Easy-to-Recycle Cardboard Box Appears in Vegetable Markets

Japan's Toppan Printing Co. and its subsidiary, Toppan Containers Co., announced on November 16, 2005 that it has developed and started marketing a new type of cardboard packaging for vegetables, called the "EL CASE". The one-touch-assembly box does not require any staples, but can be sealed by clamping the opening panels together.

While binding tape, staples and resins are commonly used in cardboard packaging, there has been an increasing need for more efficient, safer-to-handle, and easy-to-recycle boxes that can be formed without the use of such binding materials. Packaging for vegetables requires sturdy boxes, and staples are still widely used, often causing injuries among handlers, as well as incidents with metal staples found mixed among vegetables. A growing number of dealers are now reluctant to use stapled boxes.

Developed to meet these needs, the EL CASE is not only safe and economical, but also eco-friendly, as it is easily separated for collection, the company says. Currently the new boxes are only available for light and medium weight vegetables, such as cucumbers, shallots and eggplants, but the company aims to expand the market to heavy vegetables by promoting technological development.

http://www.toppan.co.jp/english/index.html

Posted: 2006/03/01 10:52:35 PM
Japanese version