Sales and marketing director Mark Richards said: "At 700 microns it is directly litho-printable, making it a credible alternative to heavy folding boxboard, and offering carton printers new alternatives."

The technology for "O" Flute has been developed over a number of years at the companys Norwich plant, which is dedicated to the production of Norboard.

Richards said that some carton printers struggled to run any board over 800 microns, but at 700 microns "O" Flute would run on most presses. "O" Flute is a lower fibre-content solid board. Over 85% of its fibres are recycled.

"O" Flute was demonstrated running through a Komori Lithrone 28 at its launch at the Leeds showroom of Komori UK in front of a group of 100 carton printers.

Richards said the response had been very positive, with some initial sales already reported.

Story by Andy Scott