Why fertilizer packaging bags matters？

The global fertilizer market is a huge market that has been divided into several sectors, for instance, specialty fertilizer, organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, etc., each of them has a considerable market share.

According to researchandmarket.com, the Global Specialty Fertilizers market accounted for $34.65 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $66.56 billion by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period.

The growth of the fertilizer market suggests a transition from regular farming to precision farming. The transition is mainly attributed to the rising awareness regarding environmental safety, the demand for organic, healthy food and the need for productivity.

The advancement of farming machinery as well as the renewal of farming concept has allowed farmers to provide fertilizer to a specific crop by which productivity can be increased considerably. The transition is also seen in many corporations such as Yara International ASA, Haifa Chemicals Ltd, Israel Chemicals Ltd that we have been working with for the last few years.

To align with such transition, fertilizer packaging bags manufacturer like us have been striving to produce green packaging products which are sustainable, recyclable, eco-friendly as well as cost-efficient. Different fertilizer products have different storage requirements and packaging solutions.

What are fertilizer packaging bags made of?

Normally, fertilizer bags are made of plastic, burlap, cloth or some other materials. For plastics, there are many alternatives like PE bag, PP woven bag, composite film bags and so on. The Burlap bag has been designed for fertilizer packing for a long time and still.

Nowadays, bags made of PE material have been on the rise due to its many merits in protecting the content inside. In addition, some useful features could be added to the PE bag such as valve mouth, degassing valve and so on.

In the next few sections, I will be introducing several most popular bags that all of which have their own merits for fertilizer packaging bags and discussing their strength and weakness under different circumstances.

1. Polyethylene (PE) Bag

Nowadays, PE bag increasingly become the new favourite due to its many advantages. Waterproof has been one of the most significant features that helped many fertilizer manufacturers. It is estimated that PE bag has higher rate of moisture proof up to 30%. Another feature worth mentioning is the design of anti-skid strip that enables PE bags to stack steadier than other bags.

Bag made from PE particles is flexible, durable and tear-resistant, making it ideal for heavy-duty packaging applications. Moreover, PE bag has many useful features which makes it extremely popular among fertilizer manufacturers.

However, not all PE poly bags are the same, there are evident differences among various PE bags. Polyethylene is commonly categorized into one of several major compounds, the most common of which include LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE.

Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is a very flexible material with unique flow properties that makes it particularly suitable for shopping bags and other plastic film applications. LDPE has high ductility but low tensile strength, which is evident in the real world by its propensity to stretch when strained. LLDPE is the abbreviation of Linear Low-density Polyethylene, it has similar chemical properties to LDPE but less energy to produce them. LLDPE can be used for plastic bags and sheets where it allows using lower thickness than LDPE. The pe bag for fertilizer on market now is mainly made by LLDPE.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of PE bag lies in its overall intensity. It has weaker penetration resistance ability compared to PP woven bag which means while storing, you should keep sharp objects away from PE bags.

Solution

There is also solution in tackling this problem by using the three-layered co-extrusion technology. This is a popular method recently applied in the production of PE bag by squeezing three layers of PE films into a stronger film so that it can stand endure higher level of penetration.

2.PP woven bag

PP woven bag, Polypropylene Woven Bag, PP woven sacks are all names of bag or package made of polypropylene particles. PP woven bag are produced by interweaving polypropylene tapes in two directions, they are known for their extra strength and durability in comparison to other bags. They are tough, breathable, cost-effective bags, ideally suited for packaging agricultural products like grains, pulses, seeds and sugar, as well as products as diverse as sand, fodder, chemicals, cement, metal parts, etc.

Such intertwined woven not only gives extra strength to the bag, but also allows air circulation through which gases produced by the fertilizer can be exhausted without worrying about the swell of the bag. In addition, the price of the bag is cheaper than other bags such as PE bag and flexible pouches. The strength and cost have made pp woven bag one of the most widely used fertilizer packaging solution for many fertilizer producers.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of pp woven bag is also evident. The woven allow air circulation, but makes it vulnerable to external environment too. The nature of the woven has also allows moisture, contaminants to enter the bag which causes unnecessary wastage during the transportation. Thus, the storage of fertilizer product in a pp woven bag requires an environment that is dry and away from any possible contaminants.

Solution

However, there are alternative pp woven bags with coating and bags with liners are ideal for packaging products that are at risk of leaking, from fine granules like sugar or flour to more hazardous materials like fertilizers or chemicals. The coating has various kinds of choices including PE film coating, Nylon coating, aluminium foil coating, all of which have different purposes in protecting the content from external contaminants. If you are looking for a cost-efficient packaging solution for your fertilizer product, I believe pp woven bag with many variants might be of help.

3. Kraft Paper Bag

Paper bag is the bag made of paper, usually kraft paper. Kraft paper is produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process. They have high elasticity and high tear resistance, designed for packaging products with high demands for strength and durability.

In terms of category, there are single layer and multiwall paper bags. The former type can be found in department store as gift bags and come in any colour. The latter type Multiwall paper sacks or shipping sacks are often used as shipping containers for bulk materials such as fertilizer, animal feed, sand, dry chemicals, flour and cement. Many have several layers of sack papers, printed external layer and inner plies. Some paper sacks have a plastic film, foil, or polyethylene coated paper layer in between as a water-repellant, insect resistant, or rodent barrier.

Similar to pp woven bag, kraft paper bag can also add an inner layer of film or inner bag made from polyethylene (PE) or Nylon. Nylon film has greater air barrier up to 100% so that adding an inner layer of Nylon is a perfect complementation to kraft paper who vulnerable to external contaminants.

As the name suggests, the kraft paper bag is the most eco-friendly packaging solution that can be fully recycled without doing any damage to the environment. Printing on kraft paper is said to be easier than other plastic bags as well as allowing more colours, clearer images printed on it.

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Disadvantages

The Paper bag is vulnerable to any forms of water as it was made of paper. Water, moisture or vapour can easily damage the packaging which leads to unnecessary leakage. The nature of the paper bag makes it less favoured in comparison to plastic bags.

Solution

There are solutions by adding an outer or inner layer of plastic film (BOPP) to the paper bag so that it will become water-resistance, which is extremely popular for powdered product such as cement, flours, sugar and so on. For fertilizers as well, to protect it from water damage or other forms of damage, you can add an extra film to make it moisture-resistant.

4. Flexible Packaging

Flexible packaging is the dominating packaging products that covers 80% of the total packaging production capacity. However, what’s a flexible package exactly? According to the Flexible Packaging Association, “flexible packaging is any package or any part of a package whose shape can be readily changed.”, all kinds of bags, boxes, sets and packages made of paper, aluminium foil, fibre, plastic film and their composites are flexible packages.

Flexible packaging is also known as flexible pouches which means most of the bag is produced in small pouches rather than big sacks. Almost everything we see in a agricultural materials market packed in flexible pouches such as coffee, tea, candies, so on and so forth.

Disadvantages

In comparison to PE and PP woven bags, the cost of flexible pouches is relatively higher due to its production process. In addition, the defects of flexible packages lie in its capacity. Flexible packaging is also called flexible pouches that have capacity only from 1 kg to 5 kg, which, to a certain degree, limited the usage in the industries who require larger capacity bags. The flexible pouches are at the premium end of the market and are designed for those multiple use products such as single dose of insecticide, herbicide, and small dose of water-soluble fertilizer.

Conclusion

We discussed 4 major types of bags used in fertilizer packing, PP woven bag, PE bag, Kraft paper bag and flexible pouches. They all have their own merits in packing fertilizer and other products. The overall principles of selecting the best fertilizer packaging bags are cost-efficient, moisture proof, durable. Every bag has their own merits under different occasions. I hope this simple guide will help you when you considering your own fertilizer packaging solution.

For more guidance on how to choose the most suitable fertilizer packaging bag for your business, you can directly reach us for help. As one of the leading packaging bag manufacturers in China, we provide a wide range of fertilizer packaging bags including those has been listed above. The core value of our firm is dedicated to providing a one-stop packaging solution to our clients. Regardless of how big or small your business is, we have packaging solutions that can fit your requirement.