In the current corona crisis, folding cartons confirm their inestimable value in several respects: They impressively prove that the supply of the population with food, pharmaceutical products and other goods for daily use packed in folding cartons can and will be ensured. Folding cartons maintain the hygienic integrity of the products and protect them from damage and spoilage. But not only the consumer can feel safe with folding cartons. All persons in the supply chain who come into contact with folding cartons during production, filling and transport are also protected, as viruses are not active for long on inanimate cardboard surfaces. As "closed-loop packaging", the folding carton, whose fibre material comes from a natural and renewable source, also protects the environment because it is recycled after use.
FOLDING CARTON INDUSTRY ENSURES THE SUPPLY OF THE POPULATION
The existential importance of the basic functions of packaging is manifested in the light of the COVID 19 pandemic and makes a resumption of the social and political discussion about the sense of packaging and its environmental relevance inevitable. Packaging acts as a transport, protection and hygiene guarantor and ensures that consumers receive their everyday products undamaged, with the necessary information and in a hygienically perfect condition. These basic functions of packaging, which are indispensable for the security of supply to the population, have been appropriately acknowledged by politicians and classified as an integral part of the supply chain and thus as systemically relevant. "Without packaging there is no food" concludes Andreas Helbig, spokesman of the board of the Fachverband Faltschachtel-Industrie (FFI) e.V. "In modern societies organized on the basis of the division of labor, folding cartons are indispensable for supplying consumers with the goods they need for their daily needs.
In an alliance of associations, the FFI has successfully lobbied for transport and sales packaging and its raw materials and pre-products for food and pharmaceutical products to be classified as integral components and system-relevant products in connection with measures to contain the corona pandemic. In the current "Guidelines KRITIS Ernährung" of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of 27 March 2020, companies for the production of packaging and packaging materials, including their suppliers, are placed on an equal footing with critical - and thus as systemically relevant - companies in the food industry. This is to ensure that the supply chains for food and pharmaceutical products are protected and exempt from the restrictions associated with measures relating to the cross-border movement of goods. However, packaging also ensures the security of supply to the domestic population with food, pharmaceutical products and other necessary products of daily use.
FOLDING CARTON INDUSTRY FACES UP TO ITS RESPONSIBILITY
"The folding carton industry is well aware of its responsibility in these challenging times" adds Andreas Helbig. "Product and transport packaging play a decisive role in ensuring security of supply for the population. For this reason, extensive protective measures have been taken pro-actively in order to constantly ensure both the safety of employees and the supply security of the supply chain of transport and sales packaging. In the folding carton companies, for example, hygiene rules have been drastically tightened, process-critical suppliers identified at an early stage, and inventories of all raw materials, supplies, machines and tools required for production have been increased accordingly in order to be able to react flexibly to possible bottlenecks. "Basically it's quite simple" adds Christian Schiffers, managing director of FFI. "In order for food to reach the consumer undamaged and protected from spoilage and viruses as well as other contaminants, it must be securely packaged". Also the competent authorities for risk assessment note in this context that corona viruses are generally not very stable on dry and inanimate surfaces. In addition, the viruses on cardboard folding boxes do not last as long as on other packaging materials.
RECOGNITION OF SUSTAINABLE CARTON PACKAGING
When resuming the social and political debate on the usefulness of packaging, the focus should be clearly on its environmental relevance, so that sustainable packaging in particular receives the recognition it deserves.
Especially with regard to sustainability, the folding carton scores clearly: The cartonboard used for the production of folding cartons is obtained 100% from the renewable, non-fossil raw materials wood fibres and cellulose or recycled paper. The paper fibers in the waste paper cycle, which is also used to dispose of used folding boxes, are recycled five to seven times on average to produce new fiber-based printing products and packaging. The fibres obtained from wood or the pulp used to manufacture folding boxboard in Europe come exclusively from sustainable and mostly certified forestry (FSC, PEFC). In addition, the CO2 absorbed by the trees remains bound throughout the life cycle of the wood fibres, i.e. also in the cartonboard of the folding box as well as through the waste paper recycling process.