Greif-Velox: CLEAN CYCLE of Packaging Greif-Velox's CLEAN CYCLE focuses on the perfect alignment of three components: product, system, and packaging. This approach ensures that a valuable but challenging material like Carbon Black is made available throughout the supply chain in a particularly resource-efficient manner. High-quality Carbon Black is an essential ingredient for high-performance lithium-ion batteries, which drive more sustainable e-mobility. Product Savings and Cleanliness Carbon Black, due to its low bulk density and high air retention, is very difficult to fill cleanly.
The Greif-Velox vacuum system, VeloVac, compacts the product dust-free and efficiently in a vacuum chamber, unlike conventional methods. This process saves material and protects the environment from contamination, thus preventing expensive cleaning costs. Reducing Transport and Logistics Costs, and CO2 Emissions through Maximum Compaction After the intitial production, Carbon Black has a concentration of 30 grams per liter. With the VeloVac vacuum process, it can be further compressed to four times that amount, reaching 120 grams per liter. This reduces storage and logistics costs by up to 75% compared to conventional methods. One Greif-Velox customer managed to halve their shipping volume and reduce container usage, and by doing so significantly lowered their carbon footprint. The high compaction also ensures stable, stackable bags and a uniform pallet appearance. Reduction in Packaging Material by up to 30 Percent With the new development VeloVac XL, ultralight powders like Carbon Black can also be vacuum-packed not only into valve bags but also into FIBCs, which is a first worldwide. While valve bags can hold up to 7.5 kilograms of Carbon Black, FIBCs have a capacity of 200 to 230 kilograms, i.e. up to 66 times more. This makes the handling easier and more efficient for end customers, and larger bags can be processed and emptied more quickly, saving up to 30 percent in packaging material.
Preventing Product Waste For the optimal interaction of product, machine, and packaging, Greif-Velox collaborated with bag manufacturer dy-pack to develop specific paper bags for efficient filling and maximum product protection.
The final packaging concept was optimized for the maximum amount of product and packing dimensions. This further optimization ensures better utilization of container space without causing abrasion damage, preventing waste of both product and packaging material.