From retail-ready packaging to zero-carbon mills, Solidus is reforming the packaging industry’s sustainable future
As the packaging industry faces tightening legislation, increased sustainability targets among retailers and a generational shift away from single-use plastics, manufacturers are under more pressure to find credible, scalable alternatives to plastic. For Solidus, the European based producer of solid board and fiber-based circular packaging, with headquarters in the Netherlands, this moment of disruption feels less like a threat and more like a long-awaited opportunity.
With over 150 years of heritage in paper-based packaging, the company has spent the past few years positioning itself at the leading edge of the transition, investing in next-generation product lines, embedding circularity into its design process and helping customers navigate their own sustainability journeys.
CEO Niels Flierman describes the last five years as a turbulent period, with the Covid pandemic unsettling supply chains across the industry and causing unprecedented demand for products. “2022 was probably the peak of that instability,” Niels elaborates. “We’ve worked very hard to bring our cost base back in line with a market that now has overcapacity. Alongside that, we’ve been very active commercially and exploring how we distinguish ourselves from competitors. Continuing our innovation journey was already a priority in 2022, and it’s become even stronger since, driven partly by legislative pressure.”
He adds: “You can either see new regulation as a threat or an opportunity – I choose to see it as an opportunity. We’re talking about plastic replacement, deposit return schemes and retailers actively looking for alternative packaging materials. Our innovation teams need to be ready to capitalize on those shifts and outperform competitors.”
Efficiency and performance
Moving away from a regional approach, Solidus has reorganized into two core businesses: board and converting. The aim is to improve efficiency and strengthen end-to-end performance.
Furthermore, the company has invested €11 million in the development of its Futurline® packaging solutions. “Futurline® products differ from our traditional solid board boxes used to pack fish, meat and poultry,” Niels explains. “Futurline® is focused on retail-facing packaging. One element is fiber-based punnets, such as mushroom and soft fruit punnets. Another is skin packaging, comprising of shrink film over a board tray. We make it, amongst others, for meat, hamburgers and fish. Skin packaging is particularly popular in southern European markets, for example within large grocery retail chains. The third element is modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), which includes trays designed for chilled and fresh food applications, such as ready meals.”
Solidus is also launching new applications linked to changing consumer habits, including concepts that can withstand use in appliances such as air fryers. “We are testing how our materials perform in these kinds of applications,” Niels adds. “It is still in development, but the early results are very promising, and customers are showing strong interest.”
From product innovation to its underlying philosophy, Solidus is circular by nature. “Everything we produce can be recycled, and that’s what we bring to our customers – a genuinely circular model,” Niels elaborates. With new legislation like PPWR coming into force, recyclability is set to become a requirement rather than a choice.
“Circularity is always front of mind for our designers and development teams when they’re creating new products or sitting with customers to understand their needs,” he adds. “We make our board from recycled material and use it to create packaging for customers, which can ultimately return to the chain. It’s a closed loop. We’re also helping our customers embed that circularity into their own operations and drive waste out of the value chain.” Sustainability is a lens Solidus applies to every investment decision, including a mill run entirely on a zero-carbon emission fuel source and investigation into e-boilers, solar panels and heat pumps. “Our goal is to eliminate our carbon footprint wherever economically feasible. It can’t always be done immediately, but we’re actively studying every avenue to reduce it as much as possible.”
Beyond packaging innovation, the company has recently brought brand-new offset printing presses up to speed at its converting facilities in Oude Pekela (the Netherlands) and Hoogstraten (Belgium). This improves print quality, increases capacity and speeds up delivery to market.
“We’re also taking a significant step into AI and looking at how we can use it to become more predictive in maintenance and customer service,” reveals Niels. “Can we better anticipate what’s going to happen in a process or supply chain? It’s quite a new world for us and we’re genuinely excited about what it could bring.”
With roots tracing back over 150 years, Niels credits the group’s longevity to three main factors; firm belief in its own products, remaining customer-centric and investing in its people. “We’ve stayed in the market for the long term and we’ve stayed close to our customers through thick and thin,” he says. “Perhaps most importantly, we continue to bring in new talent, including operational engineers, electronics specialists and AI experts. This business’ most valuable assets are its people.”
Aside from continued commitment to employees, Solidus’ main priority over the next five years is sustainability; predominantly completing its CO₂ roadmap and reducing its footprint. “Solid board is a fantastic product,” states Niels. “It’s high quality, it prints beautifully, and it can tackle an enormous range of applications. I want to instill this even further into the market. The opportunity to replace polystyrene packaging with solid board in fish and seafood chains is huge, and it’s a more circular, sustainable solution. Additionally, we’ll be carefully navigating the legislative and geopolitical landscape while continuing to grow the company, bring it to the next level of maturity, and attract the same outstanding level of talent that will get us there.”
