Honeycomb products for Packaging

These established patented packaging and construction products use hexagonal shapes to provide strength with low density. They achieve near true sustainability. Recycled cardboard and paper are shaped into honeycomb cells to provide protection and void-fill for doors, panels and any packaged product. Void forming for new buildings in areas vulnerable to clayheave can be achieved with up to 50% less width than other systems, saving on soil excavation and removal. The products also fill voids in delivery vehicle loads and can take the weight of oversized products in stacks, where pallets cannot be used.

Product properties can be varied according to application, and the product can be made in a range of sizes or as a continuous strip for use by manufacturers with continuous production processes. The product can be transported with great economy, as it folds flat.

Technology

Geometry and morphology are common features of natural structures which deliver required functionalities at least resource cost, and honeycombs are the classic example of the use of hexagons.

Hexagonal structures are ubiquitous in nature, providing a high strength to weight ratio to plants and animals. The reasons are that they form in response to two-dimensional stresses in all directions, and each side is the shortest distance between two points. This provides the high strength, and avoids the packing of the central areas of the shapes with material which does not add greater strength.

Sustainability

The products apply three sustainable engineering principles:

• Materials organised for high materials efficiency of the product.
• This is the hexagonal shape. Panel cores are up to 6 times lighter than solid panels, and have a compressive strength of 30 kN/m2.
• Materials which degrade by the action of various natural agents (e.g. microbes, light, water).
• Cardboard and paper. For most applications they are not mixed with non-biodegradable materials.
• Use of recycled materials.

The cardboard and paper. For most applications they are not mixed with non-recyclable materials.

Business benefits of sustainable features

• Lower costs for customers.

The foldability and light weight of the product mean that transport costs are minimised. The use of recycled cardboard makes the product “cost effective”, according to the sales literature. The minimal material use for the filling or packaging functionality delivered means that customers are not paying for overspecification or redundancy.

• Customer compliance with legislation

Recyclability assists customers down the packaging supply chain with obligations to ensure various rates of recycling. The ease of recyclability of cardboard adds to this benefit.