1. Material performance: satisfies the basic needs of packaging for electronic cigarettes
When making electronic cigarette packaging, you need to think about things like how to keep moisture out, how to keep static electricity from building up, how to keep food safe, and how to keep the packaging from breaking. Moulded pulp has made important performance gains by changing the materials and the way they are made:
Sealing and resistance to moisture
Traditional pulp moulding has a higher fibre porosity and is less resistant to moisture, however nanoscale waterproof coating technology can lower its moisture absorption rate to less than 3%. For instance, a company made moulded pulp packaging from sugarcane bagasse that keeps 98% of its original compressive strength even after being stored in an 85% humidity environment for 90 days. This fully meets the requirements for transporting electronic cigarettes without getting wet.
Safety and anti-static
The main parts of electronic cigarettes, like batteries and atomization chambers, are sensitive to static electricity. Adding micro conductive fibres to the moulded pulp lets you adjust the surface resistance between 10 ⁶ and 10 ⁹ Ω, which stops static electricity from building up. Its electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is 90% better than that of regular EPS foam. It also doesn't contain bisphenol A or other harmful substances, so it meets the European Union's REACH regulations and China's Electronic Cigarette (GB 41700-2022) national standard for material safety.
Performance of buffer protection
The moulded pulp's fibre interwoven network creates a twofold buffering system called "elasticity plasticity." The experimental data indicates that the screen damage rate of the electronic cigarette packaging lining, engineered with a honeycomb structure, is 65% lower than that of EPS foam packaging in the 1.2-meter drop test. It can also endure pressures exceeding 50kg, thereby satisfying the transport protection standards for premium electronic cigarette products.
2. Structural design: the ability to customise to overcome difficult form problems
There are many types of electronic cigarettes, such as disposable cartridges, devices that let you change cartridges, and non-combustible heating devices. These all need very strong adhesion to the container liner. Mould pulp fits perfectly thanks to the following technologies:
Moulding in 3D that fits your needs
Using wet pressing technique, moulded pulp can be created by vacuum adsorption at a temperature of 60–80 °C, which matches the shape of the product down to the millimetre level. For instance, the inner lining of the packaging for a certain brand of electronic cigarette cartridges is controlled to within 0.1mm, so it fits perfectly around the cartridge's curved surface and the groove of the charging interface. This keeps the interface from becoming loose or the surface from being scratched during transport.
Technology for demolding constructions that aren't straight
For the complicated curved surfaces of electronic cigarette shells, like slanted side walls and internal cavity structures, the moulded pulp uses a split mould design and lateral core pulling technology to fix the problem of traditional injection mould top rods easily scratching products. A specific company made a packaging mould for the shell of a cigarette bomb that doesn't need a top rod to be removed. The product yield is now 99.9%, which is 15% greater than typical plastic packaging.
Design for modular combinations
The moulded pulp can be used to make a modular system of "base+replaceable cavity," and the same base can be used for different types of products. For instance, a certain company produced a universal packaging base for electronic cigarettes that can work with more than five different cartridge sizes by swapping out different cavity modules. This cuts mould creation costs by 60% and boosts manufacturing efficiency by 40%.
3. Cost-effectiveness: A big advantage in lifecycle cost
The cost of moulded pulp is 20% to 30% greater than that of EPS foam, but its LCC benefits are quite good:
Lowering the cost of raw materials
Moulded pulp is created from agricultural waste like sugarcane bagasse and bamboo fibre. The cost of the raw materials is 40% to 50% less than that of plastics made from petroleum. For example, if you make 10 million sets of electronic cigarette packaging each year, employing moulded pulp can save you more than 2 million yuan in raw material prices.
Better production efficiency
The moulded pulp uses a completely automated manufacturing line to do "injection moulding edge cutting," and it can make 5000 pieces per hour on one line, which is three times faster than typical hand assembly of plastic packaging. A case study of a specific business indicates that when it switched its electronic cigarette packaging production line to moulded paper pulp, labour costs went down by 70% and overall production costs went down by 18%.
Advantages of following environmental rules
Because of the global plastic ban, e-cigarette companies have to pay expensive plastic charges, such the EU plastic packaging tax, which is 800 euros per tonne. Using moulded pulp packaging that is 100% biodegradable can fully save these costs and improve the brand's ESG rating. For instance, one firm has saved more than 5 million yuan a year on plastic taxes by changing the materials used for packaging. They also got "Green Supply Chain Certification," which raised the premium space for their products by 10% to 15%.
4. Trends in the industry: Two wheels drive policy and technological innovation.
The use of moulded pulp in electronic cigarette packaging is getting two benefits from policies and technology:
Policy required speed up of substitution
The "14th Five Year Plan" for controlling plastic pollution in China makes it clear that the amount of non-degradable plastic packaging used in express delivery, restaurant delivery, e-commerce, and other areas should be cut by 30% by 2025. The electronic cigarette industry is a new field that is now part of the main regulatory scope. Moulded pulp is the best option for compliance substitution.
Technological innovation gets over roadblocks.
Technology that keeps water and moisture out: The moisture-proof performance of moulded pulp is almost the same as that of PP plastic thanks to the graphene-modified coating. This means it may be used to store electronic cigarettes in damp settings.
Better at withstanding high temperatures: It can handle temperatures up to 220 °C and is made of moulded pulp with aramid fibres. It is good for packing electronic cigarettes (HNBs) that don't catch fire.
Smart production: The AI-powered mould design system may cut the time it takes to make a new set of moulds from 45 days to 18 days and the cost of a single set of moulds by half.
A quick rise in the market penetration rate
According to research from the industry, the global market for moulded pulp packaging for electronic cigarettes will be worth 1.2 billion US dollars in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of over 35%. Well-known companies like Yueke and JUUL have already
