International Paper Co, Westrock Co, Tetra Pak International SA, Oji Holdings Corp, and Amcor Plc are the top 5 paper & board packaging companies in the world in 2021 by revenue. Collectively, the top 10 paper & board packaging companies generated revenue of $126,626 million, where International Paper Co ($19,363 million) has the highest, followed by Westrock Co ($18,746 million) and Tetra Pak International SA ($12,312 million), while DS Smith Plc stood lowest ($8,220 million). The highest revenue increase was registered by Weyerhaeuser Co (35.4%), followed by Stora Enso Oyj (18.8%), and Smurfit Kappa Group Plc (18.4%), while the companies Oji Holdings Corp had a revenue decline of 9.9%. In terms of the geographical split, 5 out of the top 10 paper & board packaging companies in the world are based in Europe, 3 are based in North America, while the remaining two are based in Asia. They have employed a total of 312,389 people in 2021. The United States of America-based International Paper Co is the leading paper & board packaging company in the world in 2021 (by revenue). The company reported revenues of $19,363 million for the fiscal year ended December 2021 (FY2021), an increase of 10.2% over FY2020, driven by improvement through operational, commercial, and investment excellence. It is a manufacturer of packaging products. It offers fiber-based packaging and pulp and paper products such as coated and uncoated paper, pulp, consumer packaging, and industrial packaging for several products including printing and writing papers to containerboard, corrugated sheets, and folding carton boards. It is headquartered in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, and employs 38,200 people in FY2021.Africa, and employs 38,200 people in FY2021. Westrock Cois is one of the leading paper & board packaging companies in the world in 2021 (by revenue). The company reported revenues of $18,746 million for the fiscal year ended September 2021 (FY2021), an increase of 6.6% over FY2020, revenue and operating profit increased due to higher selling prices and higher volumes. It manufactures and distributes containerboard and paperboard products such as cartons, coated paperboard, retail displays, automated packaging systems, and merchandising displays. The company offers containerboard, kraft paper, pulp, recycled liner board, coated white top liner board, corrugated medium, saturating kraft paper, white top liner board, specialty kraft paper, and fluff pulp. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the US, and employs 49,900 people in FY2021.
Corrugated boxes are storage and shipping containers that are constructed of corrugated materials. The term corrugated material refers to material (usually a type of paperboard) that is rippled, fluted or ridged. Corrugated containers are usually composed of a corrugated fiberboard, a common form of material that consists of a corrugated sheet sandwiched between layers of flat sheets. Despite the inaccuracy of the term, "cardboard box" is widely used to refer to this type of container.
A consistent, economic trend throughout history is that packaging supplies tend to be made from materials that cost the least. Because of this, paper and its products have not been used as packaging for most of human history. Only in the mid-1800s, with the advent of industrial pulping processes, did paper become widespread for packaging uses.
The first corrugated paper was patented in England in 1856 for use as a hat liner. Corrugated material used for shipping did not crop into usage until Albert Jones patented a single-faced corrugated board in New York City 15 years later (1871). Three years after Jones’s work (1874), Oliver Long built upon his design and added a second piece of liner to the single-faced board, thus creating the elemental version of the corrugated fiberboard all around us today. In the same year, G. Smyth built the first massive-production corrugator.
Corrugated packaging boxes as we know them today – both the material used to create them and the actual product - did not develop until the very end of the nineteenth century. In 1884, Carl F. Dahl, a Swedish chemist, pioneered the creation of a strong, tear-resistant paper from pulverized wood chips. The product of his process came to be known as kraft paper. By 1906, kraft paper was being regularly manufactured. Interestingly, corrugated shipping boxes did not really develop until an accidental discovery in 1890. Then, Brooklyn-based printer Robert Gair discovered the foundational technique for making such boxes when a creasing tool malfunctioned while working on paper seed bags and performed cutting actions instead. Initially corrugated boxes were primarily used for packaging glass and pottery. As time developed, more products came to be entrusted to corrugated boxes, such as farm produce.
Toward the turn of the millennium, paper-based products had come a vast way from their position during the previous century as a last-resort packaging option. In 1992, production volumes of corrugated fiberboard in the United States exceeded 25 million tons.
Although the terms cardboard, paperboard, and corrugated material are all used interchangeably, technical differences do exist between them. The generic term cardboard can refer to any heavy material chemically based on paper-pulp and is often avoided in the packaging industry due to its lack of precision. Similarly, the term paperboard really describes heavy paper-based material whose main distinction from actual sheet paper lies in its greater average thickness.
Chipboard is a slightly more precise term that refers to a recycled-paper product pressed to a certain thickness. Packages used for light items such as board games or cereal are typically made of chipboard. According to the previous definitions, these boxes could technically also be described as cardboard or paperboard boxes.
Corrugated fiberboard is an accepted technical term for the most common material used to make corrugated boxes. This material is simply a three-layered form of kraft paper (a specific type of paperboard or cardboard) that consists of a corrugated (rippled) interior sandwiched between two flat liners. Although some sources may refer to corrugated material as any three-layered material, this is not really accurate, since the term "corrugated" refers primarily to the existence of ripples or pleats (known as flutes). The ripples which define corrugated material are similar to pleating and contain air, which acts as a strong cushion and also increases the durability of its products made from corrugated material. Ultimately, it is more accurate to simply say that corrugated (or rippled) material is an essential part of many three-layered material constructions.
Despite these technical differences, sometimes the packaging industry resorts to colloquial terms such as "corrugated cardboard" to avoid confusing consumers. Furthermore, different industries tend to refer to different materials with their own distinct labels. As a consumer, however, it is important to know these distinctions, especially for purchasing and recycling decisions.
Some advantages of corrugated fiberboard include:
As stated earlier, corrugated boxes are usually made from a specific form of high quality paperboard known as kraft paper. Although corrugated boxes or containers are usually made out of a paper-based material, they can be made out of other materials as well. After paper or wood products, corrugated plastic containers are commonly used, especially when a stronger material is needed.
Kraft paper is produced from elements such as recycled paper, sawdust and wood chip through a sophisticated process. During this process, the elements are adhered together with heat, pressure and an adhesive to produce heavy-duty paper. Although kraft paper forms the foundation of corrugated boxes, kraft paper and corrugated boxes are usually produced in separate environments (paper mills and corrugating plants, respectively) due to economic considerations.
More strictly speaking, the foundation of corrugated boxes is the humble pine tree. It is not uncommon for the largest manufacturers to own thousands of acres of pines as well as the paper mills to process the branchless trunks that are harvested from them. In these paper mills, pine trunks are initially stripped of their barks and reduced to small wood chips. The wood chips then undergo the kraft (or sulfate) process, in which they are"cooked" in a highly alkaline, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) based solution and dissolved into a fibrous pulp. After further refinement, this pulp is transported to a special type of paper-making machine known as a Fourdrinier machine. These machines form the pulp into paper, largely by massive dehydration.
Corrugated box manufacturers typically maintain an inventory of kraft paper reels which they receive from paper mills. In order to actually corrugate the paper, they use massive, football-field length machines known as corrugators. The kraft paper is humidified at high pressures in preheating rollers to soften it, making it easier to form the ripples or flutes. Next, the fluted board is formed by pressing corrugated molds on either side of the cardboard. A following set of rollers, comprising the single-facer glue station, joins the first flat liner with the newly corrugated material. The double-backer glue station adds the second flat liner to the other side of the corrugated material to form a complete piece of corrugated fiberboard. (The fluted paper is joined to both of these layers with a corn starch-based adhesive, effective for creating permanent bonds.) For the newly formed corrugated fiberboard to be ready for use, it must dry over steamy hot plates. The surface is often sanded until smooth and sometimes coated with a glossy, waterproof finish. At the end of the corrugator, the continuous fiberboard is divided into large sheets (or box blanks). The high-precision corrugators in use by many corrugated box manufacturers are typically able to produce 500 feet of corrugated fiberboard per minute.
Although raw material for corrugated fiberboard is usually processed in a separate location, the products of corrugated fiberboard are often not. After being formed in the corrugator, corrugated fiberboard is typically fed to another set of machines (box makers) for the production of actual boxes or containers. Most corrugated cardboard boxes are manufactured in high volumes and sold in bulk bundles, usually around 20 to 50 at a time. They are always sold flat, which saves space during the shipping process.
Container materials are formed from corrugated fiberboard because the corrugating process significantly strengthens the material without adding significant weight. Corrugated boxes are strong, durable and long lasting. While most corrugated boxes are used for storage and shipping, they can also be used for short term organization, such as in mail delivery applications.
Corrugated boxes are used for a wide variety of containers that most people encounter every day.
Many different kinds of commercial products are contained in corrugated material, including toothpaste, cereal, soap, computer paper and check refills, among many others. Pizza boxes, retail and clothing store boxes, gift boxes, jewelry boxes, bakery and cake containers, various display boxes, and many other boxes are all made of corrugated paper material. Some of the thousands of industries that depend on corrugated boxes include food processing, toys, automotive, publishing, electronics, and construction.
The corrugated packaging industry commonly follows standards set by ASTM International, a US-based organization involved in the collection and publishing of technical standards based on voluntary consensus. The following standards are the majority of ASTM’s criteria to assess various properties (e.g. breaking strength, tear resistance, etc.) of corrugated fiberboard and products made from them.
D1974 / D1974M -16 Standard Practice for Methods of Closing, Sealing and Reinforcing Fiberboard Boxes
D2658 – 04 (2013) – Standard Test Method for Determining Interior Dimensions of Fiberboard Boxes (Box Gage Method)
D3951 – 15 Standard Practice for Commercial Packaging
D4727 / D4727M – 17 Standard Specification for Corrugated and Solid Fiberboard Sheet Stock (Container Grade) and Cut Shapes
D5118 / D5118M – 15 Standard Practice for Fabrication of Fiberboard Shipping Boxes
D5168 -12 (2017) Standard Practice for Fabrication and Closure of Triple-Wall Corrugated Fiberboard Containers
D5639 / D5639M – 11 (2015) Standard Practice for Selection of Corrugated Fiberboard Materials and Box Construction Based on Performance Requirements
D6804 – 02 (15) Standard Guide for Hand Hole Design in Corrugated Boxes
There are well over a thousand corrugated box manufacturers in the United States alone. Thus, finding the right manufacturer for your packaging needs is critical.
Moisture undermines one of corrugated boxes’ main advantages – durability. As a result, keeping corrugated boxes dry is a fundamental part of their care.
Corrugated fiberboard should always be handled in accordance with its anisotropic qualities. Anisotropic material refers to material whose physical properties depend on directionality and orientation. Corrugated fiberboard will behave differently based on the directional orientation of its macromolecules, its flutes, etc. Consult with your corrugated box manufacturer to ensure you handle your corrugated fiberboard according to its anisotropy and not contrary to it.