SMURFIT Kappa has announced a partnership with the Wings for Aid Foundation to create a packaging solution that helps facilitate the delivery of emergency supplies to hard-to-reach areas.
The pack can be dropped from a plane without any damage to the contents, as proven in tests where a pack of 30 eggs remained intact following a drop from 100 metres.
Smurfit Kappa said the packs can be re-used for other purposes such as shelter but if left behind in the outdoors, they will break down easily due to being biodegradable.
Barry Koperberg, general manager at the Wings for Aid Foundation said, “Smurfit Kappa is so much more than a supplier to us. We really see them as a collaboration partner. Without the R&D hours they put into this project, we could have never achieved the optimised box we now have. We are currently able to drop boxes with a capacity of 20kg from a height of 100 metres at a speed of 90km per hour, undamaged and at a predetermined location.”
Frank Sinnige, customer experience & innovation director for the Smurfit Kappa Benelux region added, “We were delighted to contribute to such an important project as making emergency aid possible and our design team certainly rose to the challenge. Through our Better Planet Packaging initiative we seek to go beyond what we’re doing as a company and work with partners such as the Wings for Aid Foundation on new ideas that are making a positive difference.”
The next stage of the project will be to drop the packages from drones instead of planes.
