The New Wood competition 2025: Easily recyclable corrugated board makes handy multipacks for craft breweries
Uusi puu – The New Wood Project shows what wood can do. The project promotes wood-based innovations and provides information about them.
Made by Metsä Board, the plastic- and adhesive-free, easily recyclable cooling multipack also helps to cool the beverages.
Multipacks are an established type of packaging beer and soft drinks, but their possible environmental impact has led to a growing need to develop alternatives to single-use plastic packagings.
To solve the problem, Metsä Board has developed a new packaging of corrugated board, which contains no plastics or adhesives and is fully recyclable. The packaging also has space for two ice packs for cooling the beverages.
The novel packaging developed by Metsä Board differs from the traditional plastic wrapping as regards both its structure and the purpose of use. Thanks to its design, it can be re-used as a cooler, which extends its useful life.
The packaging has a simple structure, containing no plastics or adhesives, and so is easy to recycle. Its visually striking design easily catches the eye in the shop. The packaging is an example of how even producers of small batches, such as craft breweries, can make use of solutions that combine the efficient use of materials, recyclability and innovation.
The material is made of primary fibre, enabling a thinner and lighter structure without sacrificing the protective qualities. The traceability of the material and the possibility of calculating the carbon footprint make for a more transparent production. The manufacturing process mainly uses renewable energy. The packaging is designed with a foil layer that is easily detached in the recycling process, so as not to slow down the circulation.
Forest.fi and New Wood are initiatives of the Finnish Forest Association.