UPM, Siegwerk and Uteco have reported a joint development for paper-based secondary packaging. In a release dated 20 October 2026, UPM describes a combination of its barrier base paper, Siegwerk coating and Uteco application technology. The announcement places the change in the outer packaging; it says the primary pack continues to protect the product.
Three roles in one converting process
According to the official announcement, Siegwerk supplies CIRKIT BAR SEAL and Uteco applies the coating with high-definition flexographic technology. Uteco describes a joint production trial combining coating, printing and heat sealing in one pass. These are the participants’ accounts of the process, rather than results from a trial independently observed by Degradable Packaging.
The useful development for converters is the proposed integration of several operations. The announcement does not give a line-speed dataset, coating weight or operating-cost calculation with which to assess the size of any efficiency gain.
Keep the secondary-pack boundary visible
Changing the secondary pack and changing the pack that directly contains a product are different projects. Here, UPM explicitly retains a protective role for the primary packaging. The announcement therefore does not establish that the complete packaging system is plastic-free, or that its primary container has been replaced.
That boundary matters when comparing material claims: an improvement stated for the outer format cannot automatically be applied to every packaging component. Our guide to paper-packaging barrier choices provides broader context; it is not a test report for this collaboration.
The next evidence is at pack and process level
The release also makes barrier and recyclability claims, but does not provide the underlying test reports. This report does not independently verify those properties or establish acceptance by a particular recycling operator. Quantitative performance, operating conditions and the final packaging construction remain necessary evidence for an application-specific assessment.
The announcement is a documented example of collaboration between a paper supplier, a coating supplier and an equipment provider. It is not evidence of market-wide adoption, a measured life-cycle benefit or a compliance decision.
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