Green light for packaging made of grass

World-wide, the demand for pulp is increasing and with it, the price. The packaging industry is therefore constantly on the lookout for alternatives. One of them: Packaging made of grass. When manufacturing this special packaging paper, the virgin wood fibres are fortified with sun-dried grass waste. For corrugated cardboard / corrugated cardboard trays, the share of grass lies at 40 percent at least, some manufacturers already mix 50 percent of each material.

Packaging made of grass is especially popular for trays for organic fruit and vegetables. The REWE Group was one of the first companies to introduce packaging made of grass in selected REWE supermarkets and all PENNY supermarkets in Germany. Currently, PENNY’s organic apples and REWE’s organic pears are packaged using trays made out of grass paper. The experiences of the REWE Group have shown that packaging made out of grass paper is suitable for everyday use, accepted by customers and that there need be no fear of any loss in quality. REWE continuously checks the relevant articles in their fruit and vegetable segment to see if grass paper can be used.

Due to their organic-based water and grease barriers, packaging made of grass is primarily used for corrugated cardboard trays for fruit and vegetables. However, they are also suitable for use in other areas such as papers, cards, books and paper cups – and recently, labels, too.

Common self-adhesive labels are often made out of paper with FSC and PEFC certification or synthetic surfaces made of PVC, polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene with a permanent or soluble glue.

Adhesive labels made out of grass paper also have FSC Credit and additionally are recyclable and / or compostable. Here, the mixture consists of 50 percent of FSC Mix Credit pulp whilst the other half is made up of sun-dried grass. Currently, all popular label sizes are available, with further sizes to follow. The labels are manufactured digitally and therefore guarantee high printing quality.