Metsä Group begins pre-commercial sales of Muoto™ wood fibre packaging products

Metsä Group’s new packaging brand is now available for pilot customers looking for packaging solutions that, thanks to Muoto’s modularity and new technology used in the process, have multiple usage cases in food packaging. Both durable and recyclable, Muoto packaging is a great alternative to plastic products.

Espoo, Finland (September 24th, 2024) Metsä Group’s innovation company, Metsä Spring, has started pre-commercial sales of its three-dimensional, wood-based packaging solution Muoto™. Muoto packages can be used in a wide range of applications, from takeaway to industrial packing. Its natural composition ensures safety and non-toxicity, while being lightweight, durable, and sturdy. During the pre-commercial phase, the availability of products will be limited by volume and packaging type.

Muoto products have been produced at Metsä Group’s and Valmet’s demo plant in Äänekoski, Finland, since May 2022. Metsä Group is now making its product available for pre-commercial sale, a significant milestone in the development of the business. If the results are successful, in 2025, Metsä Group will be in a position to evaluate investing in a first commercial factory and thus, start the Muoto business. 

"We have been extremely pleased with the early results of Muoto. In wood-based product development, it’s quite rare to have a product ready after only a few years of development. Designed for durability and safety, Muoto is ideal for a wide range of uses, from serving dishes to food containers – so we are ready to expand cooperation with pilot customers,” says Jarkko Tuominen, Vice President of Projects at Metsä Spring.

Muoto’s biggest advantage is that its production skips multiple supply chain steps that are required for other packaging solutions today. In the Muoto process, pulp slurry is fed into a mould, formed, dried, and cut, thus generating products that can be shipped directly to the customers, ready to be used in i.e., food packaging.  The process also requires a minimal amount of water and other resources due to the innovative product structure, production process, and effective water circulation. The entire production process happens in one production line; it is largely automated and uses machine learning in multiple touchpoints, making the production process safe and reliable.

“By offering early access, we aim to gather valuable feedback and insights from customers to further refine our product. Together, we can explore new applications based on the market and customer needs,” Jarkko Tuominen explains.

Due to the EU directive on single-use plastics, food packaging manufacturers in Europe are searching for affordable and more sustainable alternatives to current packaging solutions. Additionally, the European Commission's proposal for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), when accepted, will force companies to promote circularity and reduce packaging’s environmental impact.

“At Metsä Group, we are constantly looking into potential innovations that could bring more wood-based alternatives into everyday products, thus replacing, among others, various fossil-based products. With Muoto, we can offer an alternative to the plastic-dominated market, proving that functionality, responsibility, profitability, and design can go hand-in-hand,” says Niklas von Weymarn, CEO at Metsä Spring.

Press Contact

Jarkko Tuominen, VP Projects
Metsä Spring
+358 40 778 7328
jarkko.tuominen@metsagroup.com 

Metsä Group

Metsä Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative is owned by over 90,000 forest owners. We use wood to make recyclable products for the day-to-day lives of millions of people globally. We focus on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, paperboards, and tissue and greaseproof papers. We are committed to the principles of regenerative forestry to measurably strengthen the state of forest nature. We promote a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion. In 2023 our sales totaled EUR 6.1 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees.

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Metsä Spring
 

Metsä Spring was established in 2018 as Metsä Group’s innovation company. Metsä Spring invests in and supports potential sustainable innovations and technologies that find new purposes and higher value for Nordic wood to replace fossil-based materials and chemicals in everyday products. Metsä Spring supports diverse, equal, and inclusive culture.  

To date, Metsä Spring has made six external startup investments to Woodio, Innomost, Boreal Bioproducts, Fiberwood, Adsorbi, and FineCell, and has launched three in-house development projects, Kuura™, Muoto™, and capture of biogenic carbon dioxide. Contact us at metsaspring.com.