ABSTRACT
Seldom has the time been better for companies to re-examine logistical packaging, meaning all the containers, pallets, and related items used for storage and transport of materials to and from the manufacturer, both raw materials delivered to factories and finished goods shipped to market. Logistical packaging typically is made of the least expensive material that will do the job. Logistical packaging in the US depends primarily on the heaviest sort of packaging—wooden pallets and corrugated fiberboard cartons. Before 1992, incoming corrugated boxes were disposed of, and polystyrene packing peanuts were used to fill voids in outbound boxes of products. The initial solution was to purchase a commercial cardboard shredder and chop the old corrugated boxes into pieces small enough to serve as packing material, replacing the polystyrene peanuts. Stretch wrap is made of low-density polyethylene. The essential quality of this polymer is that it stretches, up to 300% of its length coming off the original roll.
