Chinese biowaste packaging: First Pak employs robot fleet to boost sugarcane-based materials

05 Aug 2024 --- Chinese packaging producer First Pak is automating its pipeline with a fleet of 200 robots from ABB Robotics, which are helping produce and dispatch a range of degradable take-out packaging material made from agricultural waste.

The robots handle various operations throughout the packaging production line, including material handling, picking and palletizing.

“Using ABB’s robots for loading and unloading, rapid sorting and palletizing of wet press has helped us achieve faster, more stable and accurate performance that has delivered benefits throughout the production line,” says Jiahui Xu, vice president of First Pak.

“Since using the robots, production line efficiency has increased by 100%, while our energy costs have been reduced by 30%.”

Upcycling sugarcane waste
Founded in 2018, First Pak takes advantage of the abundant and high concentration of sugarcane industry resources in China’s Guangxi Province to produce degradable packaging materials.

First Pak recycles the fibrous pulp in sugarcane, known as bagasse, to produce its materials.The company recycles the fibrous pulp, known as bagasse, which remains after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice.

Bagasse is commonly used as a material in the production of recycled products, helping manufacturers to find new ways to minimize environmental impact.

First Pak’s Laibin plant handles around 40,000 tons of sugarcane pulp every year, with 35,000 tons turned into finished products. The packager uses the bagasse to produce various alternatives to single use plastic packaging commonly used in take-out.

ABB has provided more than 200 high performance robots for material handling, picking and palletizing. Through their superior speed, stability and precision, the robots are helping First Pak to significantly improve its productivity.

Equipped to handle various products
First Pak highlights the robots’ ability to handle its wide range of products, which includes paper bowls, paper plates, paper lunch boxes and other containers used in take-out.

“With their ability to be reprogrammed to perform a wide range of tasks, the ABB robots installed at First Pak can handle various stages of the production process,” highlights First Pak.

“This flexibility also allows the production of customized packaging solutions which can be tailored to meet specific customer needs.”

The degradable paper-plastic industry has a huge market potential, with the market projected to grow by 6% between 2023 and 2032 to around US$814 billion, First Pak highlights.

The success of the project has led First Pak to look for other opportunities to broaden its production operation.

“We plan to build another production base to expand capacity,” says Xu Zhu, production and technology manager at First Pak. “We hope to further cooperate with ABB and jointly move towards a greener future of sustainable and high-quality development.”

China’s endemic plastic issue
As the world’s largest take-out market, China is estimated to have generated over 1.6 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, according to First Pak. With the Chinese government pledging to ban the use of single-use plastic by 2025, packaging producers need to find new materials to use.

“The problem of plastic waste generated by the rapid growth of the take-out catering industry both in China and globally is placing an urgent need to reduce the use of single use plastic to achieve carbon peaking and neutrality goals and accelerate sustainable development,” highlights First Pak.

“In China, the issue is being tackled by the introduction of regulations that will ban the use of single-use plastic by 2025,” underscores the company.

“As a means of producing degradable packaging quickly, efficiently and with minimal waste, the collaboration between ABB and First Pak can play a major role in developing the circular economy and realizing the goal of sustainable low-carbon production both in China and worldwide.”