Salazar Packaging carries four varieties of packaging papers, all of which are very sustainable. If you are looking for eco friendly packaging, which paper is right for you?

Industrial tissue paper is lightweight and relatively scratch resistant. It’s an excellent choice for wrapping fragile or semi-fragile products such as coffee mugs, collectibles, or glassware. Tissue is also excellent for interleaving lightweight items that are susceptible to scratching, such as certain plastics and glass. (more…)

Even if you are not a regular reader and subscriber to this blog, please accept this as sustainable challenge #1. How quickly and easily can you spot a product or package that that is, let’s call it, “less than innocent” in terms of greenness? You have an opportunity to be the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) investigator for this possible case of packaging sustainability crime.

Please click on the image below for a better view -

We have blocked out the name of the company to protect the guilty but the company name is really not important. If we look around we can spot countless examples like this on a daily basis. This company is shipping their annual catalog in the box that is shown. Ironically on the catalog cover they boast about offering hundreds of “eco friendly products”. But what about the packaging that is designed to get this catalog in the hands of their eco minded customers?

To a certain extent we agree that green is often in the eye of the beholder but we’ve spotted some things that are very likely wrong and some that merit further investigation. Jot down some observations and questions before you read the rest of this story. (more…)

Somewhere along the line, corrugated (and chipboard) partitions fell out of favor as an inner packing material. A lot of it had to do with a desire to reduce corrugated usage and unit cost - both good objectives.

However, corrugated partitions can sometimes reduce overall packaging usage and unit cost, while providing a number of other important sustainable benefits. (more…)

Most industries have a standard for measuring or describing the construction of a particular material. However, in the corrugated industry, there are two standards - the Mullen Test and the Edge Crush Test. This leads to quite a bit of confusion in the marketplace.

The Mullen Test, which has been used for many years, tests the bursting strength of corrugated board - how much pressure is required to rupture the wall of a piece of corrugated material. Boxes conforming to the Mullen Test standard are identified as 200# Test, 275# Test, etc. The higher the number, the stronger the corrugated box.

The Edge Crush Test, which was developed in the 1990’s, measures the stacking strength of corrugated board - how much top to bottom pressure a box can withstand before crushing. Boxes conforming to the Edge Crush Test standard are identified as 32ECT, 44 ECT, etc. Again, the higher the number, the stronger the corrugated box. (more…)

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Unprinted newsprint is (or was - keep reading) widely used for industrial void fill, surface protection, and wrapping applications. You’ve probably seen it at one time or another when you moved. Moving companies use newsprint extensively, mainly in sheeted form, to protect your belongings before boxing them up.

Did you ever wonder where this newsprint comes from?

A Good Green Story …
For the most part, industrial newsprint is trim and waste generated by paper mills as they run newspaper-grade newsprint. I was in Montreal once getting a tour of an Abitibi newsprint mill, and the tour guide took us to a building that must have been 750,000 square feet. He opened an immense sliding door and we saw that the building was packed floor to ceiling with trim newsprint rolls — big, heavy rolls, 40″ - 50″ diameter, anywhere from 12″ - 84″ wide. (more…)

If you are looking for an inexpensive and effective way to advertise your company - and who isn’t, these days - consider printing your logo and a sales message on any or all of the following.

• Corrugated boxes
• Reinforced paper carton sealing tape
• Mailing envelopes and padded shipping bags
• Edge protectors

Depending on how your products move through the supply chain to the end user and then into the recycling stream, a lot more people than you think are seeing those plain old corrugated boxes, box sealing tapes, mailers, and edge protectors. The more your name is seen in the marketplace, the stronger your brand becomes. (more…)

It may seem ironic that any company that sells boxes would help you minimize their use, but we are committed to providing application appropriate solutions, not just what we may happen to have on our website or in our warehouse. Brad Shorr recently posted a terrific article titled 7 Ways to Reduce Corrugated Box Usage, and I encourage you to read it. But let’s take it a step further and talk about how not only reduce corrugated usage, but eliminate corrugated usage completely.

I am amazed at how often people use RSC style boxes when they are not really necessary. Probably because of their popularity and availability, boxes seem to be the standard or “go to” method of shipment, but there are times and applications when they are NOT the best choice. The cost of using a box usually includes the box, tape, cushioning materials or void fill, and a good deal of labor to form and seal the bottom, fill it with product and void fill, seal the top of the box and then label it. An envelope style mailer is typically less expensive from both a material and labor cost perspective, and is an underutilized alternative to standard boxes. (more…)

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It may not be possible to completely eliminate corrugated boxes from your packaging, but with a little imagination and design help, you can reduce amount of corrugated you need.

1. Gap flaps. Regular slotted cartons (RSC) are the most common corrugated box style. RSCs are characterized by outer flaps that meet in the center. Leaving a small gap (1/4″ to 1/2″) between the flaps can add up to significant board reduction, especially for long length boxes.
2. Corrugated trays. Trays, with a shrink film over wrap, are widely used in the beverage industry, but work beautifully for many other types of products — even ones with a high profile. (We specialize in shrink automation and can help you analyze whether and how trays could work in your operation.)

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In the first part of this series, I described five general types of void fill –

1. Loose fill materials
2. Industrial papers
3. Flexible foams and bubble material
4. Expandable foam
5. Inflatable air pillows

Now let’s look at the qualities you may need from your void fill material, and see how the various options stack up.

Surface protection. For glass, metal, and scratch-sensitive plastics, polypropylene (PP) foams are the least abrasive option, followed by polyethylene (PE) foams and bubble. Industrial papers, depending on the grade, may also work.

Dust free. Loose fill, whether polystyrene or one of the various biodegradable varieties, are prone to flaking. Industrial papers sometimes contain dust as a result of the trimming process. For shipping things such as pharmaceutical or personal health care products, look in other directions for void fill. (more…)

The best thing about void fill is there are so many options. The worst thing about void fill is … there are so many options. Selecting the right void fill material is difficult — keeping a few things in mind will help you make the right decision.

Void fill can be broken down into several categories.

Loose fill materials, commonly called “packing peanuts”, are made from a variety of eco friendly and not so eco friendly materials, including polystyrene, corn starch, and paper. The weight of loose fill varies depending on the material, but generally speaking, loose fill is inexpensive per application, but messy and not very effective for cushioning.

Industrial papers include kraft paper, newsprint, and tissue paper. Most papers used for void fill have high PCW content, are fairly inexpensive per application, and are easier and cleaner to use than loose fill. Industrial papers are available in sheeted or roll form, making them easy to integrate into most packing operations. Multi-layered papers have become more popular in recent years, mainly due to shippers looking for alternatives to plastic-based packing materials. Multi-layer papers, which are typically made on-site, provide excellent cushioning, but are significantly heavier than plastic alternatives. (more…)