Wood-based pigment enables the recyclability of black plastic packaging
Uusi puu – The New Wood Project shows what wood can do. The project promotes wood-based innovations and provides information about them.
UPM’s black pigment enables black plastic packaging to be detected by sorting systems.
Black plastic packaging has long been a challenge for recycling. Carbon black pigments block near-infrared (NIR) detection, making the products practically invisible to sorting systems.
This reduces the overall recycling rates, increases the amount of waste and leads to unnecessary resource use and environmental impacts.
UPM Circular Renewable Black™ is, according to the company, the world’s first bio-based, NIR-detectable black pigment with a significantly lower carbon footprint than conventional fossil-based alternatives, such as carbon black. It enables recyclable black plastic packaging without compromising the appearance of the packaging or the properties of the material.
The pigment delivers a deep black colour while maintaining NIR detectability and is compatible with existing manufacturing processes.
UPM Circular Renewable Black™ is made from renewable lignin, and the feedstock is sourced from sustainably managed forests. The pigment is one of the products from UPM’s biorefinery in Leuna, Germany.
UPM believes the solution has significant potential in packaging markets, where demand for recyclable, low-carbon and regulation-compliant packaging is growing rapidly.
Forest.fi and New Wood are projects of the Finnish Forest Association.