KLUG-CONSERVATION has been producing corrugated board made from ageing-resistant paper since 1994. Over the years, KLUG-CONSERVATION managed to become the market leader for corrugated board based on the technological requirements of DIN EN ISO 9706 and DIN ISO 16245 – Type A. Since 2003 – partly in response to the Elbe River flooding in Saxony – all corrugated boards used to make boxes and folders are laminated with wet-strength adhesive.
In 1996, the term “Sortenwahrheit” (approximating to “full disclosure of materials” in this context) was coined by Prof Dr Guido Dessauer in a number of important talks and articles in specialist magazines. The term refers to honesty when specifying the materials used for making ageing-resistant products, as well as completeness of technical information required for quality assessment of a material.
Over the past years, other companies have also started to produce and offer ageing-resistant corrugated boards. Unfortunately, not all competitors state or disclose the factors required for assessment of quality and price.
When comparing the offers of various manufacturers, the questions that arise are: what makes up the price of a corrugated board and which criteria determine the quality of a corrugated board? In order to meet the quality characteristics in accordance with EN ISO 9706 and DIN ISO 16245 – Type A, all products for long-term storage must be fabricated from 100% primary fibre without using any recycled fibre, which is imperative for fulfilment of point 5.1 of EN ISO 9706.
Fresh cellulose fibre is traded on the world market like crude oil. We are familiar with regular information regarding the price of crude oil that immediately makes us think about our next trip to the petrol station and the fuel prices there. It’s a similar scenario for the price of fresh pulp fibre.
The price of paper products can be determined quickly by looking at the pulp price index. The three main resources for the production of paper are fibre, water and energy. The production costs (paper machine, staff, transport etc.) barely fluctuate. At approx. 56%, the fibre constitutes the biggest part of the costs. A price comparison of different offers should therefore always include grammage as an essential parameter.
On a percentage basis, the price of a single-layer corrugated board is made up as following:
56% material content = fibre content = cellulose
23% production of the corrugated board
6% glue
3% wet-strength finish
12% pallet, packaging, transport
Manufacturers of ageing-resistant corrugated board aim to achieve a competitive advantage through savings in the production process. These savings usually involve a decrease in quality. Examples for this include:
It is sometimes also attempted to prevent comparability of different products or manufacturers by non-disclosure of technical parameters. For example: a supplier only specifies the thickness of a corrugated board, while withholding information about the grammage of the individual layers or the entire laminate.
For proper assessment of an ageing-resistant corrugated board with regard to quality, and for the sake of fair competition, suppliers should at least specify the above-mentioned technical parameters and provide confirmation by means of a legally binding quality guarantee, in line with the concept of “Sortenwahrheit” (approximating to “full disclosure of materials”). A comparison of different offers can only be meaningful if all of the named parameters are provided. A merely price-based assessment will eventually lead to a decrease in the quality of ageing-resistant corrugated board and the protective packaging made from it.
Materials for long-term conservation must meet the technological requirements of the EN ISO 9706 and DIN ISO 16245 – Type A. To make sure that the material you are buying complies with these standards, you should always request a legally binding, signed quality guarantee, irrespective of tests carried out in the past. Products for archiving photographs are additionally required to have passed a Photographic Activity Test (PAT) in accordance with ISO 18916:2007. For more information please visit our website.
The following aspects can be considered for assessment of the quality of an ageing-resistant corrugated board:
PS How can grammage be calculated?
The grammage of a paper, cardboard or corrugated board can be calculated easily. A rectangular sample is cut and then weighed on a paper scale. For thinner papers, a number of papers with the same format or a large folded sheet can be used for precise determination of weight. Grammage is calculated as the ratio of weight and area. Example: a 10 x 10 cm piece of cardboard weighs 3 g. The grammage of the cardboard is therefore 3 g / (0.1x0.1) m² = 300 gsm..
Further information on this topic can also be found in our new Technical Knowledge 9 – A comparison of corrugated boards Knowledge9