Dow and RDM Group launch 100% recycled fibre and plastic food packaging

Multiboard CirculaRR is a plastic-coated, paper packaging innovation that advances circularity in food packaging

Dow and RDM Group have teamed up to launch Multiboard CirculaRR, a new recycled cartonboard designed for food packaging. This breakthrough solution improves sustainability for items like frozen fish, cakes, fruit trays, and dry pet food, offering a circular alternative for food-contact applications. 

Multiboard CirculaRR combines RDM Group’s fibre-based packaging expertise with Dow’s advanced recycling and circular polymer technologies. The result is a high-performance solution made entirely from recycled paper and advanced recycled polyethylene (PE), specifically designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern packaging. 

Developed at RDM Group’s Fiskeby facility in Sweden, this new innovation evolves the existing Multiboard Barrier technology. By utilizing a recycled cartonboard with a thin polyethylene (PE) coating (approximately 5% by weight), the solution maintains compatibility with standard mixed paper recycling streams for better end-of-life efficiency. 

“Multiboard CirculaRR is a breakthrough packaging innovation that advances circularity in food packaging. Now its plastic part is certified as being made from recycled materials and is designed for recyclability,” commented Krzysztof Krajewski, chief sustainability and innovation officer at RDM Group. 

“In the packaging sector, paper and plastic are often seen as competing materials. Through our collaboration with Dow, we want to help the recycling industry move beyond the siloes of fibre and plastic and focus on accelerating our common goal of advancing circularity and preventing packaging waste.” 

Multiboard’s CirculaRR plastic part is certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) system, confirming the use of recycled plastic from advanced recycling through a mass‑balance chain of custody. The packaging solution has also achieved certification from ISEGA, an independent testing institute specializing in materials intended for food contact, confirming its suitability for food packaging applications. 

Dow’s materials science and circular polymer expertise play a key role in enabling this food-contact-compliant solution by supporting the use of certified recycled plastic from advanced recycling. Working alongside mechanical recycling, advanced recycling provides a complementary pathway for hard‑to‑recycle plastic waste, converting it back into molecular building blocks that can be used to produce high‑performance plastics with virgin‑like quality. 

Marian Gmenta, senior marketing manager for circular and renewable solutions at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics EMEA, added, “We’re delighted to partner with RDM Group on this breakthrough circular innovation. By combining RDM Group’s fibre‑based packaging expertise with Dow’s circular polymer know‑how, we have developed a food‑contact‑compliant packaging solution, exclusively from recycled materials, with broad application potential that supports brands and converters as they prepare for upcoming EU packaging requirements such as PPWR.”