Just as good. But without plastic.

Sack paper for easy recycling in regular paper streams

What if you could use sack paper without plastic film? Billerud Performance White Barrier gives you this chance. The paper is suitable for a variety of applications – from animal feed and dry food to building materials, chemical substances and mineral products. Expect performance as good as conventional sacks with plastic film.

Instead of using plastic film as a barrier, we use coated sack paper. The result is a paper material that is easy for users to recycle in the well-established recycling process for paper. Your customers can pay lower fees for easy recycling.

No plastic film

Easy to recycle

Simple to switch

LEARN MORE ABOUT PERFORMANCE WHITE BARRIER

Coated paper instead of plastic film

Performance White Barrier has a coated layer on the outside or the inside of the sack. You get sacks that are easy to open, withstand moisture and even survive light rain for a limited time. If you put the coated layer on the outside, you also get a good surface for printing. You can enhance the value of the content inside and improve your overall brand image. What is more, the surface repels dirt, making your sacks look better and cleaner.

  • Retain shelf-life expectancy
  • Excellent branding possibilities

Paper recycling is well-established

Statistics from Eurostat* show that 8 out of 10 people recycle their paper and cardboard packaging, but only 4 out of 10 recycle their plastic packaging. Habits are often hard to break, not least in the beginning. Sacks made of Performance White Barrier consist are plastic film free. Therefore, users can easily recycle the sacks in regular paper streams. Your customers get the best of two worlds: a high recycling rate (good for the environment) and lower fees related to waste (good for the economy).

  • Higher actual recycling rate
  • Lower fees for recycling

*Recycling: Eurostat statistics about actual recycling rates in the EU.

Works in you current supply chain

There is no need to make any changes in your supply chain. Performance White Barrier is easy for a converter to process and no changes are needed in sack production equipment. Other performance factors such as sack strength, handling and filling rates remain the same. Even the opening and storage of the sacks are the same. Switching from conventional 3-layer sack construction with plastic film to the new 2-layer paper sack is a smooth transition.

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Q&A

The length of the shelf-life test depends on the product you are packing and the shelf-life claim you make to your customers. As we cannot test all potential materials, we recommend brand owners to carry out their own shelf-life tests in realistic circumstances. The test length should be at least as long as your shelf-life claim for the product.

There are two options with the new plastic film free concept. You can have the barrier layer on the outside of the bag or the inside of the bag. In both cases, the barrier should be on the outer layer of a multi-ply bag.
If the barrier layer is facing inwards, there will be no slippery surface. If the barrier is facing outwards, you obtain a nice printing surface and the bag will be more slippery than a standard industrial paper sack. Adding an anti-slip medium to the outer layer is a common procedure. Sack producers should be able to advise you on the correct medium to use.

Yes, the sacks will open just as easily as standard sacks with plastic film.

No, the sacks are not waterproof. However, the barrier layer (when applied on the outside) provides some rain resistance (we call it “shower resistance”). The sacks will withstand light rain for a limited time – we have tested up to 20 minutes in our laboratory. To be on the safe side, we recommend the sacks are protected from rain similarly to standard paper sacks.

No, the sacks will be no dustier than normal paper sacks using high porous papers. We recommend that the inner ply of the sack be high porous paper, letting air through the sack’s wall but keeping all of the product inside the sack.
The outer layer of the sack is not permeable and neither air nor dust passes through during filling and handling. Therefore, the sack has a “sealed” outer layer and requires a deaeration system to fill quickly. The only place where product dust can escape is through the valve. Most valves are designed to prevent or at least minimise this risk, and the best solution is to have a sealable valve.

All glues which are normally used in paper sack manufacturing can be used to manufacture the plastic film free concept. We have not been able to test all the glues used in the industry, but the standard glues we used all worked with the concept.

Yes. The product is manufactured from virgin fibres with the addition of chemicals that meet the demands of FDA and BfR and also in accordance with good manufacturing practice.
The product complies with the applicable paragraphs in:

  • Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004
  • Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006
  • The German FOOD Law §§ 30 und in der Lebensmittel-, Bedarfsgegenstände- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch (LFGB)
  • BfR, Recommendation XXXVI (April 1st, 2022), paper or paperboard which is intended to be used at temperatures up to 90°C (holding and reheating of food)
    • Limited to dry food
  • FDA Code of Federal Regulation Title 21, Chapter 1, §176.170, §176.180 (April 1st, 2021), Components of paper and paperboard in contact with aqueous, fatty and dry foods.
    • All food types, table 1 of §176.170(c)
    • Conditions of use E-G, table 2 of §176.170(c)

Note: For packing of aqueous and fatty products we recommend a suitable barrier to avoid the food affecting the product’s physical properties.

No, the outer layer of the sack (which contains the barrier) overlaps on the top and the bottom of the sack, providing an adequate barrier. Therefore, it is unnecessary, but we still recommend making the patches of barrier material.

Performance White Barrier is a prioritised product in our total offering.