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…)

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…)

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 primary reason we decided to create our own blog is to be able to serve as a resource on sustainability and packaging to our many friends and customers. We have had numerous articles published as well as postings on other eco conscious blogs but the opportunity and responsibility to be able to manage overall content and direction is one we simply could no longer resist. I am told by much more knowledgeable and experienced bloggers that our blog will undoubtedly change and evolve over time but I hope we never stray too far from this initial purpose.

Inside Sustainable Packaging will focus on three major aspects of this complicated and often confusing topic of sustainable packaging. These are:

People – Over the course of thirty plus years in the packaging industry, we have been blessed in many ways but none is as important as the many fine people we have met and are fortunate to be called friends. You can expect to see interviews and links to some of these difference makers.

Products – Our position in the industry often gives us first look at new packaging products that are often developed by companies without huge marketing budgets to promote them. We hope to be able to bring some of these to you for your own evaluation and consideration.

Perspective – Anyone who has ever read anything our marketing director, Brad Shorr or I have written know you can always count on us sharing our thoughts and ideas freely, even and especially if they are not the conventional view point . You may not always agree with what we post but your feedback will always be encouraged as will your ideas, suggestions and your own sustainable and/or packaging industry insight..

We sincerely appreciate your visiting our blog and hope you will find enough value here that you will become a regular visitor and contributor.

With warmest regards,

Dennis Salazar, President, Salazar Packaging, Inc.
Brad Shorr, Director of Marketing, Salazar Packaging, Inc.