Metzingen. PELASPAN™ BIO is an innovative new product in the field of loose fill padding materials from Storopack: This development provides the resilient S-shaped packaging chips made of vegetable starch. In the same way as S-shaped loose fill material made of polystyrene, the individual chips interlock each other to form an effective padding around the packaged product, wedging and consequently locking it in place. PELASPAN™ BIO is totally biodegradable without any risk of ground water contamination. It was launched onto the European market in December 2007 in Benelux, with Germany and France due to follow in 2008.
PELASPAN™ BIO was developed by Storopack in the USA for companies aiming to demonstrate their environmental credentials with a new alternative to loose fill made of plastic. Based on the success of the polystyrene version, the aim was to transfer the benefits of the S-shaped chip to packaging chips made of vegetable starch. This entailed engineering work to modify the extruder, as vegetable starch is conventionally produced only in a simple cylindrical format. The US team determined the optimum balance between contour and material density to ensure that the product demonstrated the right degree of protective resilience, a good blocking effect and the capability to withstand high contact pressure. After its successful launch in Benelux, additional production capacity is now planned for the market launch in Germany and France.
PELASPAN™ BIO is dust free and antistatic. As a loose fill product, it is particularly suitable for filling out transport packages prior to closure. The chips pour automatically into the voids remaining between the individual packaged products. The efficiency of the filling process means that loose fill padding materials are always in demand whenever a high turnover rate is called for per work station.
For automated packaging lines, Storopack can offer the necessary infrastructure whereby the individual packaging stations are supplied with loose fill from a central silo. A blower transports the chips along pipelines to the stations.