Packaging material, and process of manufacturing the same

1. A packaging material comprising a core material layer, said core material layer having a first surface, a second surface opposite the first surface, a hole extending through the core material layer from the first surface to the second surface, and an area radially extending from an edge of the hole in said core material layer, wherein said area has a decreasing core material layer thickness profile towards the edge of the hole that is defined by a linear or non-linear taper along both of the first and second surfaces of the core material layer, wherein the core material layer is made from a material selected from the group consisting of paper, paperboard, and cardboard.

2. The packaging material according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness at the edge of the hole of the core material layer is decreased in relation to a nominal thickness of the core material layer by a percentage selected from the group consisting of at least 30%, at least 50%, and between 50-95%.

3. The packaging material according to claim 1 , wherein the area radially extends from the edge of the hole of the core material layer a distance selected from the group consisting of at least 1μm, at least 2.5 μm, and at least 5 μm.

4. The packaging material according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an outer layer comprising at least one polymer layer, said outer layer positioned adjacent the first surface of the core material layer; and

an inner layer comprising at least one polymer layer, said inner layer positioned adjacent the second surface of the core material layer.

5. A method of producing the packaging material according to claim 1 , wherein the area having said decreasing core material thickness profile is obtained by compression and/or punching of the core material layer.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the area having said decreasing core material thickness profile is obtained by both compression and punching of the core material layer.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the compression is higher at the edge of the hole and linearly or non-linearly decreases in a radial manner from the edge of the hole.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the punching is done at a side of the core material layer intended to become an inside of a finished package, said side comprising one of said first surface and said second surface of said core material layer.

9. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the punching is performed using at least one punching tool at an angle with respect to one of the first or second surfaces of the core material layer, said angle being below 90° .

10. The method according to claim 5 , wherein at least two punching tools are used to punch the hole of the core material layer and said at least two punching tools have different punch directions to obtain inclinations on both of the first and second surfaces of the core material layer.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the at least two punching tools are related to each other by an angle that is between 10-178°.

12. A container comprising the packaging material according to claim 1 .

13. The packaging material according to claim 4 , wherein the core material layer further comprises at least one of a protective layer and a sealing layer.

14. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the punching is performed using at least one punching tool at an angle with respect to one of the first or second surfaces of the core material layer, said angle being at most 85°.

15. The method of claim 6 , wherein said compression is performed simultaneously with said punching of the core material layer.

16. The method of claim 6 , wherein said compression is performed before or after said punching of the core material layer.