Smurfit Kappa creates emergency packaging in hard to reach areas
Smurfit Kappa, leader in the paper and corrugated cardboard packaging sector, has collaborated with the Wings for Aid Foundation to create an innovative packaging solution that facilitates the delivery of emergency supplies in hard-to-reach areas. A solution that has been awarded the TIACA Air Cargo Sustainability 2019 award for its resistance and protection capacity, since it can be launched from an airplane without its content suffering any damage.
Its effectiveness was demonstrated in the tests that were carried out with prototypes, in which a package of 30 eggs, a particularly fragile product, remained intact after a fall of 100 meters in height.
The Wings for Aid Foundation was attracted by Smurfit Kappa’s capabilities in sustainability and its experience and long-term know-how in paper-based packaging. Solutions that can be easily reused for other purposes in case of emergency, such as shelter for example, and that do not generate garbage problems when their task ends, since they will easily decompose because they are 100% biodegradable.
Barry Koperberg, General Director of the Wings for Aid Foundation, said that “Smurfit Kappa is much more than a supplier for us: we really consider it a collaborating partner. Without the hours that its designers have dedicated to R&D activities within the framework of this project we would never have managed to create this optimized packaging. Now we can throw boxes with a capacity of 20 kilos from a height of 100 meters at a speed of 90 km. per hour without damage and in a predetermined location. ”
Frank Sinnige, Director of Innovation and Customer Experience for the Benelux region in Smurfit Kappa, added that “we are delighted to be able to participate in such an important project as this one, which enables the provision of help in emergency situations, and, no doubt some, our Design Team lived up to the challenge. Through the Better Planet Packaging initiative we seek to go beyond what we are already doing as a company with partners such as the Wings for Aid Foundation, in order to implement new ideas that foster positive change. ”
The next phase of the project will be to develop packaging that can be launched from drones, instead of airplanes.
