Corrugated of Course

e-commerce packaging is one area where retailers are increasingly demanding value. Using too much or too little packaging than necessary means incurring large costs through damages or transport inefficiency. Items ordered online often travel great distances to arrive at people’s doorsteps. So every piece of packaging has to perform at its best. This means that while adequately protecting products, it must also comply with regulations and minimise environmental impact.

In the spirit of true collaboration, last week Mr Corrugated promoted his key messages and directed delegates around the venue at the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Europe conference in Brussels.

Buy a kid an expensive toy and what do they do? They play with it for a while but eventually it gets shoved aside in favor of the box. A ship, a plane, a castle… it doesn’t matter, in their inquisitive minds that box could become absolutely anything!

We are happy to announce that a valuable new member is joining the Corrugated of Course team. His role will be to demonstrate the value of corrugated in the supply chain and show why it is a material of choice for retailers, wholesalers and producers.

Please give a warm welcome to… Mr. Corrugated!

Consumers in Europe have a high regard for paper-based packaging. In fact, they love it!

Here are some facts from a study in Germany:

• 79% of the German consumers think that paper based packaging is ecologically advantageous compared to plastics.

The “5 easies” are a set of conditions on the functional requirements secondary packaging must adhere to in order to be called “Retail Ready Packaging” (also known as Shelf Ready Packaging).

It may not seem like it, but Retail Ready Packaging was a dramatic shift in our industry’s philosophy and required a whole new approach to packaging.

When it comes to space efficiency, size matters!  Whether you are transporting goods or filling shelves, centimetres and millimetres can make a world of a difference. And that’s where corrugated works its magic!

Corrugated packaging is strong yet relatively thin, so in itself it doesn’t take up very much space. In addition to that, it can be tailored to precisely fit the products, so there’s no headspace in the secondary or tertiary packaging – meaning it can be filled to the brim.

Flip books were essentially the first form of animation. They were made by slightly altering a series of images to create a “scene”. All the images would be attached in a book and, when turned rapidly, the animation would come to life. Although a very clever invention for its time, it was of course superceded by cinematic film.

Grand and Toy, a Canadian office supply store, has created a sustainable packaging solution for businesses. The appropriately named “Boomerang” box is is heavier duty than your standard delivery corrugated box but that’s because it is designed to be used, and re-used, and re-used…

Corrugated packaging is just one of a range of paper and board materials that sometimes has direct contact with food. Our industry has a long-standing commitment to the protection of human health. In the absence of any European legislation specific to paper and board, we decided to launch a voluntary Industry Guideline to provide assurance to customers and regulators of the safety of our material.