The R&D centre, set to cost €5 million, has already commenced construction, and is due for completion in late 2023. 

The facility will support Mondi customers by helping them to develop sustainable packaging products, including pilot lines for both plastic and paper-based products, the company said.

Some of the site’s capabilities will include coated products, film extrusion, and printing to filling lines for multiple products. It will also have an analytical laboratory and a ‘customer experience centre’ to meet and collaborate with customers.

Elisabeth Schwaiger, Mondi’s head of R&D and IP Flexible Packaging, said: “This R&D centre demonstrates our hands-on approach to developing sustainable packaging solutions at Mondi.

“We look forward to working with our customers, combining their knowledge with ours to meet their sustainable packaging goals.”

The investment, she added, will also help Mondi reach its own 2030 sustainability goals, including a target to make 100% of its products reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.

In the announcement, Mondi signalled its intention to bring together experts from a range of different packaging areas, and methods such as extrusion coating, aqueous coating and and siliconisation would be available for trial.

Customers will likewise be able to test new packaging types using in-house filling lines, including both horizontal and vertical filling, forming, and sealing equipment, so that they do not have to interrupt their own production lines to test new packaging.

Mondi also recently opened a dedicated recyclability lab at its Franschach site in Austria.