Angel hair – The shredded packing paper by Papeteries de Montségur

2023/01/04

‘CO2 emissions and the depletion of certain resources are major issues to address in coming years.
Only a continuous improvement approach can sustainably limit the impact of industrial activity on the planet.
With this in mind, Papeteries de Montségur, seeing its tissue paper production increase, along with offcuts, wondered how to reuse, recycle, and potentially upcycle them’, explained Rémi Danglade, Chairman.

The PdM has developed ad hoc tools to enable these possibilities.
The result is fine, long strips of angel hair, which entangles themselves to form an extremely protective packing material due to its volume, while being aesthetically pleasing, ultra-light, environmentally friendly, and easy to handle.

Raw materials

Angel hair is made from our production waste. Manufactured from virgin fibres from forests certified for sustainable management:

• FSC©, 100% ECF, and REACH compliant and environmentally friendly.
• Acid-free, non-corrosive, non-abrasive, non-allergenic, and non-carcinogenic papers. The process is in line with the circular economy through the recovery and recycling, and upcycling of production waste.
• It is also a biodegradable and highly recycled single material. Our angel hair is bulk dyed and made from our papers; Papeteries de Montségur is recognised for its membership to the United Nations Global Compact.

Production process

Angel hair is a by-product of our production. No water or large amounts of energy are needed to make it. The process follows a 3R logic: recovery of production waste, reduction of waste generation, and reuse of waste. A machine was specifically created in the factory to add value to this production waste.

Transport

Transport for our products remains standard. Nevertheless, we are keen to raise awareness among our customers about reducing the number of deliveries,
for example, by producing and delivering multiple orders at the same time instead of one by one.
In addition, an empty or light truck does not use as much fuel as a full and heavy truck.
As the volume of our angel hair is significantly higher than its weight, transporting it emits less greenhouse gases (GHG) than a heavier product. There is also less road deterioration and less risk of an accident.

 Product use

• Angel hair is a packing material mainly for e-commerce sales, a sector that is booming and requires an environmentally friendly packaging solution.
• Angel hair reflects everyone’s interest: it is very lightweight, it is easy to use, and it protects and maintains delicate and fragile products thanks to its high absorption capacity.
• 100% recyclable and made from FSC© certified natural fibres, it follows the principles of production waste recovery, reduction of cleaning time (little dust, homogeneous, and easy to manage), and adaptation to any type of container and aesthetics.
• Angel hair has a very interesting weight-to-volume ratio. As the volume of angel hair is greater than its weight, our customers only need to include a little angel hair in their parcel, resulting in a lightweight parcel that protects the products inside without using any plastic.

End of product life cycle

• Tissue paper is a particularly recyclable and widely recycled single material (paper recycling rate in France was 60.5% in 2020, source: COPACEL).
• Generally made from 18 g/m² tissue paper, it disintegrates very quickly and its cellulose fibres are natural.
• Paper can be recycled 6 or 7 times.
• Although new, it is reused several times before it ends its life like any biodegradable material.