Products and use

Product performance

Demands for promotion and protection define the performance characteristics of paperboard, as do the requirements during conversion and distribution. The overall demand for minimum use, resource efficiency, competitive products and efficient systems requires paperboard with high performance combined with good fitness for use.

Holmen Iggesund products are developed to provide high performance for the specific uses. In marketing, sales and technical service fitness for use and performance requirements are matched to ensure efficient solutions for each use. More information is found in the Paperboard Reference Manual.

Standard product specification and traceability

All products are manufactured to meet the specifications as described in the sections Paperboard Products, Board Laminates, Plastic coatings and Foil and film laminaties in the Product Catalogue. Review of the specifications is documented and performed according to the procedures in the Quality Management Systems within Holmen Iggesund.

The correct application of specification tolerances provides the printer, converter and ultimately the end-user with the assurance that the paperboard supplied has been produced under carefully controlled conditions in order to meet market quality requirements. In the manufacture of its products Holmen Iggesund continuously strives to minimise deviations from specified target values.

To meet our customers’ demands for quality and consistency we also specify upper and lower tolerances as appropriate. In the control of product quality Iggesund Paperboard uses online as well as laboratory measurements to monitor on at least a minute by minute and also hourly basis, according to documented procedures.

Our guarantee

Holmen Iggesund guarantees that the material our customers receive has been assessed by sampling using both on-line and laboratory techniques. Quality parameters and all sample measurements are based on samples taken ex board machine and have been found to be within the published and agreed tolerances as detailed in the current edition of the Paperboard Product Catalogue or approved amendment.

Iggesund strongly recommend the full testing of the product at every stage through the supply chain before going into full production. Your local Technical Service contact should be involved to achieve maximum product performance.

In situations where there are doubts about the performance of the paperboard or compliance with the specifications, tools are available to trace information related to the product and/or order. The Holmen Iggesund document Terms and Conditions of Trade 2015 constitutes the whole agreement between Holmen Iggesund (Seller) and the Buyer and here it is stressed that in the case of a claim, the clear identification of the goods is a requirement. This is to enable above mentioned traceability to relevant product data. For the customer, the key to traceable information is the order number and package number as this information is the link to all product data and laboratory and machine records. Retrievable data are stored for a minimum of two years. Procedures and systems are in place to achieve the necessary traceability back to Holmen Iggesund´s suppliers.

Taint and odour neutrality

The Swedish Board for Technical Accreditation has accredited our laboratory for sensory analyses. Measurements are made under the auspices of a government agency and with the obligation to be impartial, making this the most stringent form of quality assurance. Most countries in the world accept test results that have been carried out at accredited laboratories and these can therefore be compared.

To ensure that our paperboard meets the demands for taint and odour neutrality, we regularly monitor production using organoleptic test procedures and our own fully trained assessment panel. We guarantee that our baseboard products Incada and Invercote register Robinson taint values according to EN1230 and DIN 10955 that are below the detection limit.

As an integral part of our product quality assurance policy, Holmen Iggesund accepts responsibility for taint and odour problems proven to have been caused by our products.

Product purity and hygiene

For end uses such as food, confectionery and pharmaceuticals, purity and hygiene are of critical importance. In order to maintain correct product performance Holmen Iggesund only uses approved raw materials and additives, and carries out the production process according to good manufacturing practices that incorporate the use of risk assessment methods. Every chemical additive is assessed according to occupational health and safety, environmental impact and product safety before it is allowed to be used.

Product labelling

Presently there are several labelling schemes on the market that claim to communicate representative facts about products' performance and environmental acceptability (eco-labels), such as EU Ecolabel and Cradle to Cradle. The international development of Environmental Product Declarations seems promising, but until these are developed and become an accepted standard, reference is made to the Holmen Iggesund environmental declarations which are available on request or can be downloaded here.

Product safety and liability

The essence of packaging is to ensure the quality, hygiene and safety of the packed product. To ensure these a number of national and international rules and regulations must be met. In addition, company and product specific measures are usually added. The final goal is to secure fitness for the intended use. It is important to protect the packed product against contamination from various external factors. Holmen Iggesund products are therefore made only from high quality primary fibres and functional additives which ensures safety, hygiene and good organoleptic properties of the products. Where necessary additional barrier materials can be applied to ensure that the quality of a packed product can be safely maintained.

In many countries, the consumer safety is protected by product liability legislation with far reaching consequences for the supply chain. In the event of damage all actors along the supply chain are responsible to the consumer (joint and separate responsibility).

The only exception is when you can prove, for your own area of responsibility, the fulfilment of the relevant requirements. A key consequence is thus to ensure the complete understanding and verification between supplier and customer of all the relevant aspects.

Declaration of compliance

Holmen Iggesund will on request issue a product declaration to verify the fitness and safety of a product for the intended use. In order to create the document, a customer needs to provide the specific conditions of the intended use of the Holmen Iggesund product.

The communication along the supply chain is one of decisive importance for the result of the correct and appropriate compliance work in relation to the actual end use application, The declarations of compliance are issued after having carefully checked that the intended use of a specific paperboard product, under specified conditions of use, will not endanger the quality and safety of the packed product.

The specific statements in the declaration are integral parts of the Holmen Iggesund Management Systems. The given information is valid for two years or until further notice.

Rules, regulations and good manufacturing practice

Over the years, many countries have developed regulations to control the safety of the packaging materials in order to prevent cross-contamination between the packed product and the packaging. The best known and currently most widely recognized regulations are summarised in the table below. In the absence of harmonized European legislation for paper and board intended to be used in contact with food, Holmen Iggesund ensures that its paperboard products fulfil the relevant requirements of the national regulations.

Rules and regulations

All Holmen Iggesund products will, subject to application/intended use, fulfil the requirements listed below:

For certain geographical areas or specific end-uses, certain requirements must be met or enhanced barrier functions could be needed, for instance when the board is used for fatty or aqueous packaging applications a barrier between the board and the packed foodstuff is recommended.

Holmen Iggesund will ensure that the appropriate product/barrier combinations fulfil the requirements for the defined intended use. Barrier functions are generally achieved by plastic coating. The plastic itself, in all plastic coatings, meets the requirements of the Commission Regulation (EU) 10/2011 and its subsequent amendments. For plastic coating/lamination only raw materials which are suitable for the specific application are used. Analysis of total migration tests are regularly made to verify compliance.

Good manufacturing practise

The Commission Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 on good manufacturing practice for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food lays down rules on good manufacturing practice. The main requirement in this regulation is that we as a manufacturer shall operate an effective quality management of our manufacturing operations.

For our paperboard mills, Iggesund and Workington, we have implemented "Good Manufacturing Practice for the Manufacture of Paper and Board for Food Contact" of Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI GMP) which provides guidance on how to fullfill the requirements (components and principles) of GMP. For instance, for coatings applied to the non-food contact side of a material or article GMP should in particular ensure that substances from the coatings are not transferred onto the food contact side of the material by set-off or transfer through the substrate.

Used products and waste management; producer responsibility

The EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, 94/62/EC and subsequent amendments, defines common requirements on packaging and packaging waste within the EU. However, the Directive’s formal implementation and interpretation and the practical methods introduced by the member countries vary widely. As a consequence the requirements and methods differ between countries. In some countries producer responsibility has been introduced and has led to industry-owned organisations which manage used packaging. In other countries, there are community or nationwide schemes more or less controlled by the authorities. The result is systems with very different approaches to how packaging is taken care of and the costs involved. Each country has its own systems and rules.

Waste generated during the manufacture of Holmen Iggesund’s products is managed and reported according the permits given by the local authorities

The EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (94/62/EC)

The EU Directive (94/62/EC) is aimed at minimising the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste. It places an obligation on prevention by source reduction, re-use or recovery of used packaging and minimisation of heavy metal contamination. The EU Commission gave the European Standards Organisation, CEN, a mandate to develop standards to be used as EU harmonised standards to ensure the fulfilment of the essential requirements. During 2004 CEN adopted and published the following standards: EN 13427:2004, EN 13428:2004, EN 13429:2004, EN 13430:2004 and EN 13431:2004. EN 13432:2000 was already published.

In general the following is valid for Holmen Iggesund products:
Holmen Iggesund will act to meet all the relevant requirements of the directive, and will use the above mentioned CEN packaging standards to assess and document compliance with the essential requirements.

EN 13427:2004 is called “the umbrella standard” which guides users through the texts, indicating which standards are applicable to each type of packaging. EN 13428:2004 consists of two parts of which the first covers “prevention by source reduction”, and the second “qualitative prevention by minimizing presence of noxious and hazardous substances in the packaging material”.

In the areas of product development, marketing, sales and technical service, fitness for intended use is given priority to ensure that the main purposes and functions are fulfilled with a minimum of material. In the area of transport packaging the demand for prevention by source reduction is applicable and fulfilled by supplier requirements as defined in the standard.

All products meet the requirements regarding determination and minimisation of noxious and hazardous substances. EN 13429:2004 regarding reusable packaging is not applicable for our products. Product design and composition is such that material recycling (EN 13430:2004) or energy recovery (EN 13431:2004) can be done without limitation. Our baseboards are intrinsically biodegradable. For the quantification regarding composting, tests should be made on the final packaging after the converting process (EN 13432:2000).