- BOSTON, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi North America, a leading producer and global supplier of diversified paper and packaging products, has been recognized for its innovations in paper by interzum, the world's leading trade fair for furniture production and interior design, which named Sappi's recently launched Neoterix™ ST release paper as a winner of its intelligent material & design award.

interzum's annual awards highlight visionary technologies, innovative materials and groundbreaking design across the industry. A jury of experts is responsible for reviewing participating companies' most forward-thinking products, placing special emphasis on creative design that adds significant value to products and services.

Neoterix™ ST is the result of Sappi's collaboration with Sharklet Technologies, Inc., with whom it entered an exclusive, worldwide license agreement in 2016 to manufacture and distribute casting and release paper and film that feature the groundbreaking Sharklet™ microtexture. Neoterix™ ST, which creates surfaces that resist bacterial attachment and growth without the use of toxic additives or chemicals, was chosen by five experts in design and architecture who were given a live demonstration of its capabilities. Judges included Dr. Luisa Bocchietto, architect and designer; Martin Darbyshire, founder and CEO of tangerine; Dick Spierenburg, designer for Spierenburg studio; Professor Dipl.-Ing. Martin Stosch and Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and president of the Red Dot Award.

"We've been extremely excited about the capabilities of Neoterix™ ST, so we're thrilled to have it recognized by such an influential organization," said Tom Collins, Vice President and General Manager, Specialties Business, Sappi North America. "Every day people come into contact with the texture imparted by Sappi's release papers on almost every type of surface they encounter in their lives, including furniture and laminates. Neoterix™ ST is poised to make a significant impact on the health and safety of our home and office environments, so we hope this recognition will inspire designers, modelers and manufacturers to start marrying their designs with powerful functionality."

To learn more about Neoterix™ ST and inhibiting bacterial growth on surfaces to reduce the risk of infections, visit the Sappi booth #C075 at interzum in Cologne, Germany, May 16-19 or email neoterix@sappi.com.

About Sappi North America Sappi North America, headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. The success of our four diversified businesses – high quality Coated Printing Papers, Specialised Cellulose, Release Papers and Specialty Packaging – is driven by strong customer relationships, best-in-class people and advantaged assets, products and services. Our high quality Coated Printing Papers, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are the key platform for premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Specialised Cellulose used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods, and one of the world's leading suppliers of Release Papers with our Ultracast, PolyEX, Classics and Neoterix lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries. Our Specialty Packaging products, such as LusterPrint and LusterCote, represent an important asset in the food packaging and labeling industries. Customers rely on Sappi for high technical, operational and market expertise; products and services delivered with consistently high quality and reliability; and, state-of-the-art and cost-competitive assets and innovative spirit.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 150 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com.

About Sharklet TechnologiesSharklet Technologies is a biotechnology company that develops surface technologies that are designed to inhibit microorganism growth to make the world a healthier, environmentally safer, and better place. Inspired by the microbial- resistant properties of sharkskin, Sharklet®, the company's core technology, is the world's first microtexture developed to manage bacteria, including Staph, MRSA, VRE, E. coli and a host of others. Sharklet^® is suited for commercial, healthcare, food service, and laboratory environments where bacterial inhibition is desired to help protect human health. The company is based at the Bioscience Park Center, an incubator in the Fitzsimons Life Science District adjacent to the renowned Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo. Learn more about Sharklet at: www.sharklet.com.