ITP – Industria Termoplastica Pavese (“ITP”) announces its technological contribution to the solution developed by Graphic Packaging International (Graphic Packaging), which has won a WorldStar Global Packaging Award 2026 — one of the most prestigious global recognitions in the packaging industry.
The awarded solution is PaperSeal® Shape, a paperboard tray for fresh and chilled food, designed to significantly reduce plastic usage while maintaining high technical and food preservation performance.
This achievement is part of a broader innovation journey for ITP, already recognized at an international level: in 2025, the company received a WorldStar award for its FreezyPeel solution, confirming its commitment to developing sustainable high-performance materials.
PaperSeal Shape integrates a functional liner into a paperboard structure, resulting in packaging that reduces plastic content by up to 72–82% compared to traditional alternatives, while ensuring protection against oxygen, moisture and grease, and maintaining a shelf life comparable to fully plastic packaging. The solution is also compatible with existing packaging lines.
Within this system, ITP contributed with PaperG, a self-adhesive coextruded film developed specifically for application onto paper and paperboard substrates, without the use of adhesives or solvents. Based on a PE/EVOH structure, the film offers different levels of gas barrier and ensures full compliance with food contact requirements.
PaperG also stands out for its application versatility: it is suitable to be sealed with lids for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), skin packaging solutions, and microwave-ready applications, providing mechanical strength, thermal stability, and excellent thermoformability.
A key feature of PaperG is its designed-for-separation approach at end of life: thanks to engineered adhesion levels, the film remains firmly bonded during use, while in certain conditions it can be separated from the paperboard substrate after disposal, supporting proper waste sorting and recycling processes.
The WorldStar recognition achieved by Graphic Packaging highlights the value of innovation across the packaging value chain, where advanced materials and structural design combine to deliver lower-impact packaging solutions.
Held by the World Packaging Organisation, the WorldStar Global Packaging Awards are recognized as a global benchmark for excellence in packaging, with 234 projects from 36 countries awarded in the 2026 scheme. ITP – Industria Termoplastica Pavese develops high-performance technical films for flexible and rigid packaging, with a strong focus on innovation and material sustainability.