A successful pilot project and plant trials in close co-operation with the business unit Flexible Packaging, a part of the Speciality Paper organization of Stora Enso, preceded the commercialisation of the product. Stora Enso’s business development manager, Keith Damarell, pointed out the benefits of the process: “We can coat the polymer dispersions directly on to the paper or board as the BASF’s barrier dispersions can be used in our existing plants.”

Coating with BASF’s barrier dispersions can help avoid the need for additional process stages in the manufacturing of packaging paper. Above all, barrier coating, which can be carried out at higher production speeds than the manufacturing of composite packaging, result in fully recyclable packaging products.

Since July 2001, several new business development teams have been set up in BASF’s operating divisions. The teams are tasked with promoting new ideas with strong innovative potential and, together with operating units and their customers, to bring them to market. All projects deploy a clearly defined business development process. “Barrier dispersions are a good example of how using this process can quickly turn an idea into a viable business”, explained Dr. Martin Brudermüller, head of the Functional Polymers division. The project’s success confirms the importance of BASF’s new concept of systematic innovation management.

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