In an age of sustainability, where the entire economy is slowly but surely being transformed, packaging also needs to be redesigned. Corrugated board already has a very good carbon footprint, which is why this type of packaging is used by a great many shipping companies. The configurability of this packaging can even improve the environmental advantage.

Configure corrugated board packaging freely: What does that mean?

Sustainable packaging production is always looking for methods to further improve the carbon footprint of packaging. Corrugated board comes in well in this search, as it can be easily adapted to real needs. Surplus - in the form of far too large cartons for very small consignments of goods - does not have to be.

Possible configurations turn out as follows:

• Construction: A corrugated cardboard box can be folded, closed and opened again in a wide variety of ways. In addition to very simple standard versions, special formats exist that offer sophisticated closing mechanisms. Depending on the contents being shipped, other configurations may be considered.
• The size: can be easily adjusted - both in height, Width and length. So you can use a corrugated cardboard package in which the contents fit almost exactly. This saves material and has the advantage that the goods inside are not tossed around during transport - even without filling material.
• You can also adjust the thickness of the cardboard walls. The higher the weight, the more robust the walls should be. Double-wall cartons offer very secure protection even for contents weighing more than 30 kg. Theoretically, cardboard boxes with even more corrugations could also be used.

In addition, corrugated board packaging brings advantages in the area of marketing-effective individualization.

The carton as an advertising medium

Corrugated board is a material that is easy to print on. For companies, this opens up ways to use the shipping cartons themselves as an advertising medium. For example, a company logo, certain colors related to the company's own corporate design, or even brand names could find a place on corrugated board packaging.

Since digital printing on corrugated board, for example, is not expensive, the cost of customized cartons of this type also does not increase excessively. This also strengthens the bond between the companies and the customers they supply for relatively little effort. Since these printed items are usually freely scalable, they can find a place on small and large cartons alike.

Who uses the free configurability?

1. In principle, individually configured corrugated board packaging is interesting for every industry. However, there are some product types for which the ability to be freely configured is particularly significant.
2. All products that are sensitive feel particularly comfortable in boxes that are as precisely dimensioned as possible. Think, for example, of smartphone packaging: these usually have no clearance at all in their product packaging, so vibrations pass by the sensitive electronics almost without a trace.
3. Another example is all products made of glass - such as wine bottles, perhaps. These are also shipped in cartons made of corrugated board, often in at least a double wall version. This provides the necessary transport security. In standard cartons, secure shipping would only be possible with a great deal of (unnecessary) filling material.

In addition to these typical examples from everyday life, there are also entire groups of companies that benefit from such free configurability: those with a focus on sustainability.

Improve sustainability through configuration

Companies of all sizes now often attach importance to sustainability. If the packaging material is precisely adapted to the need, this brings some advantages:

1. In shipping, exactly the amount of material is used that is really necessary.
2. More goods can be stored in shipping vehicles, as no unnecessarily large packaging is used. This reduces the number of trips these vehicles have to make.
3. Lower material quantities go hand in hand with cost savings. The money saved can be used elsewhere for the company.

Since a focus on sustainability saves costs and increases profits, in principle any company in any industry with high shipping volumes can therefore benefit.

From a sustainability perspective, precisely configured packaging is always better. Small start-ups benefit from this just as much as large companies.

How much CO2 does corrugated packaging save?

In most cases, corrugated board packaging is superior to alternatives - such as reusable plastic packaging. However, this depends on the intended use. You can take a look at these examples:

1. A typical corrugated board package generates about 0.3 kg of CO2 for one transport route.
2. Packaging made of reusable plastic, on the other hand, pollutes the environment with 7 kg of CO2.

Therefore, this "battle" initially goes clearly in favor of corrugated packaging. However, this is always disposable packaging. Plastic packaging, on the other hand, is used more frequently. If such packaging covers 200 routes, its environmental balance is better than that of corrugated board packaging.

If the plastic material is recyclable, the tie is reached after just over 30 ways. So when shipping goods, it depends a lot on what is sent where and how often this packaging can probably be reused.

In the simple mail order business to the consumer - for example from the online store to the customer - it is probably unrealistic to cover 200 shipping routes with just one package. Here, corrugated board will clearly have the better CO2 balance for the time being - especially since around 85 percent of the material is recycled. In special cases, especially in the B2B sector, reusable packaging could come out on top.

Special case returnable bottles

Bottles made of plastic have a very good carbon footprint. Thanks to the deposit system in Germany, they are used very frequently - and the CO2 balance improves with every use. In the long term, this is far superior to the use of beverages filled in cardboard boxes or other bottles.

For example, a bottle of water in a returnable PET bottle produces only half as much CO2 as a comparable bottle made of glass. Plastic is therefore not necessarily worse than other packaging materials, but it strongly depends on the intended use.

Material savings through configuration

If we can tailor packaging exactly to the contents, we can save a lot of material and (in the long term) transport distances. You have certainly encountered this problem in everyday life: You have ordered something and the product is delivered in a shipping box that is far too large - surrounded by a lot of filling material.

By configuring freely and thinking about sustainable packaging production, we can already completely eliminate this waste. Instead of putting 70 cartons in a delivery vehicle, we might be able to store 110 packages in it. Transport routes are minimized, vehicle fleets can be reduced in number (or deliver a higher volume for the same number).

Corrugated board also saves energy through its production: recycled material directly on site can be transformed into finished shipping cartons without much effort.

Since corrugated board is very easy to cut to size, these configurators are able to work with centimeter precision. Companies could therefore use precisely cut packaging for various products in their range, or at least use a wide range of prefabricated packaging that is "good enough".

Product safety: fewer returns save CO2

Corrugated cardboard is a small but wonderful invention. It takes up very little space and creates a very effective buffer between the outer and inner carton walls with very little material. Even this buffer zone with a thickness of just a few millimeters already significantly increases transport safety.

Objects inside are subjected to much less stress from vibrations. This brings many advantages in everyday life from the point of view of the carbon footprint and customer satisfaction:

• Returns become less frequent: Since damage to the contents occurs less frequently, persons or companies supplied have to complain about the goods less often. Transport vehicles therefore have to be used less often just to drive another item from A to B because the packaging was inadequate. Due to the increased safety, corrugated board packaging thus eliminates a lot of CO2 on transport routes. This can make itself felt quite quickly: In the case of food, for example, almost 20 percent, or one-fifth, of CO2 emissions are due to its transport route.
• Delivered customers are more satisfied in several ways: on the one hand, they can be sure that their goods will arrive intact - perhaps not in every case without exception, but with a very high probability.

On the other hand, the use of configured corrugated board packaging underlines the sustainability concept. Suppliers or B2B customers will know that they are dealing with a company that takes sustainability seriously. This significantly improves the public perception of this company and its brands.
By switching to configured corrugated board packaging, we therefore improve the carbon footprint of goods shipments in several ways: through precise cutting, through fewer returns, through more efficient use of transport vehicles, and through the already very good recycling properties of corrugated board.

The fact is, however, that this process is not fast enough, even in industrial composting plants. The result is that the bags end up in the finished compost as interfering material, i.e. material that has not rotted, and have to be removed manually. It is unavoidable that up to a third of this valuable soil is lost again in this way. In addition, the amount of work involved is enormous.

Conclusion: free configuration as a sustainability booster

Unnecessarily large packaging is a thing of the past, and returns and transport distances are minimized. If possible, these options should therefore always be used for the configuration.

FAQ

1. what configuration can I take advantage of?

Corrugated board can be easily cut to size. As a rule, you can therefore freely configure this packaging up to a certain minimum and maximum limit and customize it to the centimeter.

2. is a free configuration expensive?

Since tailoring is required, these packaging variants are more expensive than the standard editions. However, the costs are not in an unreasonable range - and advertising on the boxes may offset these costs.

 

Do you have any questions about the sustainability of our corrugated board? Feel free to contact our expertswho will be happy to support you or write to us via hello@palamo.com.