Plastic corrugated has been a staple in the reusable packaging sector of the packaging industry. It has been used to duplicate automatically each style of paper corrugated, known as expendable packaging. From regular slotted containers (RSCs) to more elaborate stackable totes and Gaylord boxes, plastic corrugated has many key advantages. Also known as corrugated plastic, this material is 20-40 times stronger than paper corrugated. It is imperfect to most chemicals so it can be cleaned with mild soap and water and reused over and over again. Even better, because plastic corrugated is plastic and not paper, it does not shed fiber contaminants that regular paper corrugated does, which is a major factor for the Electronic, Chemical, and Food industries.
However, corrugated plastic is now being used for more elaborate styles of reusable packaging. Companies now use plastic corrugated for internal dunnage that was traditionally done with steel, wood, heavy duty foam or combinations of these materials. The internal flutes of the plastic corrugated can be strengthened with steel rods for more durability and stacking strength which enables corrugated plastic to be used as dividers on automated racks, shelves for material handling carts, even individual compartments for KanBan systems. Because plastic corrugated is so strong yet lightweight companies are finding that they can drastically reduce the weight of their material handling containers which not only saves them money but minimizes their dependence on steel, which was traditionally used. With the price of steel being so volatile, companies have been forced to find creative ways to replace it and corrugated plastic has proven itself to be more than adequate.
Plastic corrugated can be nailed, screwed, and bolted to steel and aluminum. Further, since dunnage made from corrugated plastic is a series of pieces joined together instead of one large part, if something needs replaced or modified it only requires replacing one or two pieces of plastic corrugated, not the unit unit.
In conclusion, plastic corrugated continues to be one of the first materials companies look at when considering reusable packaging. However, it's becoming more evident that corrugated plastic has uses just boxes and totes, which will further solidify it as an excellent choice for reusable packaging applications.