Recyclable cardboard innovation and improvement

Today's recyclable paperboard has a very clean appearance, higher strength and better visual effects. The recyclable paperboard on the market today is very different from the past, which is a very good phenomenon. The executive officer of a company (RPA100%) in the United States that produces 100% recycled paperboard claims that the company is pushing forward the application of 100% recyclable paperboard in packaging.

However, just a decade ago, recyclable paperboards were unable to compete with the original board because of their poor printability, lack of strength, and non-uniformity. With the improvement of coating technology, cleaning technology, printing process and papermaking technology, the previous disadvantages have become insignificant. However, people still have more or less ingrained misunderstandings and prejudices about recyclable paperboard.

Some traditional ideas that need to be removed:

Rob is a marketing executive at a U.S. company that manufactures and processes recycled paperboard. When he was involved in the industry in early 1974, recyclable paperboard had many deficiencies with respect to solid non-bleached/solid bleached kraft pulp paper (SUS/SBS). Although the substrate has a good price/performance ratio in the market, it has been commonly found to have the following disadvantages: poor printing surface properties, unclean surfaces, high strength in the direction of pressure, and unsuitable for food packaging and use. The minimum thickness should be greater than 0.02" for poor lateral uniformity. But these are things that happened before 2003. All of this has changed.

Concept 1: Recyclable cardboard has poor surface printing performance and is not suitable for high-end activities

Years of research and development have made the appearance of recyclable paperboards more lustrous, whiter, and stronger, and more and more companies are starting to look at the substrates with a new perspective. New coatings such as oil-resistant, grease-resistant coatings, suitable for use as a lining for refrigerated storage; plus improvements in chemical cleaners and printing technologies, make it possible to replace recycled fiberboard with raw fiber paper. Users are also increasingly finding that they have the advantage of low cost and attractive packaging. Industry experts said: "In the past, all companies believed that SBS was the only representative of hygiene and aesthetics. This is because in the past, SBS has a good printing surface properties. Nowadays, people are beginning to realize that recyclable paperboard not only has a good value for money , And saw the paper's printability is good, and can make the package more robust advantages."

Concept No. 2: Recyclable cardboard should not be used for food packaging
When consumers still question the recyclable cardboard for food packaging, many people do not realize that it has been used in food packaging for many years. Since the introduction of a product called Quaker Oats 50 years ago, recyclable paperboard has been widely used in packaging cereal cartons and snack foods. Thanks to the improvement of the notch coating technology, the board also has a place in the field of frozen foods. However, in the packaging industry, there are still some people who still oppose its use in food packaging. An industry source said: “People are more worried that they don’t want to put food directly on recyclable paperboard. What they don’t know is that 100% of recyclable paperboards follow the FDA’s direct contact with food. Regulations and standards.” Another person claimed that “recyclable cardboard is used for food packaging and is used for packaging. It has changed in the past few years and more and more people are using it as a food packaging. ."
Concept 3: Poor uniformity of recyclable paperboard

The increase in production machinery has led to the automation of the paper production process and improved the accuracy of paper monitoring, resulting in a stable printing surface. Thanks to the improvement of various technologies in the paperboard production process and the improvement of computer-monitored paperboard capabilities, it is now possible to successfully produce uniform paper in the factory. The homogeneity of the paperboard is no longer a problem.

Improvements in cleaning equipment, coupled with improvements in adhesive coating technology, have also greatly assisted recyclable paperboard manufacturers. A US vice president of the board manufacturer said: "More advanced cleaning equipment has improved the quality of recyclable paperboard to keep pace with new press technology—speed and quality requirements." The improvement of cleaning technology greatly reduces the production process of contaminants (which can easily lead to a reduction in the efficiency of the press), which allows the product to have properties far away from metal particles. In addition, the modified adhesive coating also meets higher printing speed and print performance requirements.

Concept 4: Insufficient strength with recyclable paperboard

The current efforts of the product technology research and development department and the rapidly changing industrial technology have solved the other two problems of recyclable cardboard quickly, namely the strength and thickness. Relevant American experts pointed out that recycled paperboard and original paperboard can get the same strength under the same thickness conditions. Packagers do not have to increase the strength of the paperboard by increasing the thickness of the recyclable paperboard. In 1992, the manufacturer produced cardboard with a thickness in the range of 0.010" to 0.018" which was inferior to SBS or SUS in performance. Nowadays, due to technological improvements, the paper has been competitive in structural strength and has reached or surpassed the original paperboard in print performance.

Environmental considerations
According to the above, recycled paperboard has its own advantages in terms of cost performance and quality. Another outstanding factor in its performance is environmental protection. According to the FedEx company's environmental manager, the company's annual savings on environmental protection due to the use of recycled cardboard are as follows:

1, saving 30% of energy put away, which is equivalent to can light 30000 60-watt light bulbs.

2. Saved 140 million gallons of water, which is equivalent to a year's worth of water for 1,500 households.

3. Save more than 3,900 tons of solid waste, which is equivalent to the amount of garbage generated by 5,000 people a year.

4. About 4,000 tons of wood was saved, which is equivalent to 1.6 million reams of copy paper.

However, although the production of recyclable paperboard can obtain substantial environmental benefits, production is not easy for most companies. It must take into account the harsh shipping environment that the packaging using the paper may be subjected to; the need for expensive and expensive computer equipment and other objective factors.

China Print Materials Business Fan Xiaoping