Smurfit Kappa and Wings for Aid Develop Disaster Relief Packaging

Corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa and humanitarian organisation Wings for Aid Foundation have developed a packaging solution for disaster relief and emergency supplies.

The packaging has already been tested with a pack of 30 eggs by dropping it from an aeroplane at a height of 100m.

The fragile product survived the drop and the eggs remained undamaged.

The packaging can be reused for other purposes such as shelter. It is 100% biodegradable and will easily break down if left outdoors.

Wings for Aid Foundation general manager Barry Koperberg said: “Smurfit Kappa is so much more than a supplier to us. We really see them as a collaboration partner. Without the R&D hours they put into this project, we could have never achieved the optimised box we now have.

“We are currently able to drop boxes with a capacity of 20kg from a height of 100m at a speed of 90km/h, undamaged and at a predetermined location.”

“Through our Better Planet Packaging initiative, we seek to go beyond what we are doing as a company and work with partners such as the Wings for Aid Foundation on new ideas that are making a positive difference.”

The packaging won the 2019 TIACA Air Cargo Sustainability Award. It will undergo more testing, where it will be dropped from drones instead of planes.

Last month, Smurfit Kappa became one of the founding members of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)-led 4evergreen forum.

The forum aims to increase paper-based packaging contribution in a circular and sustainable economy.