A world class fiber material to reduce plastics and carbon footprint
Fiber based closures and beyond. Advanced shapes, simple, scalable and recyclable as paper
Fiber Closures
We develop and produce advanced cellulose fiber based closures for our partners. Exact and strong with different variants of product protection. Based on pulp fibers from sustainably managed forests that are biobased, degrades in nature, and recyclable as paper. Join us to work on design and innovation.
Material
The Blue Ocean Closures material concept produced in collaboration with Glatfelter can be used for many product categories. The multilayer material structures are food safe and comes with strength and hydrophobicity agents included. We are opening up for third party converters wanting to explore the technology outside our core areas. Combinations of our and other machine and tool technology make the material concept very versatile.
Process
Our vacuum press forming technology is a dry, highly energy efficient way of achieving advanced shapes made from cellulose fibers. It has some very clear advantages. The process is easy to operate and fast, today down to 1,8s cycle time. It is scalable through dedicated Blue Ocean Closures presses, building on a proven machine platform from Quality Tools. Short lead times, small footprint and simple installation make it even more attractive. To improve runability, quality and energy consumption, we are not feeding back clippings into the process. To reduce pre-consumer recycling in closed or open loops, we offer a proprietary BOC RESHAPE technology that optimizes cutting geometry.
Together we are creating a world with less plastic waste.
We believe in working together and get inspired by each other. Being a part of a community of companies working to reduce plastics, policy makers setting up rules and guidelines, and NGOs communicating and physically cleaning beaches and oceans creates great hope and joy.
Biobased and Recyclable as paper
Blue Ocean Closures materials are based on cellulose fibers from sustainably managed forests, in short the same kind of fibers that you find in paper. We use the same type of food safe strength and hydrophobicity additives that are found in other paper packaging and hygiene products. In fact the fiber content is higher than in most types of carton packaging since we do not use fillers. Cellulose fibers are strong, biobased and biodegradable and do not cause any microplastics when breaking down in nature. With our technology we can shape, integrate and exact rigid structures such as closures. For packaging structures interacting with water, we have several ways to protect the materials and the filled goods. These range from direct contact, dispersion coating, deposition and film lamination. We are constantly developing these fields together with our suppliers and partners.
We want to inspire others to imagine what can be possible in the future.
Lars Sandberg, CEO of Blue Ocean Closures
Simple, robust and advanced
The Blue Ocean Closures vacuum forming technology is unique. Simple and robust, at the same time advanced and integrated. The material is stamped, draped, formed, pressed and released using multi step tools in a fast and energy efficient process.
Energy efficient production
The roll to press delivery model gives a simple to run and high uptime concept. Since it is just high pressure and heating involved and no separation, melting, cooling or drying the technology is very energy efficient.
Proprietary press forming technology
The cellulose fibers are sintered together in a dry format using proprietary vacuum press forming technology breaking up wet and/or dry formed starting materials and relocating the fibers into the new geometry. This allows for using sturdy rigid tools, still achieving advanced shapes such as strait walls and undercuts. The high pressure promotes excellent surface quality and allows for detailed decorations and surface structures.
What our partners say
To move forward with our breakthrough technology, we are proudly working in close partnership with some of the world’s most renowned brands in different consumer segments. Our partners are brand owners who act as pioneers, supports our innovative work and have made real commitments to increase sustainability.
We know that collaboration across the whole value chain sits at the heart of long-term progress and true environmental, economic, and social impact. As part of our circular way of thinking, we are delighted to be working with BOC to continue designing out single-use materials and using packaging innovation for the benefit of the planet.
Eric Näf, Director of Packaging Development at The Absolut Company, a part of Pernod Ricard
We are excited to be part of the pioneer community and to help test and develop this innovation during its continued development. It fits both our sustainability strategy and our on-going exploratory work with future packaging technologies which may complement other, existing types of packaging in our packaging mix.
Daphné Ronat, Packaging Engineer at Coca-Cola EMEA R&D Center
A small part that matters an ocean
Blue Ocean Closures is set up to reduce plastics and carbon footprint, helping customers and consumers reduce the effects of littering and global warming. We realize that focusing on our key segments is a small part of a bigger community dedicated to these global challenges. We have high respect for the industry reducing fossil plastics through redesign and recycling, for policymakers setting the goals and directions for new products and innovation, for NGOs informing or cleaning up oceans, for fellow startups and entrepreneurs bringing out new innovations, and for consumers that with their choices in everyday life make efforts to reduce and recycle.
Packaging and closures are items prone to ending up as litter. In fact, closures are among the 3-5 most common items found on European beaches. Ocean plastics that break down to microplastics, particles small enough to penetrate into our food chains and bodies are a true global challenge. Plastic waste is transported all over the world and ocean streams connect far apart parts of the planet within months.
Materials from Nature
The exact effects of transferring from fossil plastics to our fiber-based materials depends on the application, but typically the carbon footprint can be reduced up to 9 times. As transports turn into electrified or biobased solutions, a growing part of the fossil carbon footprint comes from plastics. Creating biobased and recyclable solutions that can slow down this growth trend and with time turn it around is essential to reach the global sustainability goals. Our contribution is direct with development and offers of products and materials and indirect we hope to make our contribution even bigger trough inspiring others and increasing knowledge.
There are more benefits as we, together with others, turn to forming cellulose fibers with dry processes. The technology significantly lowers the energy and water consumption and we have still only scratched the surface of what this technology can do. Important steps going forward are to reduce the pretreatment and use even more of the fibers. In the future we can include other fiber sources than wood and use recycled fibers for nonfood applications. This will help balance the available forest raw material with the growth and advantages of the technology.
Join our dedicated and passionate team
Blue Ocean Closures is set up with a clear purpose, our “Why” or reason for being is to reduce plastics and carbon footprint.
It means that we want to maximize our impact in a sustainable way. This includes using sustainable energy and raw materials and designing the technology for cost efficiency and scalability. It also includes being open, sharing, inspiring and participating in communities strengthening the purpose.
Our “How” is built on achieving these goals. Efficient sintering of cellulose fibers in a dry state creates a good base. Scalability through focus on drop in applications combining efficient existing large scale material production with dedicated tools in well proven machinery adds to this foundation. The “How” also include how we work as a team in a focused way and how we cooperate with customers and partners. We only move forward by learning together.
The “Why” and the “How” have led us to our “What”. Starting end of 2021 we have been very focused on bringing the new category of fiber based closures to market. This focus has helped us to create a competitive technology and material, something that can now be used for other applications, both to replace advanced plastic products, and to make production of more standard fiber-based products more efficient.
We help you fulfill your sustainability targets reducing single use plastics.
Located in Sweden’s paper province with a global reach
Blue Ocean Closures AB was founded end of 2021 and builds on material, machine and process R&D rooting back to early 2000s. The company is registered under Swedish laws and privately held with part ownership from ALPLA Group and Glatfelter. The company is set up around development, production and technology collaboration for sustainable, three dimensional, high density cellulose items, with focus on packaging. Blue Ocean Closures is partnering with customers, technology suppliers and academic R&I. Working with world leaders is essential to reach the high standards needed to bring new successful products and product categories to market. Our Pioneering Partner community with among others Absolut Vodka (Pernod-Ricard Group) and The Coca Cola Company is key to realizing our goals. Part of the collaborative R&I is or has been supported through public funding from among others Vinnova, Energimyndigheten and KK-Stiftelsen.
Blue Ocean Closures head office is in Karlstad and the production and demo facility is located in Säffle, Karlstad. The strong team of around 20 staff are specially selected, benefitting from the strong fiber packaging development and production culture in the county of Värmland and from dedicated team members that have joined from afar. We have a wide age and even gender representation and members from five different nationalities. Our main “Why” is to reduce plastics and carbon footprint, key values being collaboration, integrity and focus. We are continuing building the team, looking for people with drive who share our values in sustainability, diversity and collaboration and who can contribute with their knowledge, personal experiences and commitment.