During the pandemic, use of ecommerce spiked, including online purchasing of food products that require thermal protection during the shipping process. In most cases, products are delivered within 24 hours, and traditionally, many of these products have been shipped using expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes and other non-sustainable traditional cold chain solutions. While these boxes are lightweight and provide good thermal protection, they do have disadvantages.
While EPS boxes and other plastic-based thermal protection solutions, or even wool- or cotton-based solutions or denim liners, are certainly an effective thermal protection approach, they also take up a great deal of space, both in the warehouse and in the product shipping process. Plus, their end-of-life disposal comes with many sustainability issues.
Is There a Viable Alternative to Plastic-Based Cold Chain Packaging Solutions?
The answer is simple: Yes, especially for products that require thermal protection for 24 hours or even up to 48 hours. Ranpak has developed a unique eco-friendly solution paper-based for cold chain packaging: WrapPak® Protector. Using thermal liners from 100% paper instead of petroleum-based products has many environmental benefits:
- 100% paper. Our WrapPak protective liner is 100% paper – no plastics are used.
- 100% renewable. We use FSC® certified materials sourced from sustainably managed forests and with a chain of custody certification.
- 100% recyclable. There are no barriers to its entry into the recycling stream.
- 100% biodegradable. Since WrapPak contains no plastics or other petroleum-based additives, it is 100% biodegradable if it does end up in the landfill.
WrapPak Protector also offers significant logistics benefits. These include:
- Substantially reduced requirements for storing of packing materials. One pallet of WrapPak paper packs as much product as up to 24 pallets of EPS cold chain boxes!
- The waved paper pads used for thermal protection are produced on demand, keeping required storage space to a minimum, reducing transport costs and reducing the risk of running out of packing material during a busy period.
How Does It Work?
It’s easy! Ranpak provides the packing organization with WrapPak Protector converting equipment, which has a compact footprint, along with pallets of WrapPak Protector paper liner. Ranpak specialists will assess the packing and thermal protection requirements and recommend the best packing configurations for each type of product, whether requiring sustained thermal protection for frozen, chilled or ambient temperature ranges. The packing process is straightforward:
- Select the right double- or triple-wall corrugated box.
- Use the WrapPak Protector converter to convert paper into waved pads in the right size with the number of layers required depending on the ambient temperature, the product temperature and shipping duration.
- Products are inserted into the lined box with cooling elements added.
- Optional void fill can be used if there are empty spaces in the packed box.
- Close the box with tape, and it’s ready to ship!
How Does Thermal Protection Compare with EPS Boxes?
Our experts have performed extensive testing to determine how Ranpak WrapPak Protector compares with EPS boxes in terms of thermal protection, and the good news is WrapPak Protector is roughly equivalent to EPS boxes. Our studies conducted using the Western European Test Profile (ambient temperatures between 14-25°C) with big boxes of 45 liters and 4 cool packs, each 300 grams, showed that products packed using WrapPak Protector waved pads maintained thermal protection well within the specified temperature ranges for these products, with cool maintained within a four-hour margin compared to the EPS boxes. In addition, as noted earlier, packers benefit from cost savings in storage and transport as well as improved sustainability.
Our market research reflects that there is a significant total addressable market for thermal protection in the ranges delivered by WrapPak Protector waved pads and can, in most cases, completely, safely and cost-effectively replace EPS boxes for these shipping needs.
Plus, using paper versus plastic packaging delivers a circular economy approach that uses, rather than uses up, resources because they are manufactured from renewable resources.
Switching from plastic (EPS boxes) to paper (Ranpak WrapPak Protector) delivers significant benefits – environmentally, economically and safely. Paper is 100% renewable, recyclable and biodegradable, fitting the demand for more circularity in product packaging and providing a clear alternative to conventional cold chain packaging materials. To find out how your packing operation can benefit from paper-based packing solutions, talk to one of our experts!
Author: Anne de Rouw, Business Development Manager Cold Chain at Ranpak