Somewhere along the line, corrugated (and chipboard) partitions fell out of favor as an inner packing material. A lot of it had to do with a desire to reduce corrugated usage and unit cost – both good objectives.
However, corrugated partitions can sometimes reduce overall packaging usage and unit cost, while providing a number of other important sustainable benefits.
- Partitions provide excellent product protection for small parts and fragile items such as coffee mugs. Reducing damage means reducing returns and replacements – which reduces packaging consumption!
- Partitions are easy to reuse if logistics support it. Heavyweight corrugated partitions can be reused many times over for intra-plant transport and sub-assembly applications.
- Partitions provide additional support inside the corrugated box, giving the shipping unit better crush resistance and overall durability. For that reason, using partitions may allow shippers to purchase lighter weight boxes, reducing overall corrugated consumption and cost.
For consumer-direct shippers, partitions have the added advantage of being customer friendly. Partitioned contents are as easy to unpack as it gets. Plus, the corrugated material is easy to recycle and can be reused for storage around the house.
