Corrugated Paper

A number of the items you find in department stores and supermarkets were shipped securely to the store because they were made of corrugated paper. Many times this paper is moulded into cardboard boxes but they are of the same corrugate structure. It is used in packing goods for shipping because of its versatility and the ability to protect items placed in it. In spite of the strength of corrugated paper, it is light-weight and is made up of basically three layers of a material called kraft paper. As it is produced from the paper mills, then the kraft paper is moved to a corrugating plant. What the plant does is to crimple and glue the kraft paper in order to create a corrugated cardboard or paper. The paper is then cut into the required size before the text is imprinted onto the box. The paper is then folded and glued to finally make the cardboard boxes we use every day.

In making the corrugated paper the machine used is known as the corrugators which can be compared to the size of a football field. It means that it can measure about 300 feet. The rolls in the kraft paper are sometimes used as liners and still others utilized as medium for the corrugators. After the gluing, heating, and the machine pressing the paper onto the cardboard then the big sheet of cardboard which is produced is taken to the machines. Here it is then imprinted with a text, cut and glued to create an absolute box. When the boxes are finished they are then packaged and transported to the establishments who will be shipping their products in the boxes. These establishments include those that are into toy making, auto parts distribution, food processing and others that ship goods to locations in various parts of the world.

The raw material used in making the corrugated paper is mostly the pine tree. In most cases, it is the companies that produce the corrugate cardboard who also own the land for the cultivation of the pine trees. It makes the conversion of the trees into usable kraft paper easier. A number of chemicals are utilized in creating a fibrous pulp out of the wood chips. It is this process which is known as sulphate process. When the pulp is produced, the fibres that remain are eventually put in a paper machine. This paper machine then turns them into big rolls of kraft paper by a process of pressing, drying and rolling the fibres.

There are however other few things that are needed in transforming the corrugated paper into a finished box. These include materials like paraffin wax which are used to make the box waterproof especially for food products which are going to be shipped. We also have glue that is produced from corn starch. There are inks which are required for the printing of the text onto the boxes. This is very necessary for the display in the various stores of purchase.

Indeed another method of producing corrugated paper or cardboard boxes is through recycling. The process is quite similar to that of making the box from the scratch. The recycled boxes will provide the same quality and strength.  The major difference which delights every environmentalist is the fact that no tree is felled to produce this box thereby conserving energy. Recycled corrugated cardboard boxes are also cheaper compared to the other forms of producing it. The process of harvesting a tree, pulping and other processes involved with the former are all eliminated making it cheaper for the consumer.

Tags: packaging, Packaging Materials, Packaging Supplies, Paper Packaging

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9:43 am and is filed under Paper Packaging. You can subscribe to any comments to this entry via RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.