Corrugated board is a material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and up to two flat linerboards. The fluted sheet and linerboards are then glued together to form corrugated board. This is made using special machines called corrugators and is essential in the process for making cardboard boxes. Corrugated board is sometimes referred to as corrugated fiberboard, corrugated cardboard and paperboard.

Originally developed as a packaging solution in 1871, corrugated board and the packaging industry as a whole has incurred incremental innovations over the last century, enabling corrugated board to have multiple uses and functions in the current day.

What types of corrugated board are available?

Corrugated board is available in many different material grades with varying paper weights and finishes. All of our materials at Saxon Packaging are sourced from within Smurfit Kappa Group to ensure our material is cost effective and of the highest quality.

Standard finishes include KRAFT (brown) white & mottled/oyster, LT (recycled paper) and TEST (recycled inner liner). White papers can be coated to provide superior substrate for greater print quality.

Standard nominal paper thicknesses start at 85gsm (grams per square meter) and increase up to 275gsm. Different flute weights are also available and is determined by the strength of material required.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) — What is Chain of Custody Certification?

Saxon Packaging corrugated board is chain of custody certified under FSC. The FSC is an international, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world's forests. They have developed a system of forest certification and product labelling that enables people to identify responsibly sourced wood, paper and other forest products.

Chain of Custody Certification (COC) is an internationally recognized system of ensuring that a product of forestry origin has originated from a legal and responsible source. It ensures traceability from the original logging phase, the journey throughout the entire supply chain and the eventual delivery to the merchants/manufacturers. 

Corrugated Board Flute Profiles

Standard flute profiles that we work with at Saxon Packaging are E, S, B, C, BC and EB. Each of these materials are mentioned in greater detail below:

  • ‘E’ Flute: 1300-1600 microns (1.3mm – 1.6mm) in thickness and gives strong crush resistance. It provides a high quality surface to print upon and is most commonly used in smaller cartons and die-cuts applications.
  • ‘S’ Flute: 1900-2200 microns (1.9 - 2.2mm) in thickness — S flute is balanced perfectly for both retail and transit packaging. It sits between E and B Flutes to provide the performance characteristics of B Flute, whilst producing printability and strong crush resistance characteristics.
  • ‘B’ Flute: 2600-3000 microns (2.6mm – 3.0mm) in thickness and probably the most common type of fluting. Seen in all types of applications including die-cut and regular cases, it gives a good all-round performance.
  • ‘C’ Flute: 3600-4200 microns (3.6mm – 4.2mm) in thickness it offers greater box compression strength than ‘B’ flute, thus giving slightly better stacking strength for lighter products. It can be prone to more crushing if used in the wrong application.
  • ‘EB’ Flute: 3800-4300 microns (3.8mm – 4.3mm) in thickness this is a double wall material combining the fine ‘E’ flute and the commonly used ‘B’ flute. The results give an excellent performance level in both print finish and impact protection.
  • ‘BC’ Flute: 6100-6700 microns (6.1mm – 6.7mm) in thickness this is another double wall material that marries ‘B’ and ‘C’ flute profiles together — giving all round performances and most often seen in shipping cases where a high protection level is required.

Is corrugated board sustainable?

Corrugated board is a sustainable, eco-friendly, packaging material comprised of recyclable materials like used cardboard carton and old newspapers.. Additionally, Kraft corrugated cardboard is often produced without the use of dyes or bleaches, further reducing its carbon footprint and recyclability:

  • 100% Renewable, Recyclable & Re-usable.
  • Corrugated fibers can be reused up to 8 times.
  • The majority of Saxon Packaging boxes are made from approximately 75% recycled cardboard; some are made using 100% recycled materials.
  • Cardboard boxes reportedly have one of the best recycling rates for any packaging material and only a small percentage of cardboard boxes end up in landfill.
  • Saxon Packaging material is obtained from responsible sources.
  • Corrugated cardboard can be recovered through composting and biodegradation.
  • Corrugated cardboard may be incinerated for energy recovery.

Virgin papers are sourced from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certified plants.

This article is by Saxon Packaging. Homepage image courtesy of Saxon Packaging.
For more information, visit www.saxonpackaging.co.uk/history-of-corrugated and www.saxonpackaging.co.uk/request-a-quote.