Plastic Corrugated Sheets
Corrugated Plastic or Plastic Corrugated sheets started getting acknowledged as a reusable alternative for paper corrugated boxes in Europe in the late 1970’s. The United States took notice and began producing corrugated plastic in the mid 80’s. Plastic Packaging Solutions was one of the first converters to produce plastic corrugated finished product in the U.S. in the early 80’s. Originally having to import sheets from Europe until the first extrusion lines began producing sheets here in the U.S. in the mid 80’s.
Corrugated Plastic sheets has come a long way and is now manufactured with three variables. Laminated sheet, Profile sheet with a new Honeycomb or Bubble pattern now available.
Corrugated Laminated Plastic Sheets
Plastic corrugated laminated sheets comes in 4mm and is manufactured in Polyethylene in a very similar way to corrugated fiber. Most commonly made with two flat sheets on each side with a third wave pattern sheet in the middle. Instead of gluing these sheets together they are brought together hot and melted together. The second variety is in the form called single face. This version only has one flat side and the wave pattern is exposed on the opposite side. Single face laminated sheet can be rolled and is much more pliable than the standard sheet.
Profile Sheet
Plastic corrugated profile sheets is available in both polyethylene and polypropylene from 2mm up to 25mm in thickness. It is made by an extrusion process through a die and when resin is pressed through the die. It creates a sheet that has flat surfaces to both sides and an I-beam structure between the two flat surfaces.
Honeycomb or Bubble Sheet
Newer to the market is Honeycomb or Bubble plastic corrugated. Available in polypropylene and comes in multiple thicknesses. It has two flat surfaces. With either a honeycomb type pattern in the middle or a bubble format. It has better rigidity in both directions and is incredibly flat on the sides.
Although more expensive than the other two options it has performance advantages in some scenarios. No matter what combination is best suited for your project corrugated plastic is a perfect replacement for fiber corrugated. When there is an opportunity to reuse the packaging or the packaging or display needs to withstand weather or other variables in the environment.
Unlike paper products it is also archive safe and does not contaminate the environment with paper dust. Making it a great alternative for clean room handling. It can also be customized economically when compared to molded plastic products or even thermal formed products. Tooling is normally in the hundreds of dollars instead of thousands or tens of thousands needed for molded or thermal formed plastic products.
For more details on corrugated plastic products see:
Packaging Material Comparisons
Corrugated Plastic Specifications
Polypropylene [PP] vs Laminated High Density Polyethylene [HDPE]
Technical Properties of Laminated High Density Polyethylene [HDPE] Corrugated