superpowers for paper: five years of research at DELSCI
Recyclable and functional barrier papers are the future of packaging, especially for food. Since its founding in 2020, DELSCI GmbH has tested more than 350 different barriers and developed packaging solutions in its laboratories.
Recyclable and functional barrier papers are the future of packaging, especially for food. Since its founding in 2020, DELSCI GmbH has tested more than 350 different barriers and developed packaging solutions in its laboratories. “We are pleased to have already achieved important milestones in the first five years of our existence,” say DELSCI managing directors Johannes Zipfel and Herwig Kirchberger. “Our constant pursuit of innovation as a research company is in our genes.”
Paper is intended to replace plastic in many applications: The vision is clear, but the implementation is complex. Intensive research is required to transfer the properties of established packaging made from fossil-based raw materials to paper. With this in mind, the shareholders of delfortgroup, a market leader in specialty paper, founded DELSCI GmbH in 2020. Since then, the independent research company has focused primarily on developing thin, flexible packaging papers with barriers against grease, water, moisture and oxygen.
In the company’s laboratories in Austria and Finland, DELSCI’s experts work with base papers from delfort, onto which specially developed barriers are applied depending on the application. The coated paper rolls are then examined in the laboratory using state-of-the-art analytical methods. “We want to achieve an optimal balance between low material usage and performance on the one hand, and recyclability and food safety on the other,” explains Zipfel. “Our goal is to give papers superpowers and thus contribute to a sustainable transformation in the packaging industry.”
Together with delfort, the 20 scientists, engineers and product developers at DELSCI have developed around 30 different specialty papers for food and consumer goods, such as tissues and accessories, from the combination of over a hundred base papers and 350 coatings in more than 1,600 experiments over the past five years. Results of the application-oriented research include barrier papers such as the thinbarrier product family, which covers a wide range of applications and is used, among other things, for packaging frozen foods, muesli, sweets and cookies.
“In developing new papers, we follow the standardized Stage-Gate model, which has been adapted to our needs with agile elements,” says Zipfel. This allows the laboratory to quickly produce initial prototypes that meet minimal requirements. In the Rapid Prototyping Center, they are then produced as small rolls, their recyclability is checked, and their shelf-life for food packaging is tested before they go into mass production at delfort.
To achieve this goal, DELSCI works with a pool of well over a hundred partners along the packaging industry’s value chain – including raw material and machine manufacturers, printers and packers. Together, the running properties and the entire process are optimized. “Through our wide-ranging collaborations, we are familiar with the various packaging requirements of the food industry and the consumer goods sector,” says Kirchberger.
DELSCI has also set ambitious goals for the coming years, as the increasing demands for circularity and the precise adaptation of coatings to individual customer needs shape the industry’s development: “It is no longer enough to focus solely on providing technically optimal solutions,” says co-managing director Zipfel. “We want to actively participate in the development of new recycling methods and the creation of guidelines, particularly within the framework of the new packaging regulation.”
about delfort
Founded in 2006 in Traun, Austria, delfortgroup AG is a global innovation leader in the development, production, and distribution of specialty and functional papers for the tobacco, pharmaceutical, food and label industries. With selected partners, delfort has high process competence in the supply chain. The company employs more than 3,200 people worldwide, from Europe to the USA to China. www.delfortgroup.com
about DELSCI
DELSCI GmbH is a research organization that develops sustainable and functional paper packaging solutions for food and consumer goods applications in close cooperation with delfort. The team of scientists and technologists researches the ideal composition between base paper and application-specific barrier coatings. DELSCI is led by a duo: Johannes Zipfel is responsible for front-end, research, and development. Herwig Kirchberger drives customer development as a back-end expert and strategically aligns the company.