When most people think of a shipping box, traditional brown kraft corrugated immediately comes to mind. It’s versatile, economical, customizable, and used to ship products across nearly every industry.
But what happens when a traditional corrugated box isn’t the best fit?
For applications involving moisture, repeated handling, reusable packaging, demanding environments, or long-term durability, plastic corrugated packaging may provide a better solution.
At New-Tech Packaging, we manufacture with both kraft corrugated and plastic corrugated materials. The right answer isn't always one or the other—it’s finding the material that makes the most sense for your product, supply chain, and application.
Kraft corrugated is the traditional fiber-based material used to manufacture most shipping boxes. It typically consists of fluted corrugated medium positioned between linerboard layers, creating a lightweight but strong packaging material.
There’s a reason corrugated boxes are everywhere.
Kraft corrugated offers an excellent combination of strength, versatility, printability, and cost efficiency. Boxes can be designed in a wide variety of styles, sizes, board combinations, and configurations to protect products throughout storage and distribution.
For many applications, kraft corrugated is exactly what you need.
Custom corrugated packaging can also help reduce unnecessary material and empty space by designing the package around the product rather than forcing the product into a stock box.
Plastic corrugated has a similar fluted construction to traditional corrugated board, but it is manufactured from plastic rather than paper-based materials.
That difference gives plastic corrugated some unique characteristics.
It is durable, lightweight, moisture-resistant, and well suited for repeated use, making it an attractive option for applications where traditional fiber corrugated may wear out too quickly.
Plastic corrugated can be converted into much more than a basic box. It can be die-cut, folded, welded, stapled, glued, laminated, or combined with foam and other protective materials to create custom packaging solutions.
Plastic corrugated may be a better option when your application requires:
Instead of throwing away the packaging after each shipment, a properly designed plastic corrugated container can potentially travel through the supply chain repeatedly.
One of the biggest mistakes when comparing packaging materials is looking only at the initial unit price.
A kraft corrugated container will often have a lower upfront cost than a comparable plastic corrugated solution. But that doesn't automatically mean it has the lowest total cost.
Consider a reusable shipping loop. If a kraft corrugated box must be replaced frequently while a plastic corrugated container can make repeated trips, the economics of the two solutions can begin to look very different. On the other hand, paying for the durability of plastic corrugated doesn't make sense if the package is shipped once to an end customer and never returned.
That is why we encourage customers to consider questions such as: How many trips does the package need to make? Will it be exposed to moisture or harsh conditions? How much handling will it experience? Can the packaging realistically be returned and reused? What happens to the packaging at the end of the shipping cycle?
The answers can quickly point you toward the right material.
Sustainability is another area where there isn't always a simple answer.
Kraft corrugated offers the advantages associated with fiber-based packaging and established recycling streams. Plastic corrugated, meanwhile, can provide value in applications where a durable container is used repeatedly instead of consuming a new shipping container for every trip.
The best choice depends on how the packaging will actually be used.
A reusable package only creates value if the supply chain supports returning and reusing it. Likewise, an oversized or over-engineered disposable package can consume more material and transportation space than necessary.
Evaluating material usage, product protection, transportation efficiency, reuse, waste, and end-of-life options provides a much better picture than evaluating the material alone.
You don't have to decide between kraft corrugated and plastic corrugated before contacting us. That's our job.
At New-Tech Packaging, we can evaluate your product, current packaging, shipping environment, volumes, handling requirements, and supply chain to determine what type of packaging makes the most sense.Our capabilities allow us to provide solutions using:
Sometimes the answer is kraft. Sometimes it's plastic. And sometimes the best solution is a combination of materials.
There is no universal winner in the kraft corrugated vs. plastic corrugated debate.
The key is understanding the application before choosing the material.
Not sure which one is right for your product? Let New-Tech Packaging evaluate your current shipping solution and help you determine whether kraft corrugated, plastic corrugated, or a custom combination of materials can provide better protection, efficiency, and value for your supply chain.