More and more people realize the importance of green products. That's why more and more consumers are looking for environmentally friendly products and packaging. People are starting to make buying decisions based on what companies use for their products and packaging. It is essential that companies adapt their operations to the use of green products. One of the best alternatives includes the use of molded paste.
What is Molded Paste?
Molded pulp is made from a variety of fibrous materials such as recycled:
Paper
Cardboard
Natural fibers (wheat straw, bamboo, sugar cane)
Log
Molded dough is formed to create a shape that serves a specific purpose, such as trays, cushions, and incaps. Molded clay can do almost anything that plastic or foam can do, but with the added benefit of being environmentally friendly. This green material can be used for:
create the actual product
transport consumer electronics such as: household appliances, fragile consumer goods, glass containers, and even eggs
Molded paste can be designed to become a solution for almost anything.
Performance
The performance of the molded paste is high quality as it provides excellent bracing, blocking and padding protection. It is statically neutral, water resistant and unaffected by temperature extremes. It is nestable and stackable, reducing storage costs by up to 75%.
Environment
The molded pulp is made with 100% recycled materials and is recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. There is no water wastage in its production as all the water is evaporated or reused in the pulping process. The absence of manufacturing waste results from the molded pulp because all the waste is returned to the paper pulp. The final packaging is 100% recyclable, which means no waste!
Economic
The cost of molded pulp is lower than other protective packaging such as foam and thermoformed plastics. It is designed to nest together to reduce shipping and storage costs. He is also trained to shape. This means that assembly is not required, greatly reducing labor costs.
Benefits
Molded pulp packaging offers a wide range of advantages over traditional plastic and foam packaging.
Manufacture of paper pulp packaging
The general molded pulp manufacturing process requires six steps.
Step 1: Mixing – The first step is to soak the recycled materials in water and mix them until the correct paste consistency is achieved. No water waste is generated in the manufacturing process; any excess water evaporates during manufacturing or is returned to the system
Step 2: Forming - The dough is shaped into the desired shape or design
Step 3: Drying – The molded paste is dried in a high temperature drying oven
Step 4: Pressing - To smooth the surface, each product can be pressed on strong metal tools. In addition to making dough pieces look better, pressing improves stacking and nesting for more efficient storage and shipping.
Step 5: Cut - The edges of the pieces can be cut. No material is wasted as all clippings are returned to the pulp mix and reused
Step 6: Quality Inspection – Finally, the molded paste is inspected for quality. Defects are returned and reused
