Eco-friendly packaging innovation
Dolphin Pack has always invested in the research and development of new technical solutions to better meet customer needs.
Never has the effect that climate change can have on our lives been more evident to us than in 2022, and it is increasingly clear that it is up to us to reverse course, finding new solutions to create a more sustainable economy.
In recent years there has been an increasing demand from manufacturers and top players in the Mattress Industry to use new packaging materials that are more sustainable, less polluting and more in line with current market trends.
With this in mind, we have taken steps to develop new solutions and find new materials that can begin to meet this new need.
We thought we would share these results with all manufacturers, because this is an innovation that serves companies and the environment.
Mattress Industry: Which aspects to evaluate that make packaging sustainable?
The main product of the Sleep Industry are mattresses: spring, hybrid, of more or less flexible polyurethane, with visco , latex, in short, all types. Regardless of their configuration, the main aspect they have in common is the fact that they are compressible.Their initial volume can be reduced by up to 70%, and this is the first strong element to be taken into account from a sustainability perspective.
Having a product whose volume can be reduced by compression, the direct consequence is that the space it occupies will be less once compressed.
The mere fact of having a packaging machine that compresses mattresses in addition to packing them is an aspect that allows a company to reduce its environmental impact because it needs fewer means of transport to transport its products.
New materials but same result, how is that possible?
As just mentioned, a 70% reduction in volume can already be achieved with a packaging machine, but it is also true that to date the most commonly used material to achieve this is plastic, which being of fossil origin is not a sustainable material.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand from top players in the industry to reduce plastic consumption, also driven by the green policies implemented by various countries and public opinion.
The Dolphin Pack team set out to develop new solutions and above all to find a material that could achieve the same result in terms of compression.
After several tests and thanks to the Dolphin Pack HC sealing system, which distinguishes all our machines by allowing optimal sealing, we were able to test a new type of paper-based material with a minimum % of plastic that is 100% recyclable and which, thanks to technical implementations designed by our technical department, can be used on ETESIAN and MISTRAL 3B MT.
Benefits of compression in detail:
Quadruple the shipping capacity*:
By shipping the mattresses only packed without compression, 48 mattresses can be shipped with a standard truck. With a packaging machine like ETESIAN, with the pressed and rolled cycle, where the volume reduction is 60%, you can ship up to 216 mattresses with a standard truck, while with ETESIAN FULL, with the pressed, folded and rolled cycle, you can achieve a reduction of 70%, being able to ship up to 300 mattresses with the same truck.
Reducing CO2 emissions
A full standard truck for a distance of 1000 km emits around 700 kg of CO 2.
By shipping the compressed and rolled up mattresses instead of having 4 trucks on the road, the same quantity can be transported with just 1 truck, reducing CO2 emissions by at least 4 times.
Logistics improvement
There are different types of packaging of a mattress that involve volume reduction: compressed flat, compressed and rolled up, compressed folded and rolled up, compressed and double rolled up.
Regardless of how you package it, as you apply a volume reduction to a mattress you make it more manageable for the operators working directly on it. Furthermore, by reducing the size, there is also a gain in terms of storage and logistics.
Advantages of using a PAPER-BASED material in detail:
Sustainable material, 100% recyclable
Our team researched and found a possible substitute for PELD plastic film that can achieve the same end result. It is a material composed of 95% paper with a light layer of Polyethylene (5%), a type of polythene paper that can be used in mattress packaging. This is used in the first stage of packaging to compress the mattress, reducing its volume, and the presence of PELD allows it to be sealed. In the rolling-up phase, on the other hand, a sheet of 100% paper can be used to roll up the mattress and, thanks to the technical improvements developed for this solution, it does not require welding.
95% reduction in plastic consumption
By replacing PE LD in both the flat and roll-up phases, the consumption of plastic film for the packaging of these products can be almost completely eliminated. This material containing only 5% PE is 100% recyclable**.
Possible integration on existing installations
Our R&D team is always on the lookout for new solutions and innovations to meet the demands of our historical and future customers, which is why, when studying this new application, we also thought of a system that would be available for production on the next ETESIAN models, but which could also be integrated into existing, functioning systems.
* quantity obtained by taking 2000x1800x300 conventional polyurethane mattress density 30 kg/m3 as reference.
** recyclability requirements may vary from country to country. Check with the country of reference for paper recyclability requirements.
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