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Eastman Solus™ for paper coatings

Single-use food packaging faces increased scrutiny as both regulators and global brands seek to move toward a more sustainable mindset. Many common packaging materials are not accepted into recycling streams and composting facilities. Even paper packaging, such as beverage cups and takeout boxes, is not always accepted for recycling or composting. Consumers are hungry for a change.

Solus™ performance additives can enable ease of processing for bioplastics on paper and board while maintaining or enhancing end-of-life claims and performance attributes for food-service products.

A person holds two paper cups full of cut fruit.

A sustainable option

There is a growing focus on biopolymers and circular options for food packaging. Unfortunately, many biopolymers are challenging to process, require capital investment to existing lines and have inferior end-use performance. Solus™ can alleviate these concerns by improving paper adhesion, enabling faster coating speeds, facilitating reduction in coat weight and lowering scrap rate compared to incumbent biopolymers alone while leveraging existing assets.

In addition to these performance benefits, Solus™ enhances sustainability at the beginning of life with its biobased content and recycled content1 via Eastman’s carbon renewal technology. The use of biobased content enables recyclability of the product at the end of life. This helped Solus™ earn certification from Western Michigan University for recycling and repulping.

Paper coatings made with Solus™ are also certified biodegradable and compostable,2 helping keep materials out of landfills. This meets customer standards for sustainability and increasingly stringent regulations around circularity without compromising performance.

1Recycled content using mass balance allocation
2TÜV Austria certified Solus™ as compostable in home and industrial uses.

A closeup of various takeout paper containers

Improving processability and coating performance

Solus™ provides several advantages to coaters, converters and brand owners.

The Eastman Solus™ 7000 series can improve processability of biobased polymers, enhance end performance and enable sustainable end of life through the recycling or composting of paper-based packaging.

Benefits to coaters

  • Enhances adhesion to paper
  • Reduces coat weight (up to 50% downgauging)
  • Increases line speed for extrusion coaters
  • Reduces scrap rate
  • Reduces overall cost
A large roll of white paper is being fed through a machine.
A person holds a square food container in one hand as they remove noodles with chopsticks in their other hand.

Benefits to converters

  • Increases heat-seal efficiency
  • Increases die-cut efficiency and speed
  • Mitigates curling issues

Benefits to brands

  • Helps meet sustainability goals and brand promise
  • End of life: compostable, recyclable and repulpable
A man and a woman sit at a table in a fast-food restaurant. The man is eating a hamburger, and the woman is eating French fries.

Food contact grade

Solus™ grades for paper coating applications are available with food contact certifications.
Contact your Eastman representative or authorized Eastman distributor for specific regulatory compliance documentation.

Western Michigan University repulpability and recyclability certification logo

Western Michigan University repulpability and recyclability certification

 

Normec OWS logo

Normec OWS—industrial compostable testing

TÜV Austria OK compost home logo

TÜV Austria OK biodegradable HOME compostable certification

TÜV Austria OK compost industrial logo

TÜV Austria OK biodegradable INDUSTRIAL compostable certification

A barista wearing a blue apron pours creamer into a blue paper cup.

Learn more

Solus™ for paper coatings can enable the productivity converters require, the sustainability brand owners desire and the performance consumers demand. Let an Eastman expert share more information with you.