Cardboard is a preponderant material in our daily life and especially for the many packaging that we rub shoulders: food packaging, shipping packaging, product packaging, external carton, etc… Can it still evolve to follow societal changes?
Consumer expectations
Recent survey shows that consumers have several expectations for future cardboard packaging:
- These packages should be more readable with a larger font in anticipation of the aging of the population;
- They should also be easier to open and close to comply the problem of aging of the population;
- A ban on non-recyclable packaging and external packs as they pollute the planet;
- A kind of “intelligent packaging” that informs the consumer when the expiry date arrives, helps sort used packaging and gives more information about the product in general;
- A packaging size should be reviewed when it is considered inappropriate.
Cardboard evolutions already planned
Corrugated cardboard board manufacturers like us did not wait for the surveys to change their packaging. Indeed, we anticipated the evolution of society and changes in consumer behavior, particularly with the arrival of e-commerce. We therefore offer new services such as smart packaging or the reuse of packaging in the interest of an ever more responsible consumption of our resources. Concretely, this translates into a very wide variety of cardboard packaging: thanks to the rise of e-commerce, cartons no longer only serve to transport books, beauty products or clothing, they also carry products as well as fresh fruits and vegetables! We must therefore offer all possible sizes of packaging, which leads to a customized design of cartons for each customer.
In addition, transporting fresh food requires additional protection to ensure the cold chain: a simple insulating lining is enough. The cardboard has the advantage of being able to meet all the selective criteria for very protective packaging whether for the supply with its respect of the cold chain or for the electronic components which are very fragile.
In order to meet the requirements of e-commerce, cardboard packaging is becoming faster to handle in order to facilitate the work of logisticians and handlers. Thus, the opening and closing of cardboard boxes have been redesigned for quick parceling but also to facilitate the return of products by the dissatisfied customer.
Cardboard is already able to meet many technical constraints including:
- Protection against theft by means of inviolability mechanisms;
- Assurance of a very strong durability during the transport of parcels thanks to demanding test protocols;
- Resistance to water thanks to the new layer treatment that makes the cardboard waterproof! Just use 1 ml of vegetable oil as treatment per m² and it makes the cardboard completely waterproof;
- Food preservation: the corrugated cardboard trays make it possible to preserve food for 3 days more than with a packaging of another material!
Remember, cardboard has been a popular package for decades and it’s not yet the time that it disappear from our daily life, with innovation and evolution, its use can be extended to many domains!