7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Corrugated Packaging
The world is full of choices and options, and people are creating new solutions at lightning speed, meaning more options are coming available as time goes on. When choosing your packaging needs, how do you decide which option is best for you?
Corrugated packaging is an excellent choice for many reasons. Whatever your needs may be, corrugated packaging can likely satisfy them. It is one of the most popular packaging formats used today, if not the most popular.
1. Corrugated packaging is low-cost
Nothing about creating corrugated packaging is high cost. The labour costs are low, the supplies and materials needed to create the packaging are cheap, and creating it doesn’t take a very long time. As compared to other available options on the market, corrugated packaging is the most cost-efficient option.
2. It is sustainable
Corrugated cardboard is 100% recyclable, and usually is also made from recycled materials. Not only that but it is highly reusable. Unless the packaging is somehow destroyed during its first use, it is fully functional to be used again and again until it breaks or the strength becomes compromised.
Other sustainable characteristics of corrugated packaging include that it is made up solely of renewable resources, and that it takes less energy to create than other types of packaging.
3. It is strong
The design and purpose of corrugated packaging is strength. Plain cardboard without the three layers – one of which being that wavy piece in the middle – would be significantly weaker, and would probably not be nearly as effective as packaging.
4. It is easily customizable
Really, anything is customizable these days, but certain materials just don’t have the right qualities to make that process simple. Luckily, corrugated cardboard is extremely simple to print on, making the visual elements very easy to create. There really are no limitations.
It is also easily customizable in size and shape. Not only can corrugated boxes come in any size, but corrugated packaging can also mean display cases for stores, which don’t necessarily follow that cubic shape.
One exceptional customizable feature of corrugated cardboard packaging is that it can be made to be flame retardant. Seeing as cardboard is usually a material that can catch fire easily, this customization feature really gives corrugated packaging more to brag about.
5. It is a great marketing tool
Part of marketing is creating a brand and creating brand awareness. Brand awareness means showing your logo wherever you can, so that people start to associate your brand with your products, and associate your brand with the products they need and/or want.
And that’s where corrugated packaging comes in. Because of its easily customizable features, you can place your logo on the sides of the packaging, and then no matter where that packaging is, it will represent your brand. So even if it is reused for other purposes than transporting your brand’s goods, it will still be representing you.
6. It is light
Corrugated packaging is lightweight, so it doesn’t add to what is already inside. This is especially helpful when it comes to shipping, as it doesn’t add much extra weight to the package. It means, too, that the maximum weight comes from the products in the packaging, and not from the packaging itself, which can mean more packages get delivered or moved in fewer packages.
7. It might not carry very heavy weights
Nothing is perfect, even if corrugated packaging is pretty close. The maximum weight load for corrugated packaging is lower than some other materials, so even though it is pretty strong, if you are carrying something very heavy, it may not be able to handle it.