The Dutch group of companies Tembo, is setting up factories for the production of biodegradable paper straws. Goal is to eliminate plastic straws from the market as soon as possible. Under the company flag of Tembo Paper B.V., the family-owned business will open its first production location in Kampen (The Netherlands), this summer. Tembo Paper is offering white label straws and paper spiralling technology for partners to start up their own paper straw production line.
With its own paper spiralling platform Tembo Paper will be the largest producer of paper straws in Europe.
Own paper straw spiralling technology developed
The starting point for the paper straw production is the paper straw spiralling technology, developed by Imatec. This Tembo company, based in Luxembourg, is renowned for its paper converting platforms. Pierre Mousson, managing director of Imatec: “We were inspired to develop this paper spiralling technology, because one of our sister companies needed higher quality cardboard tubes than were available in the market at that time. Once we succeeded in producing tubes with a diameter as small as 3 millimetres, we knew we had a winning technology in our hands.”
Scale-up paper straw production
Arend van der Sluis, chairman of Tembo: “We immediately saw the opportunity to scale-up the worldwide production of biodegradable paper straws. Because we can produce paper straws in high-volume with a small footprint, we can offer a high-quality alternative for plastic straws.”
Partnering to eliminate plastic straws completely
Due to worldwide changes in regulations on the use of single-use plastics, the need for an alternative for plastic straws is immense. For example, the use of plastic straws will be prohibited in Europe as of 2021. That is why Tembo Paper is looking for partners, worldwide. Mr. Van der Sluis: “We are starting up our own production locations this year, but even with our high-volume technology, we will not be able to produce enough paper straws to completely replace the use of plastic straws. That is why we are looking for partners, who wish to use our technology to produce their own paper straws.”
The first production location of Tembo Paper will be established at the site of Tembo headquarters in Kampen (The Netherlands). To optimize production at this location, Tembo Paper is looking to hire extra staff.
