The Flock Box is a new packaging concept that combines natural fibre flocking technology with paperboard to create a fully recyclable premium gift box. The concept demonstrates how collaboration across the value chain drives the development of sustainable packaging solutions.
A plastic-free packaging concept, the Flock Box, is a new sustainable gift box solution ideal for numerous applications, such as cosmetics, electronics and jewellery, which require a luxury presentation and unboxing experience.
The Flock Box concept has been developed by four companies – Holmen Iggesund, Krekelberg, Inmaco Solutions and Van de Velde Packaging Group – in a collaborative approach that invites brands across the packaging value chain to work together to discover the sustainable packaging solutions of the future.
It consists of an embossed outer box and an inner tray with tailored cavities of various shapes and forms which can be used to present different items, such as watches or perfume bottles. The insert’s luxurious look and feel have been created with flocking technology, which uses static electric currents to make fibres stand up and resemble a velvet-like material.
“The Flock Box has been enabled by the development of Holmen Iggesund’s highly formable paperboard Inverform, which has unique characteristics that allow it to be press-formed in the required shapes,” says Per Berglund, Head of Formables at Holmen Iggesund.
The Dutch company Krekelberg has been manufacturing flocked materials since 1948. For this joint project, they flocked Inverform with cellulose fibres, adding a high luxury feel to the board. The fibres can be coloured in any specific shade required.
Inmaco Solutions is a Dutch machine builder with a rich history in sustainable machine engineering, and a specialist in the 3D forming of board and wet moulded fibre. They made the tools to press-form the flocked Inverform inserts for the Flock Box.
Van de Velde Packaging Group is active in the packaging industry in folding cartons, solid board, corrugated board and machinery. They created the outer Flock Box packaging from Holmen Iggesund’s Invercote DUO paperboard, and die-cut the top part of the inserts made from Inverform. The gift box surface was treated to emphasise the embossing and luxury feel of the gift box.
“The collaborative aspect is very important,” says Berglund. “Four positive forces have worked together in a packaging development project where materials, machinery, tooling and production all played essential roles. The result is a proof of concept that shows brands what can be done. We are seeing more and more conscious luxury brands wanting to replace plastic with fibre-based solutions.”
Berglund adds, “The Flock Box is made of board and fibres that are 100% recyclable in the existing paper collection stream, contributing directly to a circular packaging ecosystem. Flocked fibre-based inlays could replace large quantities of plastic inlays.”
The Flock Box is made from paperboards supplied by Holmen Iggesund from sustainably managed forests. The paperboards consist of fresh wood fibres, a renewable raw material well suited for recycling. The outer box is made from Invercote DUO, which has printing surfaces that enable optimal reproduction of the most sophisticated printing images. The inner tray is made from Inverform, a paperboard with high stiffness designed for stable pressed and folded trays with high visual appeal.