Is bubblewrap now history? PB Tech has found a replacement

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fe31nz

1228 posts

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#289495 9-Sep-2021 00:43

I received a new hard disk from PB Tech today and was very pleased to see that they did not wrap it in bubblewrap - instead they have found a replacement which seems to be a piece of thick brown paper cut into a honeycomb pattern and then has each alternate piece of the pattern pushed up or down:

There is an inner piece of white paper that is probably to prevent the honeycomb pattern from catching on anything. It was in a cardboard box with more scrunched up brown paper to fill it out. So their entire packaging is now paper and cardboard - completely recyclable. So a big thumbs up to PB Tech - everyone else will now have to catch up.

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1043 posts

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#2775030 9-Sep-2021 05:48

I first saw that stuff in an Amazon delivery more than ten years ago.

Good to see that NZ is reducing the delay in taking up new ideas.

clinty

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#2775031 9-Sep-2021 06:25

A few NZ distributors have been using this for some months now

HP has also been using all cardboard in its laptop and desktop packing for a while now

Clint

Bung

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#2775032 9-Sep-2021 06:42

Bubblewrap is recyclable if you use the soft plastic bins at supermarkets.

Currently WD specify 50mm of foam as acceptable packing but Seagate allow for plastic bubblewrap. I'd prefer retailers to follow the choice of the drive manufacturers although I'm not sure any packing is proof against the way couriers throw parcels onto porches. I try to collect the drive to remove at least one delivery.

davidcole

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#2775043 9-Sep-2021 07:47

Bung: Bubblewrap is recyclable if you use the soft plastic bins at supermarkets.

Currently WD specify 50mm of foam as acceptable packing but Seagate allow for plastic bubblewrap. I'd prefer retailers to follow the choice of the drive manufacturers although I'm not sure any packing is proof against the way couriers throw parcels onto porches. I try to collect the drive to remove at least one delivery.

But soft plastic recycling is nowhere near as good as cardboard.

Also I'd much rather something made out of cardboard which is probably already has been recycled once, then making something out of plastic in the first place - since that's more than likely made from virgin raw materials.

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ANglEAUT

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#2775046 9-Sep-2021 08:03

Will & Able have been using this cut cardboard since they launched.

(New Zealand's only range of eco-friendly cleaning products creating jobs for Kiwi's with disabilities)

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

Bung

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#2775049 9-Sep-2021 08:20

I'm not arguing that plastic is good just that an unproven method of packing (as determined by drive manufacturer) could result in the drive itself having to be recycled.

1101

3122 posts

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#2775051 9-Sep-2021 08:26

clinty:

HP has also been using all cardboard in its laptop and desktop packing for a while now

Clint

Not on their servers. Plenty of foam plastic packaging
They even put the bundled 2 small network cables in 2 separate boxes (and both plastic wrapped) .

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clinty

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#2775077 9-Sep-2021 09:06

1101:

clinty:

HP has also been using all cardboard in its laptop and desktop packing for a while now

Clint

Not on their servers. Plenty of foam plastic packaging
They even put the bundled 2 small network cables in 2 separate boxes (and both plastic wrapped) .

Servers are HPE (HP enterprise)- now a separate company from HP Inc that does desktops, laptops and printers :)

Clint

afe66

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#2775097 9-Sep-2021 09:34

I bought a dell 24" several years ago and remember the complex origami cardboard packing in contrast the the large amount of polystyrene my previous dell had come with....admittedly many years earlier.

I was also interested to see my local mitre 10 had a polystyrene recycling area which I had not noticed previously anywhere else.

Bung

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#2775109 9-Sep-2021 09:56

There was a company recycling expanded polystyrene at the Porirua landfill turning it into products like blocks for backfilling retaining walls and slab insulation. AFAIK that has closed down but Expol is collecting poly at some hardware stores to reuse in its insulation panels.

elpenguino

3419 posts

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#2775174 9-Sep-2021 11:07

Great to see some manufacturers are getting with the program.

I've been pleased to see a 4G modem we buy at work (x many) come in a cardboard box without the little plastic bag on each of the accessories.

OTOH I bought a Brother printer a couple of years ago and it came with 4 huge pieces of polystyrene ...... it's like some people don't read the news.

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hio77

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Lizard Networks

#2775211 9-Sep-2021 12:16

whiskey typically arrives wrapped in this carboard. Seems to do a good job...

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

antonknee

1133 posts

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#2775213 9-Sep-2021 12:24

This stuff is great... we have a machine at the office that cuts it. You feed in butcher type paper (or recycled stuff, bits of cardboard, whatever) and it produces this. Very effective. The machine wasn't even too expensive to buy from memory.

We're looking at a wider rollout for use in deliveries to customers, and trialled it. Oddly we got some distinctly negative feedback from customers - but could just be Karens.

Rushmere

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2776179 10-Sep-2021 19:00

You can buy it here

There are also smaller packs available without the dispenser.

This supplier is great - I use them for all of my business packaging.

jarledb

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#2776223 10-Sep-2021 19:41

antonknee:

This stuff is great... we have a machine at the office that cuts it.

...

We're looking at a wider rollout for use in deliveries to customers, and trialled it. Oddly we got some distinctly negative feedback from customers - but could just be Karens.

Have used a similar machine, and my experience was that it could create dust/particles - is that the kind of complaints you have been getting?

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