jeudi 13 mars 2025

Fedrigoni Group looks to plastic-free coatings with Papkot investment

Fedrigoni Group looks to plastic-free coatings with Papkot investment
Italian paper manufacturer Fedrigoni has announced the acquisition of a minority stake in coating specialist Papkot. The appeal? The French start-up’s proprietary paper coating made of ceramic materials.

As a part of its program to identify and invest in start-ups with next-gen technologies and feed its innovation pipeline, Fedrigoni Group has purchased a minority stake in Papkot, a French plastic-free coatings specialist. Founded in 2020, the company’s ambition is to make the need for single-use plastic packaging obsolete by leveraging silicon, the chemical element, and cellulose in a nanostructured material.

Papkot’s technology


The start-up's Papkot OS technology is essentially a ceramic coating that provides paper with the same packaging properties as plastic. The coated paper, resistant to water, grease, oil, or even glycerol, is said to be both fully biodegradable and recyclable and fluorine-free, according to the supplier. Indeed, the paper packaging coated with Papkot’s solution has a recyclability rate of 99.9%, according to European standards. This technology is complementary to Fedrigoni's specialty papers and self-adhesive branches, and will enable the replacement of silicon-based label liners with what is said to be a fully recyclable alternative.

The coatings are compatible with most paper stock made of both virgin and recycled fibers, and can be applied before or after printing, on the web or on sheets. From an aesthetic perspective, the coated paper can also be transparent. On this front, Papkot recently rolled out a transparent material, Vetrino Paper, which it claims is biodegradable, recyclable, plastic-free, and water resistant.

The acquisition will allow the start-up to accelerate the deployment of its technology and produce at scale. Fedrigoni Group also says that Papkot’s model, which leverages AI and machine learning to create tailored solutions and measure materials performance, will bring added value to the group.