Extruded polypropylene foam sheet has replaced corrugated plastic in many Asian automotive applications, according to Worldwide Foam, which now produces Worldcell(TM) in the U.S.John Petrofsky, President of Worldwide Foam, took the stage at PACK EXPO 2016 to talk about their new extruded polypropylene foam sheet product, Worldcell™. Since its launch in 2008, Worldwide Foam has become a supplier of choice to the reusable packaging industry, offering next day shipment for a wide range of products from four U.S. locations.
The company’s latest development has been the creation of Worldcell™, a microcellular, extruded polypropylene sheet. Worldcell™ provides a number of benefits, including:
- A smooth Class A surface that provides excellent impact resistance
- Higher strength consistency in all directions across the sheet due to its non-directional structures, FDA compliant without the need to seal the edges
- No open flutes to trap moisture, capture dirt, or cause any contamination, and an easy to clean surface
- Working well with fabrication technologies such as heat sealing, sonic welding, water jet cutting, and die cutting
- Material that is 100% recyclable, including laminated material, as no glue is used in the lamination process. The company will also take the scrap and edge trim back. “We want all of our scrap back,” Petrofsky stated, but you can recycle it anywhere. It’s polypropylene.”
Worldcell is stocked in 4×8′ sheets. Custom sizes are also available.It provides value as a replacement for plastic corrugated sheets in such applications as tote dunnage and divider sets. The product is produced at the Worldcell™ Extrusions division in Elkhart, Indiana. Prior to Worldcell, this type of material was only available from Japan, at considerable cost and with substantial lead time.
“We recognize it is a new material for many people,” Petrofsky stated, “although it is widely used in Japan.” He stated that this material has been widely used to replace plastic corrugated sheets in the Asian automotive industry in Asia and has gained considerable market share in returnable packaging over the last few years.
The Worldcell sheets are currently offered in 3x expansion (19lb), 2x expansion (29lb) and 1.5x expansion (38lb) density.
For more information, visit www.worldwidefoam.com or www.worldcellextrusions.com.