Solenis Opens Two New Centres of Excellence to Serve Growing Consumer Paper Packaging Market
Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, has opened two new international centres of excellence to help drive more sustainable solutions for the consumer paper packaging industry.
One centre is virtual, allowing customers to participate remotely in lab experiments, while the other centre is in a new facility in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Both centres are designed to simulate and test customer processes, treatment programmes and paper/paperboard properties to optimize performance, efficiency and costs while focusing on sustainability.
The new virtual centre of excellence is available via a website portal at www.solenis.com/en/research-and-development/packaging-center-of-excellence where customers can interact and collaborate with Solenis experts remotely and in real time, for example while watching a live stream of pilot-scale equipment running lab trials in areas like packaging strength, digital print, barrier coatings and more.
The virtual centre offers tests for more than 70 paper packaging and food and beverage packaging characteristics across a range of categories, including strength, sizing, transport phenomena, sustainability and more. Custom testing is also available.
Key equipment available for use includes a pilot paper machine, pilot coater, Dixon coater and DigiCut A3+ coater. The company also plans to add a molded pulp machine to produce, test and evaluate improved PFAS-free barrier solutions for molded fibre products, like paper plates, bowls and clam shells, at a pilot scale.
Meanwhile, the newly opened Mönchengladbach centre includes application and testing equipment such as Rapid-Köthen and dynamic sheet formers, a lotion paper coater, different types of refiners and more. Solenis plans to add a hot air sealing device as well. The centre also offers repulping and recycling capabilities in combination with contaminant control assessments for barrier coating performance testing.
Totaling 3,100 square metres, the facility in Germany includes onsite access to new customer application laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art instrument-based analytical capabilities for compound analysis, deposit identification, product determination and more. Customers visiting the facility can also meet with Solenis scientists and research and development teams for in-depth problem-solving and collaboration sessions.
The new centres of excellence join the existing main Solenis R&D facility in Wilmington, Delaware, which customers can also visit. Continuing to invest in its R&D capabilities, Solenis recently announced a USD40 million expansion and relocation plan for the Wilmington site.
Besides providing key products such as strength additives for paper and board packaging, Solenis is an industry leader in developing eco-friendly barrier coatings for sustainable packaging. The company produces PFAS-free barrier coatings for single-use cups, fast-food packaging, corrugated board and molded fibre products to meet the growing demand for single-use plastics alternatives.
Our ongoing investment in eco-friendly paper packaging solutions allows partners across the value chain, from paper converters to brand managers, to improve packaging performance and build a more sustainable future.
Richard Brooks, Global Marketing Director – Consumer Packaging
“Our ongoing investment in eco-friendly paper packaging solutions allows partners across the value chain, from paper converters to brand managers, to improve packaging performance and build a more sustainable future,” said Richard Brooks, Global Marketing Director – Consumer Packaging. “Whether customers access our expertise virtually or at one of our physical centres, our new packaging centres of excellence make it easier than ever to develop innovative, sustainable solutions more quickly. No matter where our customers are, they now have direct access to our complete range of chemistry solutions and industry-leading expertise.”
To take a virtual tour of the Packaging Centre of Excellence or for more information, visit www.solenis.com/en/research-and-development/packaging-center-of-excellence
AboutSolenis
Solenis is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals focused on delivering sustainable solutions for water-intensive industries, including the pulp, packaging paper and board, tissue and towel, oil and gas, petroleum refining, chemical processing, mineral processing, biorefining, power, municipal, and pool and spa markets. Owned by Platinum Equity, the company’s product portfolio includes a broad array of water treatment chemistry, process aids and functional additives, as well as state-of-the-art monitoring and control systems. These technologies are used by customers to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets, minimize environmental impact and maintain healthy water. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has 48 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe and employs a team of over 6,400 professionals in 120 countries across five continents. Solenis is a 2022 US Best Managed Company.
