Re-engineering shipping cartons helps customer reduce packaging by 33%
Our current customer, a supplier of plastic products for the plumbing and construction industry wanted to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging.
Our current customer, a supplier of plastic products for the plumbing and construction industry wanted to reduce the environmental impact of their packaging.
Each year, the organisation consumes 61 tonnes of board in the production of its shipping cartons, one small and one large.
The client's challenge
Unable to change the material used in its products, the organisation is working to minimise the environmental impact of all of its ancillary actions, including its shipping cartons.
At one of its regular review meetings with the company, Antalis Packaging suggested they might be able to help the organisation reduce the amount of cardboard used. The key to success would be maintaining the performance of the cartons.
The Antalis solution
The original cartons were tested for performance, using our suite of box testing equipment the smart packaging team concluded that a change in the material would improve the integrity of the carton and reduce the overall quantity of material used.
The dimensions of the original cartons were maintained while the double wall BC -flute board was replaced with a heavy duty, single wall C-flute board.
The process
Using a clear framework, the Antalis Packaging team worked to find the best solution:
1. Explore. From our Smart Packaging Centre, we tested the performance of the original cartons using our suite of box testing equipment, which includes burst crush testing and edge crush testing. We also weighed each of the five different layers of the board to establish how much material was used.
2. Propose using the test data from the original boxes, we created theoretical parameters for the replacement boxes, which we believed would achieve at least the same results but using less cardboard per box. We proposed re-engineering the cartons using a single wall, C-flute board. After making up some sample cartons, we repeated the test.
3. Test. The re-engineered carton gave a similar or better performance across all criteria. Transit testing was also carried out with no loss of performance recorded.
4. Implement. The new cartons have been introduced across the organisation's UK sites with plans to roll out to its operations around the world in 2025.
The summary
| Challenge | Goal | Sustainability | Benefit |
| Sustainability | Reduce the volume of board used in shipping cartons. | Single walled, C-flute board. |
33% (18 tonnes per year) reduction in board used. Reduced number of packaging pallet deliveries by c. 100 per year. A net CO2 saving of 21 tonnes per annum. |
Advantages of the solution
- 33% reduction in board use.
- 21 tonnes reduction in CO2 per year.
- Number of cartons per pallet increased from 140 to 180.
- 100 pallet movements eliminated.
- Reduction in cost of packaging materials.
“We love challenges, and this was a good one. We knew in theory that a single-walled carton in a heavier flute should match the performance, but we couldn’t be sure until we’d carried out the tests. The results were fantastic. They show how a bit of clever cardboard engineering can make significant improvements in sustainability. Plus, we did it quickly: the whole process from taking the brief to delivering the first batch of new cartons took less than two months."
John Garner, Head of Sustainability Innovation and Design at Antalis UK
