The investment comprises machinery upgrades and quality control systems essential for the authentic production of SHIELDPLUS^®. The investment is expected to be around 5 million EUR. Jujo Thermal plans to complete the investment project by June 2020, as to start a full-scale production of flexible packaging paper.

The investment in mass production of SHIELDPLUS^® is part of Jujo Thermal´s strategic aspiration to provide sustainable solutions. As announced in March, Jujo Thermal has entered the product development and market evaluation phase of SHIELDPLUS^®. It is a paper product with excellent oxygen and water vapour barrier properties, aimed at flexible and sustainable food packaging. The new product consists of wood-based fibres coated with a water-based barrier coating, and it is completely recyclable and biodegradable. It provides an alternative to flexible food packages where presently barrier films made of plastic or aluminium are used.

A special project task force was set up to carry out the investment project. Juha-Pekka Kaivola, Project Manager of Jujo Thermal, says that the investment project is proceeding as planned: “We have a diverse know-how in our task force, and our employees, representing every department, are working hard towards the goal of the project, that is, to start mass production of SHIELDPLUS^®.” The task force consists of Jujo Thermal personnel and specialists from CTS Engtec Oy. CTS Engtec is an engineering company specializing in project management in the process industry. “We are familiar with the specialty paper business, as we have done successful machinery upgrades and improvement projects with Jujo Thermal for many years,” says Project Director Harri Soininen from CTS Engtec Oy.

The new specialty paper product is based on a technology innovation from Jujo Thermal´s parent company, the Nippon Paper Industries. After completing the investment project and starting full-scale production of the new flexible packaging paper, Jujo Thermal will become Nippon Paper Group´s European production base for SHIELDPLUS^®.