Coroplast® is an excellent material for reusable packaging.  It can be converted into boxes, bins, totes, dividers.  It is ideal for indoor and outdoor applications.

Specifications

Coroplast® strength and durability have no direct relationship to corrugated fiberboard.  The figures provided are offered as a guide and may vary with resin batch and production quality of the finished container.  The USAF has established a specification MIL-P-83668 (USAF) for plastic corrugated packaging applications.

Packaging sheets have a 2,500 ft2 minimum per thickness, color, size and must run together.

Basic Colors for Packaging:

White, Light Blue and Black

Standard Colors for Packaging:

Natural and Gray

Premium Colors for Packaging:

Yellow, Green, Red, Orange, Silver, Purple, Brown, Medium Blue and Navy Blue

Advantages of Coroplast® Containers

  • Lightweight
  • Usually designed to ship flat when empty
  • Inert to nearly all acids, chemicals, detergents, grease & oils
  • Withstands temperature extremes from -17F to 230F
  • Decreases product damage better than corrugated paper
  • Greatly reduces shipping costs
  • Sanitary & maintenance free durability
  • Maintains near new appearance for years
  • 100% recyclable & environmentally friendly

Stacking

Actual stacking loads on corrugated fiberboard cases are normally recommended to be the compression strength divided by a factor of 1.5 to 4.5, depending on the intended storage conditions.  Tests on Coroplast® would indicate that a factor of 1.5 – 3.5 will probably be adequate over normal temperature ranges.

Extreme high temperatures will certainly have a negative effect on the stacking strength of Coroplast® boxes while very cool temperatures will increase the strength.  Humidity will not cause any change in Coroplast® performance.

With corrugated fiberboard, the drop off in strength as humidity increases is dramatic.

A major performance test series has not yet been performed on Coroplast® boxes.  Some independent preliminary test results are offered as a point of reference.

Compression of Other Weights/Densities of Coroplast® 10”x10”x10” Taped RSC

Thickness Weight Compression Average of 6
4.0 mm 600gm Black 496 lb. sq. in.
4.0 mm 775gm Natural 598 lb. sq. in.
4.0 mm 800gm White 786 lb. sq. in.
4.0 mm 800gm Natural 694 lb. sq. in.
4.0 mm 1000gm Natural 1040 lb. sq. in.
5.0 mm 1000gm Natural 1272 lb. sq. in.
5.0 mm 1000gm Blue 1567 lb. sq. in.

Rough Handling

The rough handling characteristic of Coroplast® compares well against fiberboard.  Tests have shown that Coroplast® has significantly higher burst, puncture and edge and flat crush properties than B flute fiberboard.

Bursting Strength

Coroplast® will not burst on the Mullen tester.

Puncture

Test show puncture (Beach Impact) 3 – 4 times higher than corrugated fiberboard of similar stacking ability.

Impact Strength (lbs.sq.in.)

Degrees F 2.0mm / 400gm 4.0mm / 700gm 4.0mm / 775gm 5.0mm / 1000gm
74 5302 90.7 97.9 126.5
32 5 88.5 100.3 129.4
-4 37.8 62.7 69.4 89.6

Cushioning

Cushioning test show that prior to complete crushing of the Coroplast® flutes; the peak decelerations are in the range of 150 – 400 grams.  The acceleration time pulses show that even when fully crushed on the preceding crop, the Coroplast® fluting still resists subsequent compression and provides cushioning Coroplast® is easily compressed under both static and dynamic conditions than fiberboard.  A higher stress is needed to crush the flutes and a higher energy is absorbed.  The would indicate that Coroplast® will cushion slightly heavier weights from higher drops.

Corrugated Comparison Test

The tests were conducted at 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 50% relative humidity.  The test samples were standard 4mm (150lb) polypropylene corrugate and 250lb c-flute corrugated paperboard.  No additives were the in samples tested.

Properties Coroplast® Paper Corrugate
Weight for test 0.15 lbs./ sq ft. 0.15 lbs. / sq. ft.
Water Absorption in 24 hours 0.02% 75%
Edge Crush 45 lbs. sq. ft. 5 lbs. sq. ft.
Flat Crush 80 lbs. / sq. inch 3 lbs. / sq. inch
Tear Strength 1,700 grams 10 grams
Tensile Strength 4,000 lbs. / sq. inch 200 lbs. / sq. inch
Impact Dart 320 inches / lb. 32 inches / lb.
Heat Deflection load @ 66 lbs. per sq. inch 174 degrees Not Applicable
Living Hinge 21,000 cycles 1,000 cycles

The test results of same weight equivalent materials indicated that Coroplast® performance exceeds, in every area, the corrugate paper performance. This is especially true in the areas of the heat deflection load at 66 lbs. / sq. inch.

All strength test properties areas indicate a minimum ten-fold advantage (edge crush) with Coroplast® over the paper corrugate. In some instances, Coroplast® has a 3,750 fold (water absorption) advantage. It is also important to remember that comparison does not test contamination issues of the paper corrugate versus Coroplast® inert properties associated with chemicals, acids, detergents, greases and oil.

However, the result of water absorption test does give a hint of the expected test result of absorption of acids, chemicals, greases and oils. Thermal and hinge tests are an area that have unique properties addressed on by Coroplast®.

Overall, the end result is Coroplast® packaging protects your products better than corrugated paper.

Find a Coroplast® Dealer

Coroplast® has trusted distributors in the United States and Canada. Use our locator tool to find your neighborhood distributor.