The innovation marks a potentially significant breakthrough for the food and packaging industries, as it could pave the way for large numbers of chocolate bars to be wrapped and sold in the stuff of their creation.
Approximately 10 tonnes of cocoa husk waste accounts for every single tonne of dry cocoa bean produced, or 76% of the fruit itself. The company says that, unlike other cocoa recycling processes, the paper is made without burning or gradual degrading of the fibres of the cocoa husk, the finished light brown paper utilises the cocoa as a natural colourant, avoiding the need for artificial dyes.
The cocoa husk paper was developed through a series of trials by experts at the 168 year old, family-run mill following a request by the high-quality cocoa and chocolate products manufacturer Barry Callebaut to consider how their environmental responsibility and waste recovery processes could be enhanced by a packaging review.
The finished product, predominantly made up of unbleached cellulose fibre from sustainable crops, features a 10% cocoa husk content, with the cocoa waste materials being delivered to the mill in pulpable bags, meaning they can be incorporated into the paper-making process without the need for any additional processing.
Effectively a physical token of the manufacturer's efforts to support sustainable cocoa farming, the paper is now in production and certified for use in the food supply chain.
Mark Cropper, chairman of James Cropper, said: "Being tasked to create a new paper product is always exciting for our product development team, who work closely with our clients to ensure they get the packaging solution they require. Creating paper from cocoa husks, and achieving food industry certification for its use in packaging edible products of all kinds, is a great achievement and is another example of James Cropper developing industry-leading solutions for even more sustainable methods of paper production."
Phil Wild, chief executive of James Cropper added: "The production of a brand new paper that repurposes the primary waste material of the cocoa and chocolate industry reflects how far we can push the capabilities of our state-of-the-art mill, our expertise and paper itself. The result is a beautifully simple product that is entirely appropriate for its intended use; perhaps providing a starting point for other industries to consider how their waste materials could be better reused rather than disposed of."
The cocoa husk paper will be showcased to the paper and packaging industry for the first time at Luxepack? the international trade fair taking place at the Grimaldi Forum,?Monaco from 23–25 October.
