Plastic corrugated gaylords

Plastic corrugated gaylords use plastic corrugated board instead of fiberboard. They come in 48 x 40, 48 x 48 or 48 x 45 in footprints, with sidewalls usually 24 to 50 in. They suit closed-loop programs where boxes make many trips between a supplier and a plant.

Plastic and paper side by side

When a returnable plastic box makes sense

Automotive packaging for ocean containers is generally one-way because returning it costs too much, and spare parts shipped to service centers usually go in expendable packaging. The same logic holds for gaylords. A plastic box pays off when it comes back. If a box leaves your site and does not return, corrugated is cheaper and ends up in the OCC stream.

What we do with plastic

This desk is built around corrugated gaylords, rated by stack height. Plastic boxes do not lose strength to humidity the way paper board does, so the Stack Check estimate does not apply to them. If you run a closed loop, put the loop on the request: the footprint, the loop length and how many trips you expect.

• Closed loop of a few suppliers, many trips: plastic.
• One-way shipments and scrap: corrugated.
• Wet environment, cold storage and many trips: plastic.
• Dry, short stand, one or two trips: corrugated, Grade A or B.

Related: rectangular gaylords, new or used and recycling.

What to check on a used plastic box

• Cracks at the corners and along the fold lines, where plastic corrugate flexes most.
• Staining or residue on the inside walls; a returnable box that carried oil or chemical product needs a different answer from one that carried parts.
• Whether the lid, the bottom pad and the sleeve all belong to the same box. Mixed sets rarely stack square.

Plastic corrugate does not take on water the way paper board does, which is the usual reason to ask for it. It is also harder to recycle in the paper stream, so say on the request whether the box is meant to be reused or retired.

Questions, answered