Materials for the future
Billerud is advancing the technological development of sustainable packaging material that fits into a circular economy. Our high-performance materials create value by enabling our customers to use less material in their packaging, save costs and reduce their carbon footprint.
The transition to a circular economy
Billerud is well placed to drive the transition to a circular economy. We believe in challenging ourselves and our customers for continuous improvement, knowing that all aspects of packaging can always be improved.
Therefore, we prioritize to further contribute to improvements of packaging recyclability and a continued development of sustainable alternatives to fossil packaging material. Paper offers fantastic opportunities as a substitute for fossil-based materials, with low levels of littering and high recyclability.
Recyclability of product portfolio
As one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal, the circular economy action plan paves the way to ensure that 85% of all paper and board is recycled by 2030. This means that the packaging must either be recyclable or compostable, which starts in material design and production and ends in the recycling stage. Billerud's European product assortment is 100% recyclable according to the external recyclability method PTS. We plan to undertake a full review of the recyclability of our North American products over the coming years
Our product development is focused on eco-design approach to support circular economy, low climate impact initiatives and high product safety, so each new product developed in our technical development centers will be either reusable, recyclable or compostable.
Billerud is involved in 4evergreen, a European alliance that seeks to optimize the circularity of fiber-based packaging. 4evergreen primarily addresses packaging designers, helping them design new paper-based packaging solutions that can be collected, sorted, and recycled at scale. The goal is to increase the overall recycling rate to 90% by 2030 and exceed the legally binding recycling target.
Environmental impact of our products
To make it easy for our customers to assess the environmental performance of our products, and compare with conventional alternatives, we conduct and publish life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations of our products.
Read more about our life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations here.
Sustainable innovation
Innovation is a key part of Billerud’s strategy. It is through creative, inventive, and innovative work we develop the sustainable packaging material of the future. That enables us to contribute to a real transition of the market and solve global challenges. That is the foundation of our business, and it rests on a deep understanding of the needs of customers and consumers.
We have a common innovation process for all materials that is designed to drive transparency in projects and the innovation portfolio, to help us prioritize and strengthen the commercial focus. Recyclability is highly prioritized in our innovation agenda, which is in line with stricter legislation and increased customer demands. The development of more advanced barriers is another key area and our deep expertise in how certain packaging materials interact with food, is critical to guarantee food safety.
In the area of material performance, we are working to be as resource efficient as possible by improving or maintaining material characteristics such as strength, without increasing the amount of raw material. This generates sustainable values for our customers, such as less waste, lower costs due to lighter weight, and a reduced carbon footprint.
Several strategic partnerships have been established to accelerate the speed in innovation focused on the sustainable packaging of the future.
Adding sustainable value for our customers
We have a proud history of bringing innovations to market while constantly adding sustainable value by, for example, enabling customers to use less packaging, cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint. This is something that 84% of our customers appreciate, according to our latest customer survey.
Together with our customers, we continue to work towards a future where lighter, stronger, more durable, and sustainable packaging is no longer an exception, but the natural choice.