Nippon Paper Industries ready to start mass production of SHIELDPLUS® paper material at its Jujo Thermal facility in Finland


The Japanese group Nippon Paper Industries announced today that it has completed, as planned, the construction of facilities and equipment for mass production of SHIELDPLUS®, an innovative coating solution which adds barrier properties to paper. Nippon Paper invested 5 million Euros in the project. It will be produced by its Finnish subsidiary Jujo Thermal Oy, located in Kauttua, specialised in the production of direct thermal and coated-one-side papers. The company will start providing samples of this product and promote its development in the global market with a focus on the European market.

Jujo Thermal has been working on the development and marketing of “SHIELDPLUS®” by utilizing its coating technology developed in its existing thermal paper business. The new facilities include an expansion of the coating colour kitchen for the manufacture of SHIELDPLUS®, which is designed to meet strict hygiene standards for food packaging applications, with a view to obtaining ISO 22000 and other certifications. This will enhance its supply capacity and we will enable the group to develop a wide range of packaging materials in the future.

SHIELDPLUS® products are paper-based materials with excellent barrier properties against oxygen, water vapour and aromas. The material consists of wood-based fibres and is protected with a water-based barrier coating. “We believe that paper as packaging material holds a great deal of potential. It is a part of the solution to developing environmentally friendly packaging materials. SHIELDPLUS® is recyclable, and thus it provides a sustainable basis for our customers’ end applications. The new colour kitchen strengthens our product development capabilities. We are, indeed, planning to produce other types of paper-based materials suitable for packaging use in the future,” concludes Technical Development Director & Packaging Specialist Masashi Okamoto.

Under the slogan of “Let paper do what it can do”, the Company is pushing ahead with paperising solutions that help resolve social issues. SHIELDPLUS® products are paper-based materials with excellent barrier properties against oxygen, water vapour and aromas. The material consists of wood-based fibres and is protected with a water-based barrier coating. The SHIELDPLUS® series is produced by adding barrier functions to paper. It proposes paper as an alternative option to conventional barrier materials such as plastics and aluminium.