seal packaging products, are certified recyclable through the Western Michigan University SBS Equivalency (WMU SBS-E) test protocol and have received third party certification from the Centre technique du papier, certifying that Cristal's heat-seal coating is recyclable in accordance with the European Union's EN13430 standard.
Eva Thunholm, Vice President of Ahlstrom's Protective Materials business, said:
"Recyclable packaging for the e-commerce and industrial packaging industries is essential to reduce waste to landfill and our impact on the planet. Achieving recyclability and compostability certification, in addition to this endorsement from ChemFORWARD's SAFER programme, provides our customers and the market with another fibre-based solution to reduce traditional non-renewable substrates in packaging”.
