Recyclable paperboard product performance improvement

Today, recyclable paperboard has a very clean appearance, good strength and beautiful visual effects, and its performance advantages have greatly changed people's previous understanding. This kind of cardboard has been applied by more and more users. This article mainly introduces the improvement of its product performance.

Recyclable mark printed on 100% recycled cardboard packaging

The recyclable paperboard on the market today is quite different from the past. The executive director of a “100% Recyclable Cardboard Alliance” in the United States introduced that the company (the Alliance) is vigorously promoting the application of 100% recycled cardboard in packaging.

Ten years ago, recyclable paperboard could not compete with original paperboard due to its poor printability, lack of strength and inhomogeneity. With the improvement of coating technology, cleaning technology, printing process and papermaking process technology, the previous disadvantages have become insignificant. However, people still have ingrained misunderstandings and prejudices about recycled paperboard. For this reason, we must change people’s concepts.

Concept 1: Recoverable paper has poor surface printing properties and is not suitable for high-end activities

After years of research and development, the recyclable paperboard is now more lustrous, whiter, and stronger. More and more companies have begun to look at this printing material with a new perspective. New coatings such as grease barriers, grease barriers, refrigerated linings, and chemical cleaners and printing technology improvements have made it possible to replace recycled paperboard with raw fiber paper. Users are also increasingly finding that they have the advantage of low cost and attractive packaging. According to industry experts, “In the past, all companies considered SBS to be representative of hygiene and aesthetics. This is because SBS has previously had good printing surface properties. Nowadays, people are beginning to realize that recycled paperboard not only has a good value for money but also looks The printability of the paper is very good and it can make the package more stable."

Concept No. 2: Recycled cardboard should not be used for food packaging

While consumers still question the use of environmentally friendly cardboard for food packaging, many people do not realize that it has been used for food packaging for many years. Since the introduction of a product called QuakerOats 50 years ago, recyclable paperboard has been widely used in cereal cartons and snack food packaging. The further development of the notch coating technology has made this board a place in the frozen food industry. However, some people in the packaging industry are still unable to apply it in food packaging. An industry source said that "they do not want food directly on the cardboard, but they do not know that 100% recyclable paperboard has always followed the FDA regulations on direct food contact," and others said "recyclable cardboard for food packaging It's a little different from being used for packaging, but it has changed now and more and more people are using it as a food packaging."

Concept 3: Poor uniformity of recycled cardboard

The increase in the performance of production equipment 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-controlled paperboard capacity, we can now obtain good uniformity of paper. The poor uniformity of paperboard is no longer a problem.

Improvements in cleaning equipment, coupled with improved adhesive coating technologies, have also helped the recovery of paperboard manufacturers. A vice president of a recycled paperboard manufacturer in the United States said: "More advanced cleaning equipment has improved the quality of recyclable paperboard, and can even keep pace with new printing technologies - speed and quality requirements; cleaning technology has been reduced Contaminants (the contaminants tend to reduce the efficiency of the press). This allows the product to behave far from metal particles. The adhesive coating satisfies the higher printing speeds and different performance requirements of the prints."

Concept 4: Insufficient strength of recycled cardboard packaging

Today's product technology research and development departments and the ever-changing industrial technology have solved the other two problems of recycled paperboard quickly, that is, the strength and thickness problems. American experts pointed out that the thickness of recycled paperboard and the thickness of original paperboard can get the same strength under the same printing conditions. The strength of the paperboard can be increased without increasing the thickness of the recyclable paperboard. In 1992, the thickness of the paperboard produced by the manufacturer in the range of 0.010′′ to 0.018′′ was inferior to that of SBS or SUS. Now, the paper is competitive in terms of structural strength and even exceeds the original cardboard in printability.

Environmental reference

Recyclable cardboard has its own advantages in terms of cost performance and quality. Another advantage of its performance is in environmental protection. According to the environmental protection manager of FedEx Company in the United States, the company's annual savings on environmental protection due to the use of recyclable cardboard are as follows:

1. Saves 30% of energy, which is equivalent to lighting up 30,000 60-watt bulbs;

2. Save 100 million gallons of water, which is equivalent to the annual water consumption of 1,500 households;

3. Over 3,900 tons of solid waste has been saved. This is equivalent to the amount of garbage generated by 5,000 people a year;

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

(Fan Xiaoping/Translation)