Crown van Gelder will start selling paper made with sugar beet in January 2021. This makes the Dutch paper manufacturer the first in the world to produce 'sugar beet paper' at an industrial level. The new product line called 'Crown Native' uses less wood fibres to achieve a reduced impact on the environment of 16% compared to traditional paper.
Crown Native was developed with the Dutch agricultural cooperative Cosun Beet Company as a strategic partner. The agricultural process residue from Cosun's production process, beet pulp, forms a valuable resource for the paper.
Crown Van Gelder's new paper is the result of two years of research. The company investigated several crops to replace part of the wood fibres in the paper. With Crown Native, Crown Van Gelder has succeeded in creating paper made out of 20% beet pulp, thus achieving environmental gains in several areas. Due to the local sourcing, far less transport is required. As a result, Crown Native realises a significant reduction in CO2 emissions and particulate matter formation. Moreover, by using beet pulp, the production process requires less water.
A big advantage of using sugar beet pulp is that it is FDA compliant. “The pulp is classified as a former food product,” says Miklas Dronkers, General Manager of Crown Van Gelder. As a result, Crown Native is approved and suitable for food packaging, unlike recycled paper for example.
Crown Van Gelder produces around 180,000 tons of paper annually, for customers all over the world in the graphics, label and packaging industry.
