Eco-friendly packaging material by Sulapac & how will help the planet by reducing waste

An eco-friendly packaging establishes a business as environmentally and socially aware.

New, innovative & sustainable packaging design will help us win the race of saving the planet from plastic waste.

Here at CreativeByDefinition Studio our mission is to support, promote and use in our designs more sustainable, biobased & fully degradable materials for packaging design & more. The world without waste in sustainable packaging design. We are proud to introduce to you a company that creates exactly that & we might add, with quite some success! Discover a beautiful,functional & eco-friendly packaging material. Meet Sulapac®.

1.Who is Sulapac®?

We are an innovative, sustainability-driven and fast evolving Helsinki-based startup with the mission to save the world from plastic waste. In order to accelerate the plastic waste-free future, we help companies worldwide to replace conventional plastics with sustainable materials, without needing to compromise usability or aesthetics.

2. How did the company start? What is the story behind it?

Sulapac was founded by two biochemists, Dr. Laura Tirkkonen-Rajasalo and Dr. Suvi Haimi. They both had a successful academic career in the field of medical biomaterials, until the drive to do good for the environment led them to the entrepreneurial path. Aware of the escalating plastic waste problem, Suvi and Laura developed a sustainable, beautiful and functional alternative to conventional plastic, Sulapac®. The patented material innovation was first introduced to the world in the form of cosmetic packaging, which was a totally different approach what the competitors had taken. The unique Sulapac jars indeed caught the attention of the media, brands and investors.

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Today Sulapac has several material grades in its portfolio to serve a wide range of customers across the world – and to have a maximum impact on the plastic waste issue. Although the material sales is Sulapac’s main focus area at the moment, the company continues to provide ready-made items such as the Sulapac straw and packaging. The Sulapac Nordic Collection and jars are available through carefully selected partners.

3.Can Sulapac produce customized packaging design solutions?

The Sulapac Nordic Collection is available via Quadpack, our Preffered Global Cosmetic Packaging Partner. Besides the standard packaging (15ml, 30ml, and 50ml jars available in 9 colors, either in Sulapac® Premium or Sulapac® Universal material), they also offer custom solutions.

When it comes to big brands, they typically have their own packaging manufacturers (plastic converters). When creating a new packaging design, Sulapac’s role is to provide the material and technical expertise as well as sustainability knowhow and go-to-market support. In other words, we work in close cooperation with both the customer brand and the packaging manufacturer to ensure an optimal outcome. Sulapac itself doesn’t own any product manufacturing facilities.

4.For what kind of products is Sulapac packaging more suitable?

Sulapac materials are suitable for cosmetic and food packaging (with some limitations) as well as for luxury packaging in the watch and jewelry sector to name a few examples. For inspiration, you can check some customer cases here: www.sulapac.com/find-products

5.Can you please tell us more insights about an innovative packaging project Sulapac proposed?

The Sulapac box for Fazer’s handmade pralines is a beautiful example from the food sector. The boxes, made of Sulapac Premium material with Fazer’s embossed logo on the top, were sold out in few days after the launch. Sulapac supported Fazer throughout the product development process and the market roll-out. Winning the Scanstar award with Kohinoor jewellery packaging has also been kind of a highlight.

6.What are the challenges Sulapac generally encounters when creating a packaging? How are these challenges overcome?

Some cosmetic brands require that their packaging lasts for several years. The stability time with Sulapac Nordic Collection packaging is currently 24 months. Our material is biobased and fully biodegradable: when no longer used, it can be recycled via industrial composting where it turns into CO2, water and biomass. Our customers value the sustainability aspects more than a prolonged self-life. If the cosmetics inside keeps fresh for a year or two, why should the packaging last forever, they say.

In terms of Sulapac packaging solutions and application possibilities in general, we are happy to announce that we have developed new, more flexible material grades, that overcome the few challenges we have encountered in some cases with the more rigid recipes. This extension of our portfolio opens up a lot of new opportunities for us and our customers.

7.Can you explain a little bit the production process? How the packaging is actually being produced?

Sulapac materials can be processed with existing plastic product machinery. So, simply put, our customer can just replace conventional plastic granulates with Sulapac granulates and start producing packaging that is truly sustainable. This is basically the process for Sulapac Universal material, which is suitable for most plastic production lines. However, with Sulapac premium specific kind of molds are needed. When a customer orders a material trial pack, we always provide clear instructions for the setup and processing. Our technical experts are ready to support throughout the process if needed.

This is how the process typically looks like for Sulapac’s customer brands:

• 1. MATERIAL FEASIBILITY - Selecting the optimal material recipe based on your brand’s needs and application requirements.
  
  
• 2. TRIAL - Testing the selected material(s) on converter’s production line. (The converter may be your existing production partner or one from Sulapac’s converter network). Easy setup ensured by clear technical instructions and Sulapac’s expert support.
  
  
• 3. TESTING - Ensuring the applicability to converter’s mass-production process. Mechanical tests and potential feed-back from end-users. Sulapac’s sustainability and technical expertise available whenever needed.
  
  
• 4. CONTRACT - Confirming the order volume, delivery schedule and terms.
  
  
• 5. DELIVERY - Material will be delivered to the production facility within 1–3 months, depending on the order volume.
  
  
• 6. PRODUCTION - To ensure the best possible outcome, Sulapac’s technical team is happy to support throughout the production phase, if needed.
  
  
• 7. GO-TO-MARKET SUPPORT - Take advantage of Sulapac’s brand, assets, and sustainability expertise for a successful market entry. Comprehensive partners’ kit supporting with communications.

Many thanks for all your help to Noora Nyländen & Heidi Koljonen from Sulapac®. https://www.sulapac.com/

"We have been selected one of the 100 hottest startups in Europe by WIRED UK, twice!" Sulapac