As part of its push to support a circular economy under its Rydal range of recycled products, James Cropper launched the Rydal Apparel range last month, at Packaging Premier in Milan. It uses 20% post-consumer denim fibre and 80% recycled fibre from sources such as used coffee cups from Cropper’s CupCycling initiative.
James Cropper buys the pulped denim from a European partner and then uses its new Fibre Blend Upcycled Technology to blend the different source materials. The end product is an ‘icy white’ paper with a light blue hue, created by the denim fibre, which is visible in the finished paper.
The range includes a 220gsm and 350gsm premium packaging paper in Denim White and is suitable for a range of products.
“One of our main focuses at the mill is looking at sustainability and innovation with fibre,” said James Cropper packaging project leader Kate Gilpin.
“No-one in modern papermaking has used post-consumer denim before, it’s always been offcuts from production and this product is 40% post-consumer overall.
“Our research and development team identified, during the first lockdown, the scale of the global textile waste problem and just how much was going to landfill. We wanted to try to do something about it. A lady called Joanne, who works at James Cropper, conducted some experiments with different textiles and we identified cotton as the best match. It’s the result of a lot of experiments and trails.”
Gilpin said the main products will be garment tags, retail bags and folding boxes for cosmetics and similar products.
“It’s a great story because the textiles have come from the fashion industry and we are putting them back in.
“Because cotton is a cellulose fibre it means the paper we create can go into most general waste streams where it can be recycled again and potentially a third and fourth time, which is a really nice story.”
Gilpin said that the goal was to eventually use the fibre in some of James Cropper’s tailor-made papers, in the brand’s colour.
“Our ideal story would be to partner with a fashion brand, take their waste and put that into their own packaging paper in their brand colour,” she explained.
“When you look at CupCycling, it was one of the first fibre innovations that we’d had and there wasn’t much on the market in that way at the time so it was something we identified as an area we were able to grow in and we felt really passionate about.
“Now that we’ve done this it paves the way to see where we can go with it. Our R&D team is always working on new ideas, so watch this space.”
Meanwhile, Cumbria-based James Cropper has launched a two-year educational programme to address succession planning within the business and produce its colour specialists of the future.
The James Cropper Colour Academy opens to its first cohort in September and will use resources and knowledge from the firm’s Colour Lab and colour blending team.
In the first year, the syllabus focuses on fibres, pulp and stock preparation, while the second year will cover colour-matching and working alongside the blender teams. It is the company aim that those completing the Academy programme will help to standardise processes, skills and knowledge across the business.
The Academy launches as the papermaker invests in a state-of-the-art colour control cabin for its colour blending facility, providing the team with a constant overview of the colour blending process while in operation. The investment in its technical capabilities and the Colour Academy is in direct response to the increasing significance of colour in brand identity and packaging design.
Mark Starrs, technical lead for colour at James Cropper, who has been instrumental in the creation of the Colour Academy syllabus, said: “We are living in transformative times and as such, we’re seeing more and more brands, from across a spectrum of sectors, claim specific colours to communicate who they are and what they stand for.
“The Wall Street Journal recently reported how Valentino’s Fall 2022 show focused on a unique shade of pink, which showed how brands are using colour to supplement its branding in a visual era. This year, we even saw Pantone introduce a completely new shade as its Colour of the Year - the first time in Pantone history.
“Colour is undoubtedly one of the top priorities for the paper industry which makes the launch of our very own Academy incredibly exciting today and for the future of James Cropper. We are at the forefront of colour technology and it’s crucial we nurture the next generation to ensure James Cropper continues to be world-renowned for decades to come.”
