May 31 2007
A series of Michelman’s barrier, functional and decorative coatings have been tested according to the updated FBA Protocol at the Western Michigan University School of Paper Engineering, and shown to pass the repulpability portion of the testing. The protocol was developed by a joint committee of the Fiber Box Association and the American Forest & Paper Association and is entitled a “Voluntary Standard for Repulping and Recycling Corrugated Fiberboard Treated to Improve Its Performance in the presence of Water and Water Vapor.”
Coatings tested include VaporCoat ® 330C and Michem® Coat 40EAF, two wax replacement coatings for use on fruit, vegetable and protein/meat boxes; Nomar™ 70AF, an abrasion resistant coating; Coating X300AF™, a water resistant coating; and MaxWhite™ 17, a decorative white coating. These coatings have all been shown to pass the repulpability component of the new protocol.
Since pioneering repulpable water-based coatings for corrugated paper packaging in 1963, thousands of packaging converters in the U.S. and around the world have used, recycled, and repulped hundreds of Michelman coating formulations, making Michelman an integral part of the OCC stream for over 45 years. In the past Michelman demonstrated the repulpability of its coatings by TAPPI Method T205 (British disintegrator).