UPM × BASF: a packaging concept for demanding end-uses

UPM Specialty Materials × BASF

How co-creation helps to renew the everyday

Fibre-based barrier concept for fatty foods, moist goods, and dry products.
Combines UPM Solide Lucent or UPM Asendo barrier papers with BASF Joncryl^® HPB waterborne barrier resins.
Excellent grease and moisture resistance.
Proven converting performance on existing lines.
Certified recyclable and available globally.*

A packaging concept built for demanding end-uses

Brand owners and converters working with fatty foods, moist goods, or dry products requiring content protection and consistent paper appearance face a real challenge: getting reliable barrier performance from paper, while keeping converting simple and sustainable end-of-life.

Through co-creation, UPM Specialty Materials and BASF have developed a fibre-based packaging concept that delivers the protection performance required for these applications, supports design-for-recycling approaches, and meets evolving food safety regulations.

Matched paper and coating technologies

The concept pairs UPM Solide Lucent or UPM Asendo, barrier papers engineered as robust bases for barrier coatings, with BASF Joncryl^® HPB waterborne barrier resins.

UPM Solide Lucent based structure delivers excellent grease resistance combined to good moisture protection, making it well suited for fatty food applications like cheese wraps. UPM Asendo based structure offers medium oil and grease and good moisture resistance, designed for dry goods like sugar and bread, as well as bags, wraps, and packaging liners.

The result is a paper packaging structure that:

Handles oil and grease and moisture in demanding food applications
Performs reliably on existing converting lines
Meets food contact safety requirements
Goes back into paper recycling streams*

Co-creation driving packaging performance

“Our barrier papers are developed to support co-creation with partners, enabling new, high-performance packaging applications. The collaboration with BASF demonstrates how combining innovative barrier technologies with barrier papers can deliver functional, recyclable packaging that accelerates the packaging transformation,” said Mika Uusikartano, Senior Manager, Product Portfolio Management, UPM Specialty Materials.

“The demand for sustainable packaging is growing rapidly across the value chain. UPM’s premium paper grades for flexible packaging, combined with barrier coatings based on waterborne Joncryl® HPB resins from BASF, form a strong reference approach for paper-based alternatives designed to replace plastic-based or PE-laminated structures,” said Rolf Alles, Director of Sales Resins EMEA, BASF.

*UPM packaging papers are certified recyclable according to CEPI v. 2.0 (Europe), PTS-RH 021/97 cat II and WMU SBS-E (U.S.). BASF Joncryl® HPB line has been shown not to negatively impact paper recyclability according to CEPI v. 2.0 (Europe). Third-party testing of the complete structure is ongoing.

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