Esa Torniainen – Chief Business Development Officer at Paptic

Paptic Ltd (or Paptic Oy) is a manufacturing company that pioneers environmentally friendly novel materials, such as wood-based renewable and recyclable goods. The company was established in 2015 with headquarters in Espoo, Finland by Esa Torniainen, Karita Kinnunen-Raudaskoski & Tuomas Mustonen in Finland to address one of the largest global environmental challenges, the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment.

The company has developed Paptic®, a fiber-based, and recyclable material to replace plastics in packaging. This renewable, reusable, and recyclable Paptic® material, has been available on an industrial scale since 2018.

Our recent interaction with Esa Torniainen, Chief Business Development Officer at Paptic, talks about their innovative eco-friendly packaging material- Paptic® and how it can be used as a sustainable alternative to plastics in packaging.

YnFx: What is the inspiration behind Paptic?

Torniainen: For Paptic, the growth company that produces a wood-based reusable and easily scalable packaging material, the fight against the global plastic waste problem was the starting point behind establishing the company. Paptic's solution precisely replaces the short life-span products that litter oceans and other water areas around the world.

Paptic's solution is made of wood fibers and is suitable for shopping bags, flexible packages, and online store envelopes. The material is as easily scalable as plastics, guarantees a similar print quality to paper, is as durable as nonwoven fabrics, and equals textiles' versatility.

YnFx: What are the solutions which Paptic offers to ensure sustainability in the fashion industry?

Torniainen: We produce a sustainable material for packaging applications like  e-commerce mailers, bags, polybag replacements, product packaging and much more. Our material is renewable, reusable and recyclable. 

YnFx: What are the environmental benefits of Paptic®?

Torniainen: The main raw material of Paptic® is wood based fibres which origins from sustainable managed forests. The material is easily recyclable with cardboard and packaging papers.  Packaging made of Paptic® e.g. bag is reusable again and again. 

With Paptic® a fossil-based plastic can easily be replaced in packaging. This means less plastic in this end-use  and recudes the risk of plastic ending up in the nature. 

YnFx: What do you think are some of the challenges faced by the current fashion industry when it comes to packaging?

Torniainen:

• In online shopping, the challenges are: shipping air in boxes, using plastic mailers instead of truly recyclable material ie. Paptic®. If the consumer dislikes the non-sustainable packaging or experiences a troublesome opening experience the risk of return gets higher and also it might lower the brand image.
• Polybags: billions of bags are used annually and only a small percentage of them are getting properly recycled.

YnFx: What are the company’s achievements?

Torniainen: Paptic was established in 2015 and is on a steady growth path. The sustainable packaging material has been available on an industrial scale already since 2018. Since then our material family has grown and with our sustainable offering, we can cater to a wide customer base.

YnFx: What’s next for Paptic?

Torniainen: The interest in Paptic® is increasing, and more and more brands are choosing Paptic® for their packaging to better respond to their consumers’ demand for a more sustainable alternative in packaging. We keep on growing, continue our development work, and replace more and more plastics with more sustainable materials. We’ve delivered our material already to over 40 countries.