Grass paper – a new contender in paper packaging
The plastic pollution crisis that overwhelms our environment and the associated greenhouse gases emitted during their manufacture are a growing threat to the Earth’s climate. The intuitive idea of replacing plastics by paper is not reassuring since the basic raw material the paper industry leverages stems from forests. Biologically diverse forests are significantly being altered by pulp plantations that change their ecological value. The fast-growing sprawl of eucalyptus, which serves as a main raw material for the paper industry, exacerbates forest fires.
A sustainable raw material alternative for paper
With EU funding of the Grass Paper project, Germany-based company Creapaper introduced a new highly innovative, sustainable and cost-efficient raw material for the paper and packaging industries. After a few attempts with diverse raw materials beyond wood and recycled paper, the company ended up with grass, and more specifically, hay. “Dry hay is cut to fibre length and then grinded, and finally pressed into pellets before it goes to the paper mill and becomes paper,” explains Michael Schatzschneider, Creapaper’s CFO. Creapaper’s pure mechanical process eliminates the need for chemical additives and water for manufacturing paper pulp. With grass, no chemical treatment or large water amounts are required to dissolve lignin – a natural glue that holds cellulose fibres together and makes them sturdy – as grass hardly contains any. The company claims that their patented mechanical process saves around 300 kg of CO2 emissions for each tonne of grass paper produced compared to traditional paper production. On top of that, Creapaper uses only 2 l of water for manufacturing 1 t of grass pulp. Producing 1 t of pulp from wood, which is necessary for paper production, takes about 6 000 l of water. Comparing the energy and CO2 footprints yields equally positive results: “Producing 1 t of mechanical grass pulp requires only 0.2 MW of electrical energy,” adds Schatzschneider.
Grass fibre’s promising potential
Grass fibre could become the paper industry’s third raw material resource besides wood pulp and recycled paper. It cannot fully replace virgin fibres or recycled pulp (wood) but can constitute currently up to 50 % of the fibre content in the final product. Grass fibre is also up to 70 % cheaper than wood pulp. Grass fibre is offering the industry a more responsive and mild way to treat forest resources. “I believe grass and wood is the perfect symbiosis when it comes to paper products and packaging in the near future,” says Schatzschneider. Furthermore, grass fibres are an additional revenue stream for farmers when it comes to abandoned grassland hay, which is currently being burnt or destined for filling biogas plants. Creapaper recently installed the first industrial grass fibre production line and is adding a smaller mobile facility this year which will save logistical costs and allow even more cost-efficient production. With grass paper, Creapaper targets the production of food bags, plates, trays, cups, straws, cards, mailers and packaging folding boxes mainly as a B2B offering for brand owners and large retailers. Large mail order companies are already testing the product as packaging material.
Keywords
Grass Paper, paper, Creapaper, grass fibre, pellet, packaging, wood pulp