Corrugated cardboard is easier to recycle than large plastic pails

Airnov Healthcare Packaging, a global leader in controlled atmosphere packaging, has introduced a new, sustainable packaging option to help reduce plastic waste.

The new packaging aims at plastic pails, which are more challenging to recycle than carton boxes and use non-renewable resins for production. Cardboard originates from trees that can be replanted, and if not recycled, naturally decomposes.

“With this new option from our plant in Belen, we hope to pull hundreds of tons of plastic out of use by converting secondary packaging from plastic to cardboard,” said Nicolas Martinez, global product manager at Airnov, NM. “Furthermore, cartons are more lightweight and efficient in the space they use, optimizing transport and warehouse space.”

The new offering not only targets plastic consumption but aims to reduce transportation emissions by using double-stackable cartons. The new carton is more durable than standard cardboard, allowing pallets to be double stacked with 50 percent more material in the same footprint as a single pallet. With the additional materials, Airnov hopes to help customers reduce freight costs while also reducing the number of trucks needed to transport goods, saving money and reducing carbon emissions.

In addition, Airnov is removing humidity indicator cards (HICs) to reduce extraneous materials and chemicals used in the packaging.

“It’s a noble thing to offer a more sustainable option. However, without demonstrable benefits to our customers, it is still often challenging to encourage adoption,” continued Martinez. “This new endeavor not only reduces plastic and other waste but helps our customers mitigate skyrocketing freight and commodity costs. With the volatility in the resin supply chain, who knows what’s next with plastic prices.”

The carton packaging performs equally to plastic pails by utilizing high-barrier bags to provide the same shelf-life of three years. The new packaging solutions are available immediately for drop-in products.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.

The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.

Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.

As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.

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