Sun Chemical and Archipelago partner on fiber packaging

Sun Chemical has announced a comprehensive partnership with Archipelago Technology Group to develop and supply coatings for paper-based and molded fiber packaging, with the first jointly approved coating, BARV656: VAPORBLOC DFC HOTFOOD, now commercially available following testing and validation.

The partnership combines Archipelago's Powerdrop non-contact coater with Sun Chemical's advanced liquid barrier and resistant coatings, including optional heat seal capability, targeting paper-based packaging applications spanning 2D substrates and 3D molded fiber containers. The Powerdrop platform applies an ultra-thin functional coating layer at high throughput with minimal waste, with the total coating weight kept below the five percent threshold critical to PPWR Grade A recyclability classification, which qualifies packaging as at least 95 percent recyclable and grants permanent market access under the lowest EPR fee structures.

The partnership arrives as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force and began to generally apply from August 2026, establishing legally binding recyclability rules across all EU member states that will affect market access and EPR fee structures for packaging formats that rely on plastic lamination or extrusion.

'Archipelago's Powerdrop technology solves this problem by applying a highly efficient, ultra-thin functional coating layer at high throughput with very low levels of waste, creating a uniform, high-performance barrier layer for demanding packaging applications,' said Pete Saunders, global director of digital businesses at Sun Chemical. 'By pairing Sun Chemical's advanced barrier coatings with the Powerdrop coating application technology, we can keep the total weight of the coating well under the critical 5 percent threshold. This means the container remains a highly pure cellulose monomaterial that can be recycled through existing paper infrastructure without specialized sorting.'

'With the PPWR taking effect this August, the window for stopgap, heavily laminated packaging is rapidly closing,' said Guy Newcombe, CEO of Archipelago Technology. 'Our agreement with Sun Chemical allows us to deliver a complete, proven platform, giving the industry a practical tool to achieve high barrier performance while supporting packaging designs intended to meet evolving European recyclability requirements.'