Reductions in costs and the environmental burden are the cornerstones of MicroLiners, Stora Gruvön's new raw material for the packaging industry. Amongother things, this means the product has low grammage, reducing packaging weight,and is optimised. Characteristics suchas printability and strength are important overall cost factors. "We have achieved this by combiningour own competence and close co-operation with our clients, machinerymanufacturers and others," says Johan Seevers, Sales Director. Suitable application areas for the new product include for example food productand gift packaging, and display stands.

Society's demands to reduce the mountains of waste and the burden on the environment have long been concerns of those associated with the packaging industry. Lightweight packaging means less waste and the ability to transport more products without increasing environmental impact.
"In this respect Micro Liners is a good environmental choice," maintains Johan Seevers. "Thanks to our success in reducing the grammage without affecting other desirable qualities such as printability and strength, we have made it possible for the packaging industry to offer an active contribution to improving the environment."

High strength
The strength depends on a special fibre-laying technique (only new fibres are used). The three-layer corrugated board design results in very high stiffness. The distance between the two outer layers, determined by the corrugate in between, is the reason for the high resistance of the board to bending, using the same principles as a steel I-girder.
A sheet of board made using Micro Liners has therefore as high or even higher bending resistance than conventional board with several times the grammage.
"In addition, it withstands humid conditions very well," adds Johan Seevers. "Using fresh fibre as raw material makes it particularly suitable for the food products industry."
One of the companies that has evaluated the product, and thus helped to develop it, is Munksjö Förpackningar in Nybro, Sweden.
"For us who use packaging that must often be sent by mail, weight is naturally very important," confirms Managing Director Peeter Saarnak. "Lighter packaging reduces postage costs and saves our customers money. Lighter packaging board also cuts down our packaging costs."
"No other product in the board packaging segment is as concrete and specialised as Micro Liners. We can now work with such extremely low board thicknesses as 0.8 mm," states Peeter Saarnak.

Unusual co-operation
In order to develop this new product, Stora Gruvön has not only worked closely with its clients, but has also enlisted the aid of machinery and adhesive manufacturers, something that is not exactly common in this field.
"We see this kind of co-operation as vital - at least if we want to lead development, which we do," says Johan Seevers.
"The next stage is to continue work on increasing the converting speed without reducing print quality."
The product is available bleached or unbleached, with grammages ranging from 60 to 100 g/m2 as unbleached and 40 to 120 g/m2 as bleached. Initially, the market is Europe. The annual growth rate for low grammage, low caliper corrugated board is estimated to be around 10%.

For further information contact:

BELGIUM:
Stora Belgium NV/SA
Frans op de Beeck, Sales Manager
Airport Business Center
Vuurberg 80
BE-1831 MACHELEN(Diegem)
Tel.: 027 15 05 00
Fax: 027 15 05 19

DENMARK
H.H. Andersen & Co. A/S
Adm. dir. Finn Hegner
Postboks 51
DK-2630 Tåstrup
Tel: 43 99 80 22;
Fax: 43 99 63 99

FINLAND
C Hill OY
Christer Hill, Managing Director
Ellipsikuja 3 C
FI-02210 ESPOO
Tel: 0803 70 11
Fax: 0803 88 77

FRANCE
Stora Paperboard France SA
4ème étage
56 Quai de Dion-Bouton
FR-928 06 PUTEAUX CEDEX
Tel: 01 49 06 47 00
Fax: 01 49 06 47 89

GREAT BRITAIN
Stora Paperboard UK Ltd
David Gargreaves, Manager
11th Floor, Newland House
49 Mount Street
GB-Nottingham NG1 6GN
Tel. 0115 948 43 44
Fax: 0115 948 43 51

HONG KONG
Stora Hong Kong Ltd
Kenneth Nystén, Managing Director
GPO Box 789
HONG KONG
Tel: 023 12 12 23
Fax: 027 24 51 81

IRELAND
Stora Ireland Ltd
David Gorman, Managing Director
21 Clanwilliam Square
Grand Canal Quay
IRL-DUBLIN
Tel: 01 661 82 85
Fax: 01 661 82 91

ITALY
Stora Italia S.r.l
Arnaldo Ferrari, Direttore Generale
Via Volta 16
I-200 93 COLOGNE MONZESE (MI)
Tel. 02-253 83 63
Fax. 02-253 80 99

SINGAPORE
Stora Singapore Pte Ltd
Kurt E Mönnich, Managing Director
1 Grange Road # 05-03
Orchard Building
SG-SINGAPORE 239693
Tel: 0838 98 66
Fax: 0838 98 77

SWEDEN
Stora Gruvön
Johan Seevers, Sales Director
Box 500
SE-664 28 GRUMS,
Tel: 0555-411 35
Fax: 0555-415 45

SWITZERLAND:
Stora (Suisse) AG
Alexander Meyer, Managing Director
Bahnhofstrasse 40
CH-5400 BADEN
Tel: 056 221 11 55
Fax: 056 221 74 41

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