Scaling renewable coatings through collaboration
Barrier coatings are gaining momentum as the packaging industry accelerates its transition toward fiber-based, recyclable, PFAS-free solutions. However, moving renewable barrier chemistries from laboratory success to industrial relevance at scale remains a key challenge. Scaling requires more than chemistry – it demands process understanding, pilot validation, and strong collaboration across the value chain.
Kemira approached UMV Coating Systems to advance a new renewable barrier coating from proof of concept to industrial pilot-scale validation. By combining Kemira’s KemAlpha™ renewable chemistry platform with UMV’s coating technologies including INVO® Coater, coating process expertise and advanced pilot coating capabilities, the collaboration demonstrates how value-chain driven initiatives can help build and accelerate the pathway to scaling renewable solutions.
KemAlpha: From promising chemistry to pilot-scale reality
Commercially competitive renewable coatings are an important step toward more sustainable packaging solutions, particularly for fiber-based packaging materials. However, developing a renewable barrier chemistry with the right balance of performance, recyclability, biodegradability, price, scalability and process compatibility, doesn’t stop in the lab.
What often separates a good idea from a viable solution is the ability to test it under realistic conditions.
Industrial pilot-scale validation is essential to understand how renewable barrier coatings behave on real production lines and to ensure they can be scaled efficiently and with commercial competitiveness
Matthias Krätschell – Manager, Business Creation Barriers Paper & Board, New Ventures EMEA, Kemira
Kemira’s new KemAlpha renewable barrier solutions have passed several development stages. Initial extensive lab and small scale pilot testing have proven that KemAlpha can achieve excellent oil and grease resistance and high oxygen barrier performance (OTR) <1 (g/m2/day, in 23°C/50%RH). The next step in the development process was the validation on industrial coating equipment, focusing not only on barrier properties but also on achieving feasible coating processability and coating process performance.
This is where UMV’s role became critical. With its industrial pilot coating facilities and deep expertise in developing and implementing coating application technologies, UMV enabled testing beyond laboratory limitations.
The value of pilot coating expertise
UMV has decades of experience in coating technologies and offers pilot line services that allow customers to validate new formulations under near-industrial conditions. For Kemira, this capability has been key in testing KemAlpha coating concepts through multiple trials.
Testing renewable coatings like Kemira’s KemAlpha requires more than just running a machine. It demands flexibility, technical understanding of the coatings and close cooperation to adapt process parameters and evaluate results together.
Magnus Nilsson – Sales Director, UMV Coating Systems
Rather than a single trial, the collaboration has involved continuous development and iterative testing, allowing both teams to learn, adjust, and refine the approach.
Compatibility, scalability and confidence
A central theme in the collaboration has been compatibility with existing coating equipment. For packaging producers, solutions that can be applied using current machines and processes are significantly easier to adopt.
Our focus has been on validating KemAlpha renewable barrier solutions in a way that reflects real and existing production environments. That means understanding not only overall performance, but also preparation, runnability and efficiency, to learn how KemAlpha fits onto existing industrial coating lines.
Salman Hassanzadeh – Sr Manager, Applications, New Ventures EMEA, Kemira
Through the pilot trials at UMV, Kemira has been able to assess how KemAlpha barrier solutions perform across UMV’s INVO® Coater and other coating technologies, supporting learning and providing evidence of scalability.
Collaboration as a catalyst for innovation
The collaboration between Kemira and UMV underscores the importance of value chain collaboration initiatives when working in emerging and dynamic technology areas. Renewable coatings are still evolving, and success depends on combining complementary strengths.
What makes this collaboration work very efficiently is a joint target setting and the open exchange between our teams.From the first discussions to the pilot trials, it was clear that both sides were thrilled working toward the same goal: making a renewable barrier technology applicable at scale.
Magnus Nilsson – Sales Director, UMV Coating Systems
Rather than focusing on single aspects, the collaboration centers on building the knowledge, processes, and confidence needed to advance renewable coating technologies further.
In summary, scaling renewable coatings requires bespoke expertise in substrates, renewable chemistries, coating methods and coating equipment and the willingness to experiment, learn and adapt.
The strong collaboration has resulted in achieving key milestones of scaling KemAlpha barrier solutions with different UMV’s coating technologies including INVO® Coater in terms of ease of handling, coating speed and overall performance and will continue with the target of reaching full scalability on industrial coating equipment.
About UMV
UMV Coating Systems specializes in coating solutions, offering pilot and industrial-scale equipment for a wide range of applications. With its advanced pilot coating facilities in Sweden and deep process expertise, UMV supports customers in validating and scaling innovative materials, bridging the gap between laboratory development and industrial production.
About Kemira
Kemira is a global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water-intensive industries. With strong roots in fiber-based materials, Kemira develops chemistry that supports performance, recyclability, and regulatory compliance across the packaging value chain. Through long-term collaborations and application expertise, Kemira helps customers progress toward more sustainable packaging solutions.
Looking ahead
As pressure increases to deliver recyclable and biodegradable future-ready packaging, collaborations like the one between Kemira and UMV Coating Systems are playing an increasingly important role. By combining chemistry, equipment expertise, and industrial pilot-scale validation, value chain initiatives can help ensure that renewable coatings move from development to deployment—supporting the packaging industry’s transition at pace.
