Meet our Account Manager Mathias Karlsson with over 20 years’ experience in the Nordic wood pellet industry

He has worked in the pellet industry since wood pellets were first packaged in plastic sacks in the Nordic countries in the early 2000s, during which time he has witnessed plenty of change. Many sustainable development projects have been initiated both in the pellet industry and the product development of packaging films.

Short path from idea to product

“We at Rani Plast prioritise the personal contact with the customer and want to shorten the path from you to our Account Manager then on to product development and production,” said Mathias.

“The collaboration between the product development team in Finland and the sales organisation here in Sweden works very well,” he continued. “We provide reliable deliveries and innovative solutions, and I am the person to turn to if want to know more about pellet packaging or have ideas on new packaging solutions. I am easily reachable and responsible for Rani Plast’s customers in Sweden and Denmark,” Mathias explained.

Innovation – we’ve got a handle on it

Recently, through close customer collaboration and Mathias Karlsson’s extensive experience in the wood pellet industry, a new product was brought to market: plastic sack for wood pellets with a useful carrying handle. This is a product that appeals to consumers who like the cosy warmth of a fireplace or stove and need a practical and hygienic way to carry pellet sacks into their house, flat or summer cottage.

We now provide our customers a new innovative solution with a more sustainable film and a suitable design so the sacks work easily for the end consumer. 

Mathias Karlsson

“Carrying pellets in a sack with a handle is more convenient and less messy than having your arms full of logs,” said Mathias. “We now provide our customers a new innovative solution with a more sustainable film and a suitable design so the sacks work easily for the end consumer.  Our customers punch out a section of plastic to form the handle. Traditional film would not have held, but Rani Plast’s new sustainable film is strong enough to work as a handle,” Mathias explained.

New: complete pellet pallet made of recycled material

The pellets market is growing and pellet companies providing consumer packages are demanding packaging film made of recycled or biobased raw material. Today, we can meet these demands.

“We supply entire packaging solutions of recycled and fossil-based raw material as well as printed RaniStretchHood in different colours. Our new printing machine is energy-efficient and uses less ink, which makes it more environmentally friendly overall,” explained Mathias.

Rani FFS Heat film with an extraordinarily effective welding function

The Rani FFS Heat film is a high-quality product that can be customised according to your requirements for length, width, thickness and print. Mathias Karlsson, who has been involved with the manufacturing of plastic packaging for wood pellets since 2000, has witnessed incredibly rapid development. Today, he emphasises the importance of an effective welding function for the films.

“When the pellet industry started out, one machine could pack 600 bags per hour. Today, a newly installed machine can handle over 2,000 bags per hour,” said Mathias.  “Our pellet film has been developed to suit modern machines. We also provide high printing finish on our film and understand the importance of the films working together with customers’ production lines.”

Our pellet film has been developed to suit modern machines. We also provide high printing finish on our film and understand the importance of the films working together with customers’ production lines.

Mathias Karlsson

New innovations: biobased films and MDO version

Even though Mathias has worked in the industry for over 20 years, he has not grown tired of plastic packaging or indeed wood pellets! He is eagerly looking forward to the new innovations he and the product development team at Rani Plast have been working on for several years.

“We have recently received ISSC Plus certification and will use increasingly more biobased raw materials such as tall oil-based polyethylene in our FFS films. Today, the most common thickness of RaniFFS Heat is 70 microns, but we are developing a more environmentally friendly and more economical RaniFFS Heat MDO version: a pre-stretched film with the same technical features present in 50 microns film,” enthused Mathias.