Sofrigam sustainable insulated packaging solutions

Overview

Sofrigam is placing the challenges of sustainable development at the core of its strategy. The focus is on polyurethane, a material that is ideal from both insulating and ecological aspects. Sofrigam uses polyurethane-based insulated packaging to deliver Cold Chain solutions that are more efficient, cost effective and sustainable.

Ecological advantages of polyurethane

Polyurethane is used everywhere: in construction, manufacturing, packaging and almost every other aspect of daily life. It is also the material of choice for insulated packaging in temperature-controlled logistics, making it the cornerstone of Sofrigam’s environmental policy.

Polyurethane has four key ecological advantages:

• Energy efficiency: Polyurethane is the least energy-intensive of all the insulating materials, since its manufacture requires significantly less petroleum, with energy inputs between one third and one fifth of the specific energy consumption of thermoplastics. Combined with exceptional thermal insulation properties, this means polyurethane can produce energy economies up to 100 times greater than those consumed in manufacture. Furthermore, the service life of polyurethane is longer than that of other insulating materials.
• Lightness and thermo-efficiency: Polyurethane is both thinner and more efficient than other types of insulating material. This reduces the volume of the insulating material required. As a result, the manufacture of insulated containers consumes less energy in transport and application, yielding significant CO2 and other energy savings.
• Recyclability: Polyurethane can be recycled in a number of ways; in construction materials, in aggregates and as energy through incineration.
• Sustainable sourcing: Conversion to cleaner blowing agents for polyurethane foam production has paved the way for development of bio-based renewable raw-material feedstocks. Soybean and castor oil can be used to produce natural-oil polyols.
• (NOPs) that replace the petrochemical-derived polyol components of polyurethane. Industry sources estimate NOP-based manufacturing of polyester and polyether polyols produce 36% less global-warming emissions, 61% less non-renewable energy use, and 23% less total energy demand.

Sofrigam polyurethane-based insulation solutions

Sofrigam incorporates polyurethane-based insulation in almost all of its packaging solutions.

Bulk cold chain shipping packaging solutions use polyurethane panels and VIP liners in various formats to insulate vaccines, ophthalmic products, chemotherapy solutions and other heat sensitive products in storage and transport. These polyurethane-protected packages can maintain constant temperatures for up to 72 hours while being lighter, more compact and more thermally efficient than other materials, delivering significant savings in space, cooling energy and transport costs. Polyurethane liners are also used in Sofribag® iceboxes and Nomad delivery cool bags.

Sofrigam recycling

As part of its sustainability commitment, Sofrigam has also implemented a range of recycling solutions for polyurethane materials. These solutions include:

• Recycling as construction insulating material: the polyurethane panels used in insulated pallet shippers are retrieved and sold on www.isolation-polyurethane-discount.fr
  Polyurethane foam 1.6 cm thick has the same thermal insulation effectiveness of a 1.34m thick concrete wall!
• Crushing and recycling in cement works: Polyurethane panels from cooling boxes are crushed into particles that can be used as aggregate in building cement to make the resulting concrete and mortar lighter and more thermally efficient. High-polyurethane concrete is increasingly used in the construction of dams and dykes.
• Energy recovery through incineration: waste polyurethane is incinerated in a clean manner, with pollutants being filtered out. The combustion process generates energy: the energy produced by incinerating polyurethane over a period of one year can be equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a four person household.

Resources

Click on Sofrigam sustainable insulated packaging solutions for other information.
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Supplier Information
Supplier: Sofrigam SA
Address: 212 avenue Paul Doumer, 92508 Rueil Malmaison, Cedex, France
Tel: +33 (1) 46 69 85 00
Fax: +33 (1) 47 25 98 44
Website: www.sofrigam.com