Nfinite hits 100 meters per minute in roll-to-roll barrier paper production

The leap from laboratory to industrial viability

In the packaging materials sector, the graveyard of innovation is filled with brilliant laboratory concepts that failed to scale. Achieving high-barrier properties on paper is relatively straightforward in a controlled, slow-moving environment. Doing it continuously, at speeds that make commercial sense, is an entirely different engineering challenge. This week, advanced materials company Nfinite announced a critical milestone: the successful continuous roll-to-roll production of its Atmospheric Pressure Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (AP-SALD) technology at speeds exceeding 100 meters per minute.

Operating out of its pilot manufacturing platform in Waterloo, Ontario, Nfinite coated a continuous 24-inch-wide paper web over 100 meters. This development is significant for the global flexible packaging market, which has long sought a viable, curbside-recyclable alternative to metalized plastic films. By proving that its proprietary AP-SALD platform can function under industrial manufacturing conditions, Nfinite moves its technology out of the experimental phase and into the realm of commercial converting.

Technical performance and market implications

The core value proposition of Nfinite's technology lies in its ability to deposit ultra-thin, highly conformal coatings in open air, without the need for vacuum chambers traditionally associated with atomic layer deposition. The recent demonstration did not just achieve high speeds; it maintained atomic-scale coating precision. According to the company, the moisture barrier achieved less than 0.2 g/m2/day in tropical conditions. This metric is crucial, as it provides a projected shelf-life equivalent to that of metalized plastic films, a non-negotiable requirement for major FMCG brands.

Guillaume Stal, Chief Operating Officer of Nfinite, emphasized the practical nature of this achievement, noting that the packaging industry requires solutions that can be manufactured reliably at an industrial scale. This pragmatic approach aligns with the demands of brand owners who are under increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to transition away from multi-layer, non-recyclable flexible plastics.

Building on a foundation of strategic partnerships

This manufacturing milestone does not exist in a vacuum. It builds upon a strategic foundation laid over the past few years. In late 2025, Nfinite secured nearly $3.9 million CAD in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to scale its thin-film deposition platform. Furthermore, the company has been actively collaborating with global giants like PepsiCo and Unilever to develop high-barrier coatings tailored for specific food and consumer goods applications.

Earlier in 2026, Nfinite also joined Canada's Ocean Supercluster to accelerate the deployment of materials that reduce marine plastic pollution. These alliances indicate a strong market pull for the technology, provided the manufacturing economics can be validated. The ability to run at 100 meters per minute is the first major proof point that the economics of AP-SALD can compete in the high-volume packaging sector.

While a 24-inch web is still a pilot scale compared to the massive widths of commercial paper machines and wide-web converters, achieving this speed with uniform barrier performance is a formidable technical victory. The company is now targeting the coating of thousands of meters in continuous length by the end of 2026, paving the way for its first full-scale commercial manufacturing facility.

The successful demonstration of AP-SALD at 100 m/min proves that atomic-level precision is no longer confined to the slow lane, offering a realistic pathway to phase out metalized plastics in flexible packaging. As Nfinite prepares to scale up to wider commercial webs, will the existing converting infrastructure adapt quickly enough to integrate these advanced nanocoated papers into mainstream production lines? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai