A beverage cooler both waterproof and recyclable has been developed using paperboard made by Metsä Board. The innovative waterproof coating for the beverage cooler was developed by the German Weilburger Graphics together with Spiegel Verpackungen.
The cooler is a box made of paperboard, consisting of bottom, cover, cooling tray and separator. The cooling tray can be filled with 500 grams of crushed ice or cold water.
The internal components of the cooler are made of Metsä Board’s eco-barrier paperboard MetsäBoard Prime FBB EB.
The paperboard is combined with Senolith, a completely new type of non-wood-based waterproof coating by Weilburger Graphics. The packaging was designed by Weilburger’s marketing department and developed by Spiegel Verpackungen.
The box bottom and cover are made of Metsä Board’s Classic paperboard.
‘Many of our customers who produce cold or frozen foods are looking for environmental packaging solutions suitable for direct food contact. These solutions must often also be waterproof,’ says Arno Dürr, Sales Director at Weilburger Graphics GmbH.
Instead of recycled fibre, the paperboard used for the cooler is made of fresh fibre. This generally tolerates humidity better than recycled-fibre paperboard. Fresh-fibre grades are also lighter in weight and thus reduce the carbon footprint of the packaging during transport, for example.
After use, the cooler can be recycled in the normal way as paperboard.
‘Both the idea and its implementation worked out very nicely. In future, a package like this could be a good alternative for fresh fruit and other foods that require refrigeration,’ says Gabriel Goldmayer, Account Director at Metsä Board.
So far, the cooler is not used commercially, though Weilburger Graphics has discussed using it with a brewery company.
