Overview
in brief
 Composition
 Grammage to Stiffness
 Appearance
 Production
 Supply Chain
 Sustainability
 Typical Markets
 Printing
 Cutting and scoring
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in brief
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Manufactured by KAPSTONE in their Charleston Mill,
South Carolina
High performance, low density, 2 ply folding
Cartonboard
Excellent Stiffness to grammage ratio
Natural uncoated appearance, helping to convey an
Earthy, Organic and Sustainable message to consumers
Manufactured using 100% virgin fibre
 Hardwood and Softwood fibre used
Manufactured in nine basis weights
 225gms (330 micron) to 410gms (762 micron)
Fibres
Strategic, controlled mix of hardwood and softwood
Hardwood
1.5mm
Pine
3-5mm
Composition
Kraftpak is internally sized – Low Cobb Values
Short Hardwood Fibres
One minute Cobb, 30 g/m2
Long pine fibers
One minute Cobb, 30 g/m2
Uncoated, pure, clean kraft fibers. Certified compostable (EN 13432)
Grammage to Stiffness Ratio
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Kraftpak boasts a superior grammage to stiffness
ratio than other GC/GD cartonboard grades
 25% reduction in packaging weight can typically
be achieved when switching to Kraftpak
 Resulting in more Cartons per tonne
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Outstanding moisture resistance and wet
durability make Kraftpak the perfect choice for
many challenging packaging applications
Natural Appearance
A natural, non-bleached, brown appearance.
 Kraftpak’s fibres are uniform and consistent, but
not bleached, stained or coated
 Natural variation in shade is negligible as per C Lab
chart
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Typical colour ranges over one year
L
a
b
Mean
59.746
6.869
17.545
StDev
.384
.382
.609
Min
58.87
5.77
15.810
Max
60.51
7.71
18.890
Shade-Colour Space
Production - KAPSTONE®
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Kraftpak manufactured twice every 5 weeks
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7-8 week delivery from receipt of order
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Mill located at Quay – No inland haulage delays!
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Thirty year history of excellent performance and
consistent customer supply
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Committed to the continued growth of Kraftpak
to meet increasing demand in the marketplace
 Increases in Kraftpak supply will be achieved
by reducing Kraft liner supply
Supply Chain
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Production schedule made available to
customers every week
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Reel stock held against a firm customer order
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Warren Board, Leicester hold stock sheets
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Mill orders sheeted in the UK and delivered
within 7 days of reels arriving
Security of Supply
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Charleston mill boasts long history of consistent
reliability
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Demonstrated by their 50,000mt/pa
relationship with a major U.S. retail brand of
beverage carriers for 20 years.
Sustainability
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High yield pulping and low density papermaking process
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COGEN power is used, 72% of mill fuel from renewable
sources. All residues from waste treatment are used as
biofuels
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Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment conducted by PE
International finished in 2011.
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Net result of Biogenic carbon storage, from uptake of CO2
in growing forest and emission from operations, results in
a net carbon storage available at the Mill gate
Sustainability
Kraftpak Carbon Footprint
Cradle To Gate GHG Impact
1000
784
Kg CO2 Equivalent Per Ton
500
0
372
Fibre Carbon
Storage
187
Material
Overall from Fibre
to Gate
Energy
Charleston
Mill
-500
-1000
-1500
-1497
-2000
Overall Kraftpak carbon footprint as it
leaves the mill gate: Net carbon storage
after all energy, materials usage and
emissions
-149
Responsible Packaging
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Kraftpak’s 100% renewable fibres are a valuable
resource for Recyclers
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…and are 100% recyclable where facilities exist
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Should Kraftpak end up in landfill, Kraftpak is
certified biodegradable and compostable (ISEGA,
EN13432)
– Typical Markets
Food Hygiene
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Kraftpak meets ISEGA requirements for direct food
contact
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Beverage bottle carriers and baskets
Beverage can carriers
Frozen meats and pies
Carry out takeaway trays
Bakery items
Fast food drink carriers
Frozen biscuits
Novelty ice cream packaging
High performance filter frames
Kraftpak has proven, demonstrated success in all of
the above environments
Examples
Wet Applications
Examples
Dry Applications
Printing - Flexo
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Anilox rolls should have cell volume adequate for
delivering inks and coatings to kraft board
 200 lines/inch (80 lines/cm) are commonly
used
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Printing is possible on softwood side, but
frequent wash-ups to be expected
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Softer plates and cushions may be beneficial for
improved surface contact
Printing - Litho
Will generally require more impression pressure
than other carton grades
 Compressible blankets recommended for offset
 Impression cylinder pressure should also be
adjusted as necessary to avoid mottle
 Ink film thickness of 0.5mls may be needed for
adequate ink cover
 Gap setting of .002” to .004” below nominal is a
good starting point
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Printing – Litho
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Ink tack levels in the 8-12 range (800rpm) are
recommended
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UV curing can provide ability to print white base
patterns as needed on a single pass
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Textured grippers may help with consistent sheet
transfer
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On litho presses, it is strongly recommended to
feed kraftpak sheets in the CD direction
Cutting and Scoring
Excellent Converting Efficiencies
 Cutting, Scoring, Folding,
Gluing
Resulting in...
 Fewer rejects
 Increased speeds
 Less downtime
 Increased handling rates
Scoring
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High strength to weight promotes excellent
performance in scoring and embossing
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Low density means Kraftpak is more compressible
than other cartonboards
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Scorelines will need to be deeper to avoid
springback
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Slightly higher impression pressure may be
required to achieve adequate scorelines
Cutting
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Cutting is similar to CUK, but significantly different
to that of SBS and recycled grades
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Knives need to be sharp
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Fewer and smaller nicks are needed for perforation
due to Kraftpak’s high fibre strength
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Cutting parameters should be chosen to overcome
the strong, compressible nature of Kraftpak
Scoring Parameters
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Recommended initial scoring parameters (grain and crossgrain) are below. Note, these are only initial guidelines.
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Rule Width
 2pt rule for .013-.018 caliper Kraftpak
 3pt rule for .020-.030 caliper Kraftpak
Channel Width
 Twice board caliper plus the rule width
Rule Penetration
 Target 0.006” penetration beyond top of channel
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