“The world's demands for green and compostable products, and this, combined with our own goal to reduce the world’s consumption of plastic products, made us decide to start manufacturing molded pulp products discussion along with plastic packaging material. In the North American markets, we introduced them in 2021. And we are seeing an increase in demand.” This is explained by Kiran Patil of CSK Green LLC. In mid-February, they will even start manufacturing these products in a new facility in Ontario, Canada.
Kalyani Patil, Sanika Patil and Kiran Patil with CSK Trading at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference in Canada.
Molded pulp, what is it?
So, what is it? Patil: “Molded pulp, also known as Moulded Fibre, is a packaging material, typically made from 100% recycled corrugated fibreboard and newspaper. It is used for protective packaging or for food service trays and beverage carriers. Other typical uses are end caps, trays, and clamshell containers.”
Advantages
Using molded pulp has many advantages, continues Patil, but the main advantage he stresses is that products made out of this material are green (produced with 100% post-consumer waste ), compostable (100% biodegradable), and environmentally friendly (created with minimal use of energy).” And what about the other advantages? “First of all, they reduce storage and transport space as they stackable, they are not affected by temperatures, absorb impact, protect the product from vibration and shock, reduce scratching and abrasion, and are static neutral. Additionally, on the costs side, we see it reduces labor as no assembly is required, lower unit cost compared to other forms of packaging, lower tooling cost, minimal price fluctuations, and lower cost of disposal.”
Future
Patil foresees a bright future for these kinds of products. “After the initial trials, greenhouse operators have already replaced 5% of their plastic products with these types of products. My customers are mainly using various shipping trays (6 pack / 10 pack / 12 pack / 15 pack etc). And we can even produce tailor-made products as we have in-house molding capacity.” And in 2024, they will produce the products in their own facility in Ontario, Canada. “Currently, we are manufacturing overseas. Building a facility here, closer to the markets, is another step towards becoming a more environmentally friendly company.”
For more information:
Kiran Patil
CSK Green
54 Aldersgate Drive
Brampton, ON L7A4A7
Tel.: 647 708 5975
Email: [email protected]
www.cskgreen.com