COMPOSITES FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

The present invention is directed to an unexpectedly unique environmentally friendly composite material structure (22) and storage article fabricated therefrom. The composite structure (22) includes a fiber-containing layer (24)， such as a fiberboard layer or other layer having fibers from natural and/or synthetic sources， and a mineral-containing layer (26) covering the fiber-containing layer (24). The mineral-containing layer (26) is substantially continuously bonded to the fiber-containing layer (24) along the surface (25) of the fiber-containing layer (24). The fiber-containing layer (24) and mineral-containing layer (26) can be shaped， sized and manufactured such that the composite structure (22) formed therefrom is capable of being machined to form the storage article. The composite structure (22) has advantages in that it has a high degree of pliability and flexibility that is increased over the pliability of the fiber-containing layer (24) alone， which renders it highly attractive to consumers. The composite structure (22) further has tensile strength and other characteristics that allow it to be readily machined into desired storage article forms， such as box and carton forms. Further advantages include environmentally attractive features such as less water， bleaching agent， formaldehyde usage and discharge as well as 50% or better use of recycled or post consumer recycled fibers.