At this year’s Fachpack trade fair in Nuremberg (September 23-25, 2025), the Osnabrück-based family business Felix Schoeller has showcased a significant technological breakthrough: a multilayer dispersion curtain coating process designed to deliver robust protection without compromising the package’s ability to be fully returned to the paper recycling stream.
To put it in perspective, the European packaging industry is presently dealing with the biggest regulatory change in decades. Brand owners, material converters, and machinery makers are under increasing pressure to change their product lines as a result of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which is now formally in effect and has ambitious 2030 recyclability requirements.
The central, multi-billion-euro question is this: how can packaging maintain the indispensable, high-performance barrier functionality required for sensitive products, especially foodstuffs, while simultaneously achieving the stringent new standards for fiber-based recyclability?
An innovative answer to this critical challenge is emerging from Germany’s specialty paper sector.
The PPWR imperative
The European Union’s PPWR is explicitly driving the market towards a true circular economy, setting an ambitious target that all packaging in the EU must be fully recyclable in a practical and economically viable way by 2030. For the paper and cardboard segment, this includes high recycling targets, underscoring paper’s position as a preferred, renewable material.
However, many conventional high-barrier applications—such as those needed to protect snacks, confectionery, or frozen goods from oxygen, moisture, and grease—rely on multi-material laminates or extruded plastic layers (like polyethylene, or PE). While functional, these combinations often render the final product non-recyclable in standard paper streams, incurring higher fees under the EU’s ecomodulation policies.
The industry urgently needs solutions that are genuinely fiber-based, yet capable of guarding product integrity and extending shelf life.
Curtain coating
Felix Schoeller’s innovation leverages the advanced multilayer dispersion curtain coating process to tackle this barrier/recyclability dichotomy head-on. Unlike traditional single-layer coatings or lamination, this specialised technique applies up to five highly functional water-based barrier layers onto the paper substrate simultaneously.
Daniel Zimmermann, Head of Sales & New Business Development Packaging at Felix Schoeller, emphasizes the strategic advantage: “With the new curtain-coated barriers, we offer our customers very interesting alternatives to existing solutions. This opens up new avenues for brand owners and converters to future-proof their products against both regulatory demands and consumer expectations.”
Key attributes of the new technology include:
- Superior functionality: The stacked, multi-layer design allows for the combination of different barrier properties (e.g., moisture, grease, oxygen) in a very thin application, ensuring the material can meet the demanding protective standards for sensitive contents like confectionery, ice cream, and snack packaging.
- Enhanced recyclability: By utilising water-based dispersion barriers instead of plastic films or heavily modified laminates, the resulting packaging maintains a high percentage of fibre content. This crucial feature ensures the packaging is compatible with existing paper recycling infrastructure, achieving effective PPWR compliance.
- Resource efficiency: The precision of the curtain coating process results in an extremely low coat weight compared to traditional methods like extrusion coating, thereby maximising material and resource efficiency while upholding high performance.
Initial market implementations are already demonstrating success, notably in the primary packaging of chocolate bars, where the delicate balance between product protection and sustainable disposal is paramount.
Backed by over 130 years of expertise in specialised paper manufacturing and a wide array of coating technologies, the German company is positioning itself as a key “transformation partner” for the wider industry. Their deep material science knowledge is proving essential in developing these tailored, more sustainable solutions.
Visitors to FACHPACK 2025 are invited to experience this innovation firsthand at Hall 4A, Booth 234. The showcase includes a model of the innovative curtain coating process, providing a physical demonstration of the technology at work. Furthermore, Andreas Bergmeier, Head of Innovation & Technical Sales Packaging, is scheduled to deliver a presentation on the technical advantages and applications of these recyclable barrier papers in the Fachpack Forum Innovationsbox.
In a market where the regulatory floor is constantly rising, the ability to combine high-performance barrier function with verifiable PPWR compliance is no longer a niche feature—it is a mandatory requirement. Felix Schoeller’s curtain coating technology represents a significant step forward, offering brand owners a viable, fibre-based pathway to navigating the complexities of European sustainability law while maintaining the highest level of food safety and product quality. This innovative German solution marks a crucial turning point in the global shift towards genuinely sustainable, fibre-based packaging.
Read more news on: packaging, FACHPACK, recyclability, lamination
Get such updates through woodandpanel.us
