The Hour of Corrugated Cardboard

Press release
18 April, 2019
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Packaging manufacturers are faced with the challenge to combine creative design and optimal product protection with efficient support for the service and logistics of e-retailers. Nowadays, packaging should be, above all, sustainable and consist of materials that are lightweight and reusable. Therefore, the concept of sustainability is one of the driving factors for numerous innovations in the packaging industry. This is also the case with Mondi, a leading global packaging and paper group, and a leading supplier of corrugated cardboard packaging: This year, the company received eight of the coveted Worldstar Packaging Awards, more than any other company worldwide. All the award-winning solutions impressed the jury with their sustainability approach, improved handling and reduced material consumption.

"Let's never stop improving" 

At Mondi, great value is placed on innovation in order to address new market challenges, setting trends in the packaging industry, while providing customer solutions. For online retail, there is a constant search for improvements and optimised solutions that may not always be noticeable to the end consumer, but which make the retailer's packaging and transport process more efficient.

Online shopping is here to stay. That means more packaging - but preferably made from the right material. Corrugated cardboard solutions are 100% recyclable and can be reused up to seven times until the fibres reach the end of their life cycle. In addition, over the past decade, we have been able to reduce the weight of our corrugated packaging by 9 percent, compared to an industry average of 4 percent, at the same time increasing the strength and functionality of the packaging.

Mondi understands that choosing the right packaging is important, as is close cooperation with e-traders. Current development and innovation efforts in e-commerce focus on the following topics:  

  • Custom-fit solutions as a continuing trend with continuous optimisation potential: less air space in packaging enables higher product safety and space savings during transport, as well as reduced CO 2 pollution.
  • Saving (additional) packaging material: smart packaging solutions that use only one type of material. Mondi pursues various optimisation approaches, for example, the use of a semi-automatic floor solution. In a pilot project, one of Mondi’s customers was able to save 30 percent of packaging time, and about 350 kilometres of adhesive tape - equivalent to the distance from Berlin to Prague.
  • Replacement for filling material: existing upholstery materials can be replaced by corrugated inserts or compartments. These are easy to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner and offer optimal product protection and ease of handling.
  • The "perfect packaging”: Product packaging, which, in the case of an online order and appropriate shipping, requires no additional packaging.

The responsibility to provide environmentally friendly online trade lies equally with web shop providers, end users and packaging manufacturers. If all parties involved pull in the same direction, the sustainability trend can turn into a forward-looking development that benefits everyone - especially our environment. At Mondi we believe that our packaging is part of the solution to contribute to a better world. 

About the author:

Armand Schoonbrood has been the Chief Operating Officer of Mondi Corrugated Packaging for five years. In 1985 he began his career in the packaging industry as a financial controller at Mondi in Maastricht. His mission at Mondi Corrugated is to further strengthen the image of a successful, service-oriented packaging partner focused on quality and innovation.