Plastic Container Blog

You can save money by using corrugated plastic panels for your storage needs as well as your industrial packaging needs.
You can read more about this here.

Corrugated plastic panels could be the ideal solution to your industrial packaging and storage needs. Whether your needs are simple or complex, corrugated plastic can reduce your costs. Packnet offers complete in-house design and fabricating services. Die cutting, scoring, slotting, sonic welding and a variety of in-stock hardware such as handles, latches, straps and buckles all which make corrugated plastic the reusable, recyclable and versatile material every company could use. Corrugated Plastic offers the following advantages:

* Durable: Corrugated plastic panels are engineered to be much stronger than typical paper solutions; corrugated plastic containers can be reused many more times than cardboard or paper.
* Flexible Solutions: We can engineer custom corrugated plastic solutions that can solve a number of your handling and storage challenges. We can custom fabricate containers of unique size, shapes and colors to meet your packaging needs.
* Moisture Proof: Plastic will withstand water and other chemicals to ensure longevity in less than ideal environments. HDPP and HDPE available.
* Fiber Free: Corrugated plastic doesn’t shed; your product and storage area will have less contamination. The ideal material for cleanroom environments!
* Environmentally Friendly: Because of it’s durably, plastic containers can be reused many times; because plastic is recyclable, there is no waste to contaminate the environment.
* Printing Capabilities: Silk screen printing, digital printing and water based flexo-printing are some of the common methods of printing on corrugated plastic.
* ESD Protection: Corrugated plastic can be made conductive to reduce static build-up and protect ESD sensitive materials.

Prices include imprint charge.
• Panel is made of 4mm corrugated plastic.
• Panel available in (SF) Single Face - printed on one side only OR
(DF) Double Faced - printed on both sides of panel.
• Has I-Beam inner core center.
• Panel doesn’t warp.
• Panel is moisture proof.
• Strong but lightweight.
• #1 Stake sold seperately.

Learn about the advantages of coroplast plastic containers and also the results of the corrugated comparison test
by reading this article here.

Advantages of Coroplast Plastic Containers
 
Lightweight
Usually designed to ship flat when empty
Inert to nearly all acids, chemicals, detergents, grease & oils
Withstands temperature extremes from –17F to 230F
Decreases product damage better than corrugated paper
Greatly reduces shipping costs
Sanitary & maintenance free durability, maintains near new appearance for years
100% recyclable and environmentally friendly
Additional properties of flame retardant, UV inhibitors and ESD protection

Corrugated Comparison Test
Test Parameters

The tests were conducted at a temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 50% relative humidity. The test samples were standard 4mm (150lb) polypropylene corrugate and 250 lb. Test c-flute (cardboard) corrugated paperboard. No additives such as flame retardant or extra ultra violet protection were in the samples tested.

PROPERTIES PLASTIC CORRUGATE PAPER CORRUGATE
Weight for test 0.15 lbs. / sq. ft. 0.15 lbs. / sq. ft.
Water Absorption in 24 hrs 0.02% 75%
Edge Crush Test 45 lbs. sq. ft. 5 lbs. sq. ft.
Flat Crush Test 80 lbs. / sq. inch 3 lbs. / sq. inch
Tear Strength 1700 grams 10 grams
Tensile Strength 4,000 lbs. / sq. inch 200 lbs. / inch
Impact Dart Test 320 inches / lb. 32 inches / lb.
Heat Def. Load @ 66 lbs. per sq. inch 174 degrees Not Applicable
Living Hinge 21,000 cycles 1,000 cycles

Test Comparison Comments

The test results of same weight equivalent materials indicates that the plastic corrugate performance exceeds, in every area, the performance of the corrugate paper (cardboard). This is especially true in the areas of the heat deflection load at 66 lbs. / sq. inch. All strength test properties areas indicate a minimum ten-fold advantage (edge crush) with the plastic corrugate over the paper corrugate. In some instances the plastic corrugate has a 3,750 fold (water absorption) advantage. It is also important to remember that comparison does not test contamination issues of the paper corrugate versus the plastic corrugates’ inert properties associated with chemicals, acids, detergents, greases and oils. However, the result of the water absorption test does give a hint of the expected test result of absorption of acids, chemicals, greases and oils. Thermal and hinge tests are an area that have unique properties addressed only by the plastic corrugate. Overall, the end result is corrugated plastic packaging protects your products better than corrugated paper.

Safezone has manufactured a storm panel made from corrugated aluminum or high-impact corrugated plastic which when used, help reduce soaring insurance costs. Read more about this here.

Safezone LLC builds, installs hurricane shutters
By LAURA RUANE • lruane@news-press.com • June 1, 2008

The five-month hurricane season that begins today isn’t the only thing keeping Safezone LLC busy.

True, the company manufactures, sells and installs storm shutters. It also performs two routine shutter inspections yearly for customers, and recently has diversified into the manufacture of decorative and protective metal railings for balconies

“Compared to last year, this season is busier,” said Jim Spadorcia, vice president/sales and marketing and a shareholder in the privately held company. “It does surprise us, with the economy the way that it is.”

Perhaps not all of the demand is surprising, Spadorcia added quickly. People are discovering hurricane shutters help reduce soaring insurance costs. Typically, the shutters will pay for themselves in five years, he said.

Lori McMorrow, who lives in a condominium in Naples, recently had Safezone install impact-resistant glass windows at her home and storm shutters on the lanai. She’s looking forward to the extra protection these will afford. Her main motivation, however, was to acquire homeowners insurance coverage from a desirable company.

“The carriers are getting very selective: One by one, they’re starting to require (storm) mitigation as a precondition,” McMorrow said.

About 35,000 homeowners have had free inspections for windstorm resistance, and have been approved for matching grants of up to $5,000 to strengthen their homes through the state’s My Safe Florida Home program.

May 31 was the last day to apply for grants. As of May 21, 84 percent of the homes inspected had no shutters for windows and doors, said Kevin Cate, a spokesman for the state Department of Financial Services, which oversees the grant program.

“Of 10,722 homes completed to date through the My Safe Florida Home program, 93 percent of homeowners have opted to protect their openings (windows, doors and/or garage doors) with grant monies,” Cate said.

Safezone owners got into the hurricane shutter business in 2005 by buying 7-year-old Nolen Shutter Co. in Fort Myers. They’d frequently hired Dustin Nolen and his company for shutter work through another business they owned: Naples-based Spectrum Contracting. It was a logical extension from Spectrum’s work, which concentrates on restoration services to high- and mid-rise condominium complexes.

Nolen continues to work in the business, and owns a stake in the company. Safezone launched its first big marketing campaign, “Get in the Safezone,” last September.

Although its main sales and administrative offices are in Naples, Safezone bases its manufacturing and warehousing in a 10,000-square-foot facility in Jetport Commerce Park off Daniels Parkway south of Fort Myers. Altogether, the company employs 200 estimator/salespeople, manufacturing workers and installers.

Besides Spadorcia and Nolen, company owners are John Schallert, Robert Valentine, Terry Wilson and Rich Baldi.

Relatively few local companies manufacture as well as sell and install storm shutters, Spadorcia said. He had no data, but guessed perhaps 20 percent of the region’s companies do all three tasks.

On the manufacturing side, Fort Myers-based Croci North America is known worldwide for its shutters. In February, Croci broke ground on a new 120,000-square-foot headquarters on Adelmo Lane. It wholesales its shutters.

Safezone’s retail customers are about 50 percent residential, 50 percent commercial, with the latter including high-rise condominiums.

The company recently replaced the storm shutters at the Monaco Beach Club high-rise building in Naples, and is in the manufacturing phase for storm shutters and railings for Marbelle Beach Club on Marco Island.

For Safezone owners, it was important to manufacture the shutters it installs, Spadorcia said. “You can control the quality so much more. Having all of the materials on hand also means if someone calls for service, we have minimal down-time.”

A typical shutter job at a 2,000-square-foot, single-family home takes three to four weeks, from the order to completed installation, Spadorcia said. It can range in cost from about $5,000 to $45,000, depending on the shutter type, number of windows and doors and other factors.

Safezone makes three basic kinds: Storm panels of corrugated aluminum or high-impact corrugated plastic, which the homeowner takes out of the garage and screws on; accordion-style shutters that open and close like a bi-fold closet door and roll shutters.

The roll shutters, which are the most expensive and the most versatile, can be operated with a hand crank, by a wall-mounted switch or by remote control.

The manufacturing part of the process includes cutting extruded aluminum sheets, and forming them into storm panels, connecting slats for roll shutters, and bending and welding aluminum to form the “hoods” from which roll shutters descend.

Materials are bought locally or elsewhere in Florida whenever possible; a company in Bonita Springs provides motors for the roll shutters.

The finished product heads to the job site clad in bubble wrap.

Upgrades Safezone is working on include oval peepholes in the slats of the roll shutters. It also aims to branch out into the business of installing in-line electrical generators that can operate the air conditioning, the roll shutters and home appliances. An in-ground propane tank would fuel these generators.

Spadorcia’s face brightens at the mention of railings. Safezone got into that business in January, and uses Kynar- or powder-coated anodized aluminum to form railings that please the eye as well as protect.

“You can draw a picture or have someone draw a picture of what you want, and we can make it.”

The most frustrating part of the business, he said, is hearing how people got a low price from another company, but got “products that aren’t going to really protect them.”

Generally one gets what one pays for, he said, adding shutter shoppers at minimum should check proof of licensing and bonding, and affiliations with such entities as the International Hurricane Protection Association and the My Safe Florida Program.

“When you know you’re not cutting corners, and doing something that involves someone’s safety,” Spadorcia said. “It gives you a feeling of accomplishment.”

Plastic containers are the containers of choice for grape exports because they are more efficient for transportation and allow better air flow for the product.You can read more about this here.

Mexican grapes now heading to U.K., Asia

By Tom Burfield

(May 5, 9:40 a.m.) Most Mexican table grape growers export the vast majority of their product to the U.S. and Canada. However, as produce from Mexico continues to build a strong reputation worldwide, growers are shipping more of their product to places like the United Kingdom, Pacific Rim countries and China.

Pacific Trellis Fruit, Reedley, Calif., has shipped some Mexican grapes to the United Kingdom and exported to Asia last year for the first time, said Omar Abu-Ghazaleh, imports manager.

The buying power of Central America also is increasing significantly along with an interest in Mexican table grapes, so the company also ships to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica.

In all, the company exports up to 10% of its Mexican-grown table grapes to places other than the U.S. and Canada.

“Nowadays, you have to diversify your markets as much as possible,” Abu-Ghazaleh said.

Plastic containers are the containers of choice for grape exports because they are more efficient for transportation and allow better air flow for the product, he added.

Frank’s Distributing of Produce LLC and Bionova Produce Inc., both in Nogales, Ariz., export primarily flames, some sugraones and a lot of red globes to Pacific Rim markets, said Montie McGovern, director of operations.

The companies export 65% of their red globes to countries other than the U.S.

Some companies ship heavily to the United Kingdom, but for McGovern, those shipments depend on market conditions there and on what product is available from India and Egypt.

The companies enjoy consistent business with Hong Kong on flames and sugraones, he said, but red globes generally are more popular throughout the Pacific Rim.

Stevco Inc., Los Angeles, exports up to 10% of its Mexican grapes, said Jared Lane, sales manager.

Shipments have increased lately as Mexico’s fruit becomes more accepted worldwide, he said.

The company exports all varieties and ships in corrugated plastic containers to places like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China and Hong Kong.

Miguel Suarez, owner of MAS Melons & Grapes, Nogales, Ariz., said he used to export a significant amount of grapes to England, but that business has been reduced as countries in northern Africa increase their shipments every year.

Suarez also has seen a gradual change in the table grape industry in India, which also supplied grapes to England. At first, the industry there consisted of numerous small growers who shipped product of inconsistent quality.

“Apparently, the new generations are getting more organized,” Suarez said.

Farms are getting bigger and quality is improving. That affects Mexican exports, which are produced at the same time.

As a result, Suarez said, his business to Europe has been decreasing every year, especially on green grapes.

Good growing conditions in India and north Africa and an extended Chilean deal mean fewer options for Mexican growers, he said, but opportunities remain for red grapes.

The company has programs in place with buyers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, he said.

Export deals can be much more challenging than shipping to North America, but shippers say they also can be more profitable.

“There are quite a bit of regulations to most of these countries,” said Abu-Ghazaleh, “but where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

The risks are greater when exporting table grapes, Stevco’s Lane said. A shipper must send his highest-quality product, but the returns are higher and generally well worth the risk.

“Our (export) business has stayed pretty steady,” McGovern said, but export volume often is tied to conditions in other growing areas, including Chile, as well as in the destination countries.

Crop size also can affect exports. If Mexico’s crop is light and the North American markets are strong, shippers are likely to export less product, he said.

One of the newest export destinations for Mexican grapes is China.

Pacific Trellis launched a trial program with that country last year.

“It went fairly well,” said Abu-Ghazaleh.

The company shipped mostly red globes, but it also has seen an interest in flames and sugraones. Pacific Trellis plans to increase exports to China this season.

Stevco also ships to China, but volume is shrinking as Chinese production of red globes increases, Lane said. The company ships mostly seedless varieties to that nation.

There is potential for thompson, sugraone and red globes in China, Suarez said, but shipping there can be risky, since a trip can take up to four weeks.

“That’s a long time,” he said, so starting with good grapes that are packed right is imperative.

By reading this article you will learn the properties of corrugated plastic as well as common applications for personal and industrial use.
You can learn the specifics here.

Applications for Corrugated Plastic
Submitted by Leaftech

There are several properties inherent in corrugated plastic that make it the material of choice for several different applications both for personal and industrial use. This material, manufactured from polypropylene resin, is known to be highly durable. In addition, it is flexible and easy to open, as well as light weight. In addition, it is very wear proof, having proved to be very resistant to weather damage as well as harm by various harsh chemicals. Finally, corrugated plastic, like other corrugated materials, is the perfect material in today’s green conscious world, as it is recyclable.

Now that we have had a look at some of the qualities of corrugated plastic that make it desirable, let’s take a look at a few of the common applications of this material.

Industrial packaging. Corrugated plastic has perhaps its most widespread use as a material that is ideal when it comes to industrial packaging. Manufacturers of automotive and electronic parts will often ship the parts in containers made from corrugated plastic. This achieves several different things. First of all, the components are safe inside. The nature of the material means that outside impact will not be transferred to the contents of the package, and at the same time the package is not likely to be compromised by the penetration of water or other liquids. Secondly, while it is very resistant, corrugated plastic is also very easy for a person to get into; a quick cut with a craft knife will open the package without compromising the contents.

Food packaging. The same qualities which allow this material to be successfully used in industrial packaging also make it ideal for food packaging. Manufacturers of egg cartons for shipping, for example, are increasingly making use of corrugated cardboard.

Small pet cages. On the personal use level, many owners of small pets such as hedgehogs, ferrets, and rabbits are finding corrugated plastic to be very useful in the construction of cages. In fact, this idea was adapted from the use of the material within the retail pet industry. Small pets are well protected inside, and owners are still able to see them.

Model Airplanes. The durable nature of this material means that it is an excellent component to use as the structure for model airplanes. These planes are often subjected to harsh treatment, and using corrugated plastic to build them can mean they are indestructible under normal conditions.

Finally, corrugated plastic can be the ideal material for political placards and other types of non-permanent signage (and it is being used increasingly for permanent signage as well). A tough nature and recyclable attributes means that they will last for the duration of a campaign and can then be used for more constructive purposes when the issue has been settled.

One man’s business is booming thanks to his corrugated plastic realtor signs which can be reused.  Read more about this here.

Making signs for Realtors is still hot
A Sarasota man is busy seven days a week filling a flood of orders
By Tom Bayles
Published Monday, April 7, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.

Real estate is not selling the way it did just two years ago, but that does not mean there are not people making money off the bursting of the housing bubble. Sign companies that cater to Realtors and their customers’ swollen inventories of houses, condominiums and businesses are having a field day as orders skyrocket.

“We are off the chart. My inventory is totally shot,” said Pat Neligan of Sign Service Co. in Sarasota. “I’m doing more in a week than I used to do in a month.”

While speculators and home sellers are licking their wounds, sign makers are carrying cash to the bank. Neligan, who does steady work for 10 real estate firms, said business has quadrupled to an average of 100 signs per month.

Sign-making has evolved quickly in the past few years, and Neligan and others in his business have moved away from painted plywood nailed to wooden posts and toward digital prints secured to skeletons made of PVC pipe.

Nearly all the signs he creates for realty firms measure four feet by four feet or four feet by eight feet, and cost anywhere from $300 to $600. He can usually have a for-sale sign in the ground within five days of an order for one — which can’t be too quick for the eager sellers these days.

A one-man show, Neligan works out of a warehouse in the Newtown area. His shop is filled with real estate signs of all shapes and sizes for clients such as Michael Saunders & Co., Wagner Realty and Gulfstream Realty.

Old plywood signs on sawhorses still bearing the names and phone numbers of realty firms of yesteryear serve as his work tables. The front of his office also is covered in signs. He is working seven days a week to make the signs, deliver them and set them up, then take them down when a property sells. That is starting to become a more frequent happening.

“Things are looking better. I’ve seen a lot of sales going on,” Neligan said. “People are beginning to get realistic, so people are beginning to buy again.”

The newer style of signs, which are made out of a form of corrugated plastic, can easily be reused. Neligan is finding some savvy Realtors who take advantage of that because merely changing the phone number or address on the sign brings the cost down to about $100.

Tom Heatherman, a spokesman for Michael Saunders & Co., said his company’s budget for for-sale signs has increased 175 percent since the boom years.

The Sarasota Association of Realtors sells those little “pool,” “price reduced” or “sale pending” signs that sit on top of the larger for-sale signs, as well as those that stick into the ground and direct buyers to an open house.

Kathy Roberts, the association’s executive director, said the organization buys the signs in bulk.

Roberts said sales of the so-called “rider” signs increased almost 95 percent in 2006 compared with 2005.

The for-sale sign phenomenon is not limited to Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.

Bob Stephens owns Bargain Sign Inc. in Clearwater, and he said for-sale, for-lease and foreclosure sign orders have risen 30 percent.

“We’ve done quite a few in the last year and a half in for-sale signs,” he said. “The for-sale or for-lease market is great.”

There is one type of real estate-associated sign that has fallen off, he said: Those “We Buy Your House In Any Condition” signs.

“We probably had six or seven out of those guys who would come in and buy 1,000 of those signs and they’ve just disappeared,” Stephens said. “They all used to drive Hummers and now they are working at Wal-Mart.

“But it’s been more than made up with by the sale of for-sale signs.”

Here you will find everything that All Valley Packaging has to offer including storage and shipping protection for corrugated boxes and foam.  Find more at here.

Storage & Shipping Protection
Corrugated Stock Boxes available in #3 white and brown kraft
RSC’s Five Panel Folders Bin Boxes
Die-cut Mailers Record File Boxes Molded EPS Cornerblocks
One Piece Folders Bulk Containers Molded EPS Edge Protectors
Plain Pads Tote Boxes Molded Polyethylene Cornerblocks
Corrugated materials, designed and manufactured to meet your specifications for shipping, display and in-plant handling
Containers of all styles Telescoping Style Boxes
Recycled Containers Flexographic Printing
Bulk Bins Screen Printing
Containers and Sheets which meet Displays
ASTM Standard Practice D5118 Die-cutting
ASTM Standard Specification D4727 Built-up Pads
PPP-B-1672 Partitions
Foams, designed and manufactured to meet your specifications for cushioning, blocking, surface protection, floatation, electrostatic control and insulation and available. Materials, including planks, sheets and rolls which meet both commercial and Military Specifications
• T-LAM* Polyethylene
• Expanded Polyethylene (molded and fabricated)
• Expanded Polystyrene (molded and fabricated)
• Flexible Polyester (fabricated)
• Flexible Polyether (molded and fabricated)
• Styrofoam (sheet stock and fabricated)
• Adhesive backed Velour Foams
• Anti-static and Conductive Foams
• Foam materials which meet Military Specifications
• MIL-P-26514, PPP-C-1752 and more

After a tragedy, a couple has created and made a sign made from corrugated plastic with bright colors that they hope will help save hunters lives.  You can read the whole article and about what inspired them here.

Hunters’ safety

An Emporia couple hopes a product they’ve developed will keep hunters safer in the field and avoid tragedies like the one that claimed the life of an Americus teen in December.

Dr. Rich and Deidra Rattay already were developing signs that hunters can post alerting outsiders that decoys are in use when 18-year-old Beau Arndt was fatally shot while camouflaged among goose decoys. The young man’s death hit home for the Rattays in more ways than one.

Deidra Rattay’s daughter knew Beau from high school.

Rich Rattay knew Beau’s father, Bob Arndt.

And Rich Rattay knew what it was like to be shot while hunting.

“I was shot one time by a hunter because he didn’t know I was there,” the Emporia orthopedic surgeon said.
He was turkey hunting in Missouri and was on one side of a creek. Another turkey hunter was on the other side of the creek. Neither hunter knew the other was there.

“The turkey jumped in the creek area,” he recalled.

The other hunter fired his shotgun and hit Rattay, who was against a tree.

“It hit me in the head, one in the forearm and once in the groin.”

The injuries required surgery, and Rich Rattay considers himself lucky that the shots came from a shotgun rather than a rifle.

In Beau Arndt’s case, a Topeka man is charged with the fatal shooting. Theron Thomas Kent told investigators he was hunting coyotes when the shooting happened. Prosecutors contend he was shooting illegally at Beau Arndt’s goose decoys. The details will be argued in court when Kent’s trial begins in late June.

In the meantime, the Rattays want other hunters and their families to avoid what the Arndts are going through.

“Some hunting you do with blaze orange on, like deer,” Rich Rattay said. “For turkeys, you have to be invisible.

“Especially for turkey, duck, geese, you’re so vulnerable. You’re right behind them (the decoys).”

But it’s not just fowl hunters who can benefit from the signs, the Rattays said. Deidra Rattay recalls deer hunting with her husband while he was setting a deer decoy.

“He was carrying the deer over his shoulder,” she said, recalling that they noticed drivers on the road slowing down as they passed. “I thought, ‘Someone is going to shoot at us.’”

Rich Rattay acknowledges that hunters shouldn’t have to worry, but “anywhere decoys are used, there’s going to be somebody who does something they shouldn’t.”

The signs feature a shield design that the Rattays adopted because the shape wasn’t already associated with safety, unlike, for instance, octagons for stop.

“We wanted something like a symbol people, we hope, will get to know as a hunter warning,” Rich Rattay said.

The signs are made of corrugated plastic to withstand weather conditions and have bright colors to be seen from a distance. They’re produced by a Kansas company that specializes in election promotion materials. They come with a metal stand that can be pushed into the ground, but Rich Rattay said hunters easily could nail them to a post.

Right now, distribution is small. Bluestem plans to carry them, Rich Rattay said, and the couple is working with other Emporia retail outlets.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has purchased a supply for hunter education instructors to display during spring safety classes. The Rattays hope hunters will learn to use the signs for protection. Although retailers will set their own sale prices, the Rattays are hoping to produce them at a price that will fit into most hunters’ budgets.

The first two signs went to Beau Arndt’s father, Bob. The Rattays plan to donate a portion of the proceeds from the signs to Beau Arndt’s memorial fund, which the family dedicated to hunter safety education.

Eventually, the Rattays hope to build their company, Dr. Hunter LLC. They incorporated in early December, shortly before Beau Arndt’s death.

“We planned on having a company making hunting-related products, videos and we could take people on hunts,” Rich Rattay said.

But for now, the decoy signs are the most important project of the new company.
“We talked about it for a long time,” Deidra Rattay said about the signs. “But when someone you know in the community is killed, it hits close.

“We thought we just have to get it out there.”

For those without a nearby retail outlet, the signs can be ordered directly from Dr. Hunter LLC by calling (620) 341-9129.

After reading this article, I was relieved to find that plastic containers filled with meats and produce pose no additional fire safety risks.  You can read article in entirety below.  I copied and pasted this article from here:   

WASHINGTON, DC-A scientific, quantifiable study has determined conclusively that reusable plastic containers (RPCs) filled with commodities require no additional fire safety measures than when the same products are stored in corrugated containers, it was announced by the Reusable Pallet & Container Coalition (RPCC). “This study proves that plastic containers filled with produce and meat commodities do not pose any additional fire safety concerns than products stored in corrugated containers, removing yet another perceived barrier to the use of reusables,” said Jeanie Johnson, executive director, RPCC. “The results of this study are important for our member companies and for customers. Every customer needs to understand the risks associated with everything that moves through their DCs and stores. This study proves that filled RPCs in cold temperature environments-as 

well as other storage temperatures-are a low fire-risk hazard.” Most standard warehouses use wet pipe sprinkler systems. However, many perishable items are warehoused in cold rooms maintained at 34 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Whereas storage areas generally use wet pipe sprinkler systems, cold storage warehouses use dry pipe sprinklers to reduce the chance of water freezing in the sprinkler pipes. The testing results verified that commodities stored in RPCs ranked in Commodity Class I and Commodity Class II, concluding that customers do not have to make special sprinkler provisions. 

The tests were carried out by CE Tech, LLC at the Department of Fire Technology at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute during a one week span. The RPCC worked with a retailer, insurance companies, fire risk consultants, and fire testing experts to establish a battery of tests. Ranking and final commodity classifications were determined by calculating four industry standard fire performance parameters for the commodity/RPC systems tested and comparing them to ranking tables. “The results were quite striking,” said Charles J. Lancelot, Ph.D., principal consultant, CE Tech. “They confirmed that when the commodities tested, and their equivalents, are stored in standard reusable plastic containers in the typical arrays used in warehouses, stores, and DCs equipped with fire suppression systems rated for Class II commodities, the RPC-stored commodities will be well within the capabilities of the installed sprinkler system. There will be no measurable risk entailed as compared with the same products stored in corrugated containers.” 

The RPCC tested produce and meat to better understand the fire risks associated with shipping and storing perishables in plastic containers. The RPCC chose lemons and tomatoes in plastic clam shells in RPCs as worst case produce commodities and meat grinds in case-ready packaging as a worst case meat commodity. The highly combustible fat content of the meatgrinds, the high known citrus oil content in the lemons, and the plastic clamshell-packed, high-water-content tomatoes were chosen to span the most representative range of combustibility risk.  Following the testing, the case-ready meat in nestable meat trays was assigned a Class I rating, while lemons in RPCs were assigned a Class II rating. The clamshell-packed tomatoes in RPC’s did not even trigger the water suppression system and fell below the ranking tables. This keeps the plastic container offerings in the same classifications range as the sprinkler systems currently used with their corrugated counterparts. Class I is the lowest rating for fire risk; Group A is the highest.