Launched at FachPack, held in Nuremburg, Germany at the end of September, Zangrass is said to offer a natural look with fine grass flecks on a greenish-beige base.
Virgin fibres of sun-dried grass are being used for 20%-40% of the make-up of the product, with the remainder consisting of bleached fresh fibre pulp.
Zangrass is suitable for flexo printing and Zanders said it is working to enable suitability for offset printing.
The company said the product has a textured surface while the quality “has good stability and processing properties”. It is largely targeted at primary liner applications for fruit bowls and vegetable trays as well as reusable paper carrier bags.
The paper is completely recyclable and compostable and is available in weights of 120gsm and 150gsm. An expansion of the product range to include lighter and heavier grammages is also planned for the future.
“Sustainability and naturalness are becoming more and more important in the market. Therefore, Zangrass hits a market trend since not only is its origin sustainable but also the process chain for the production saves emissions and water consumption,” said Zanders sales director John Tucker.
“It is mainly used in the segment of organic and natural products, which is a growing market segment, but can be applied in various other areas as well.”
He added: “The reception at FachPack was very successful. Zangrass attracted lots of visitors to our booth and there were many interested parties like agencies, printers and convertors as well as other paper mills. End users also showed great interest in the sustainable grass paper.”
Zangrass is commercially available in sheets and reels with immediate effect. It is supplied directly by Zanders, which said pricing is dependent on factors including size, reel parameters and volume.
Zanders was among a number of non-integrated producers to be hit by big increases in input costs, including pulp, and began insolvency proceedings over the summer.
Insolvency administrator Marc d’Avoine was officially appointed at the beginning of September and later in the month the business said it expects to have sealed a deal with a new investor by the end of the year.
In recent weeks it has invested around €7m (£6.23m) in converting its on-site power plant from hard coal to natural gas and launched new natural barrier paper Zanbarrier NGR, which was also on show at FachPack.
Around 500 employees currently work for Zanders, which was founded by Johann Wilhelm Zanders in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, in 1829. The business still operates the Gohrsmu¨hle paper mill there today and produces around 100,000 tonnes annually.
