Metsä Board, Europe's leading producer of fresh forest fibre cartonboards, is showing its folding boxboards especially designed for healthcare at Pharmapack 2014 in Paris - the first time it has exhibited at the show. With high brightness, excellent hygiene properties and light weight but strong, Metsä Board's cartonboards are ideal for both prescription and OTC products, and have a surface developed for special effects that include, for example, 2D data matrix coding and Braille.
The Metsä Board range of cartonboards for pharmaceutical applications includes Carta Solida, Carta Elega, Avanta Prima and Simcote. They are made from fibres grown in sustainably managed Nordic forests, are of known origin and traceable. Fresh forest fibres are strong, pure and contribute to the excellent brightness of the cartonboards.
"With our boards you can produce more cartons per tonne, as they have a significant yield advantage over competitive products," says Christophe Baudry, Commercial Director Beautycare & Healthcare, Metsä Board. "We've achieved this by light-weighting our boards, but without losing strength or stiffness. And as they use fewer raw materials, need less processing and energy throughout the value chain, they offer considerable sustainability benefits."
Metsä Board's cartonboards offer dust-free printing due to excellent sheet-cutting qualities, and give uniform print results and visual appearance thanks to high brightness and shade consistency.
Recent improvements to the range have brought many benefits. The shade of Carta Elega and Avanta Prima has been optimised to enhance visual whiteness - an important characteristic in the healthcare market. White areas appear cleaner and brighter, giving more shelf appeal. Carta Elega is particularly suitable for special features such as foil lamination, hot foil stamping and embossing. The surface of Avanta Prima has been optimized for the use of 2D data matrix coding.
The bulk of Simcote and Avanta Prima has been improved, meaning a lighter weight can be specified whilst maintaining the same thickness and stiffness. As a result, grammages have been light-weighted across the range, providing both cost and sustainability benefits
