August 5, 2016
Right weighting of corrugated is happening every day. Some combiners and converters have discovered containerboards, more effective corrugators, converting equipment with less degradation, and improved designs to produce the “same” carton with less basis weight. Not everyone is on this adventure, but those who have led the charge have been reaping the rewards. While these newer containerboards are not necessarily for conventional applications such as industrial packaging, food applications, or U.N. hazmat packaging, there are open opportunities every day.
In 1991, when the industry made the move to include edge crush tests as an alternative measure for shipping containers, more than 50 percent of all linerboard production was 42# linerboard. Then, most of the production was virgin kraft pulp. Now, 42# linerboard, both recycled and kraft combined, represent less than 30 percent of all linerboard production. The whole scale of linerboard production has shifted down (see chart). Now, 13.5 percent—or about 2.8 million tons—of linerboard are at 32#/MSF or below.
Some of the other key factors in the move to right weighting is the growth of e-commerce and retail- and shelf-ready packaging. How strong does a package need to be when it is delivered by drone? The market does not always need industrial-grade packaging to deliver products intact to the end user. Look at the basis weight grade structure in Western Europe compared to the United States in the data above.
There are elements there that make this contrast seem extreme. One of them is the lead by independent containerboard producers in Europe that can take recovered fiber of lower quality than what we have in the United States with the latest papermaking technology and produce high-strength test liners (recycled). The United States still has the world’s strongest new fiber entering the recovery stream to counterbalance the poor-quality fiber received from the packaging from imported goods and the constant reuse of our own fiber.
- U.S. common liner is 31–35#.
- Europe common liner is 20.5#.
- U.S. common fluting is 23#.
- Europe common fluting is 18#.
- U.S. average recovered fiber is 50 percent.
- Europe average recovered fiber is 85 percent.
There continues to be increasing momentum for better economics, more sustainability, and less-destructive corrugated manufacturing processes. Some combiners and converters, because of corrugator effectiveness and zero-crush flexos, can produce 32 ECT from lower basis weights than 35/23/35. Single sourcing from containerboard machines has also reduced variation. One can look to the success of trade suppliers like Packrite (www.packrite.net) to see the growth of fine flutes like E, F, and N and new potential opportunities for 18# to 23# linerboard—the perfect applications that consume these flutes. Check out their website to view corrugated packaging in a whole new light! You may also want to investigate Compak/Webcor/CW South’s site (www.compakwebcor.com) to review applications for right weight packaging.
These right weight containerboards are the domain of recovered fiber and not the kraft pulping process targeted for the heaviest linerboard and large industrial packaging. The world-class technology coming onstream can engineer amazing strength performance from old corrugated containers and mixed waste. What we have seen developed and perfected in Europe is coming here.
Ralph Young is the principal of Alternative Paper Solutions and AICC’s technical adviser. Contact Ralph directly about technical that impact our industry at askralph@aiccbox.org.
