Metsä Group's innovation company Metsä Spring has developed Muoto punnet, which is designed for packaging berries, fruits and vegetables. The new product is part of Muoto Uncoated Fibre Series, which includes uncoated fibre packaging.
There are two punnet sizes and the product will be ready for market testing starting from January 2026. Metsä Spring's Muoto Product Manager Tarja Heikkilä therefore welcomes actors in the packaging industry to test and develop a new product that has reached the pre-commercial stage.
She recalls that the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will change the packaging industry in the future.
“Our Muoto packages are durable, do not contain plastic, can be recycled and meet the strict requirements of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Since the new legislation is likely to enter into force in 2030, now is the best time to start looking for alternative solutions for packaging fresh products," Heikkilä says.
According to a market survey conducted by Metsä Spring, several billion packages are used for fresh produce packaging in Europe every year. If current plastic packaging were replaced with products such as Muoto punnets and paperboard based solutions, the packaging industry could significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastic.
Muoto products are new types of packaging. The technology applied in Muoto products converts wet wood pulp into 3-dimensional packages without any intermediate steps, meaning that the new low-carbon footprint products would be ready to be shipped to end customers as such.