Big bags, bigger issues

Big bags have now long been the public face of industrial compounds. Few outsiders appreciate the issues involved in handling the likes of chemicals, food stocks and just about everything produced by mining and agriculture – but they’re certainly familiar with the sight of the polyprophylene fabric containers lining warehouse floors or being offloaded by cranes. They’ve been subject to all sorts of improvements in the past few years, many to improve their sustainability credentials. But It’s worth remembering that when they arrived, their use in the transportation of materials represented one of the biggest changes in the solids processing field. Until recently the particulate solids manufacturing industry tended to ship products by truck or rail with the solids in drums or pallets.

Such modes of delivery have become a proven solution for large quantities but aren’t always suitable for many chemicals that are rated hazardous because of the risk that potential releases pose. They also required large storage facilities with the associated increase in inventory costs for expensive chemicals. Bags and drums mitigated this cost to an extend but this was offset by disposal costs and the additional containment systems for feeding the chemical to the process. Big Bags – or bulk bags as they are also known – were a revelation even though the early one were not easy and presented environmental challenges for some chemicals, long before improved designs and sophisticated unloading systems saw them pose such a challenge to traditional pallet bags. These days they are part of the mainstream but the journey has not been without issues as factory owners were forced to overcome the safety risks associated with containers weighing 500-1000 kg, installing safety cages, resolving contamination issues linked to reuse, finding compatible unloading methods, the sensitivity of the material to the likes of attrition, agglomeration, vibration and mechanical deformation.

But their use is widespread. They’ve been a boon for agriculture where products such as grain, seeds and feed are dependent on reliable storage and transport methods. Bulk bags fill this role perfectly and chemical-free food-grade bags are perfect for products intended for human or animal consumption, such as flours, corn and rice. They’re also an ideal fit for the sand and gravel products of the construction industry because of their strength, durability and safety. The open-top designs leave them flexible on amounts and baffled bag are smart options when materials need to be stacked.

Food-grade, chemical-free bags also make excellent transport and storage vessels for anything intended for human consumption, especially the duffel top version which offer extra protection. And thanks to advanced in material technology, there is an abundance of suppliers innovating in all aspects of this market, both within the ACHEMA and wider communities.

Louis Blockx, for example, offers a range such as multi-loop and Quadro versions as well as bespoke solutions, but all within the Closed Loop of sustainability; selecting and collecting used bags from customers and reprocessing them to obtain recycled polypropylene (rPP) granulate.

The company sees itself as a pioneer in the standardization of easily recyclable big bags, a point summed up by CEO Lou Blockx who says: “By using recycled polypropylene, we can make optimal use of valuable materials. This also lengthens the life cycle of our packaging.”