UPDATE Innovating Paper to Reduce Conventional paper SHIELDPLUS Base paper Plastic Waste Barrier coating layer Heat-seal layer A paper substrate, made totally from wood material, is given a New eco-friendly paper materials have been created through passion and time-tested technology. Food or layer of coating that features proprietary technology, forming the other contents The papers will help people achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and lead to reduce SHIELDPLUS barrier material. With BioPBS applied as a sealant, plastic waste. the paper can then be used as a recyclable packaging material. he movement away from organic banana farmers in Zambia, drew the idea from that fund of skills created a paper beyond paper that Tplastic has started to Africa, then, processed for their fiber and wisdom. Ekberg also says the will not only protect peoples lives, accelerate as the pollution of in a local factory, after which they cooperation of many other entities but also protect forests and wild oceans, due to increasing plastic are made into paper products in has been indispensable, including animals from poaching caused by waste, has become a global problem. Japan and England. paper manufacturers, printing poverty.” Given the urgent need to find Leading the project is EKBERG companies, and experts on the Having obtained the approval of alternatives, the development of Satoko. Determined to find a way to environment. y cooperating across the World Fair Trade Organization new, environmentally friendly paper generate sustainable employment in institutional boundaries, we have (WFTO), banana paper has materials are attracting attention. an impoverished region of Zambia, been introduced as a packaging A paper material created from a she eventually arrived upon the material for a global manufacturer completely novel concept promoted idea of making paper from banana of cosmetics products, and is also by a group of Japanese entrepreneurs, stems, which are normally discarded utilized in various other innovative Expanding beyond its original use as a food-packaging material, SHIELDPLUS is now being introduced into more fi elds. is now available: banana paper, in large quantities. And since ways, such as in containers and Because the product is impermeable to odors, Nippon Paper Industries continues to broaden its range of applications. made from discarded banana stems. traditional Japanese papermaking clothes hangers. As efforts to The stems, which would otherwise has used non-wood sources of pulp achieve SDGs inspire new activity be thrown away, are purchased from from time immemorial, developers at the enterprise level, requests have covers and other special papers—to made from recyclable materials, is dramatically increased for the co- develop a unique barrier layer over thus biodegradable. Together, they development of products. paper, which produced SHIELDPLUS. effectively prevent the deterioration The production of handmade paper has begun at the Zambia factory. Local wild grasses found abundantly in that country At the same time, attempts are Its low oxygen transmission of the packages contents. are made into a paste that is used to produce handmade banana paper with a warm texture. also moving forward to enhance rate gives it barrier properties Amidst rising consciousness of the conventional paper with new comparable to those of plastic need to reduce plastic consumption, EKBERG Satoko (right) explains how the capabilities. SHIELDPLUS, a new barrier films—now in widely used a growing number of businesses project was started. Maintaining a fi rm determination to continue moving forward, kind of paper developed by Nippon for wrapping foods, pharmaceuticals, have introduced SHIELDPLUS she is focused on further developing Paper Industries Co., Ltd., has the and similar products—making it a packaging materials. With a deluge banana paper products. property of being impermeable to truly innovative paper material. of inquiries from overseas, Nippon oxygen, vapor, and odors. In general, Even when SHIELDPLUS is used Paper Industries looks forward to high hopes have been placed on as a food package, a thin plastic developing cooperative projects paper as a possible replacement for film is still needed to seal the inside with a variety of companies, plastic since it is a biodegradable, so as to protect the quality of the while continuing to explore new renewable resource. However, its contents. For that, Nippon Paper possibilities for paper. high permeability makes it difficult Industries, in a new deal, has utilized Paper materials may offer even to be used as a packaging material BioPBS, a biodegradable resin more possibilities that are still for fresh food and similar products. developed by Mitsubishi Chemical unseen. We may thereby discover To overcome that problem, Nippon Corporation. The two companies other solutions to global issues Paper Industries has applied its have co-developed a new recyclable through cooperation and the sharing The production of banana paper creates jobs in impoverished regions, enabling some team members to water-based coating technology— packaging material using BioPBS as of ideas and technology. send their children to college. normally used for treating magazine a heat-seal layer. Each component, 20 21.