Trilatec optimistic its squAIR-timber pallets will prove ‘a weight winner’
- News Feed
- Tuesday, 01 May 2018
New lightweight, recycled cardboard now is offered to the air freight sector in places where traditional heavy timber solutions previously were employed.
The squAIR-timber system offered by Trilatec is up to 80 per cent lighter compared with conventional pallets. Moreover, disposal of the new material can be carrier out in an environmentally friendly way, using a paper recycling facility. Costs for special wood disposal are saved because squAIR-timber is manufactured of 100 per cent recycled material.
One metre of the material carries up to five tons if weight is evenly distributed, and it has a net weight of only 1.2 kg/m. Timber of the same dimensions has a net weight between three and four kg/m. “The key to the stability lies in the manufacturing process,” said Stefan Trinkaus, technical director at Trilatec. “After working cold glue combinations into layers of cardboard fibres, they are laminated together under pressure. This process enables water resistance in the product, thus it is suitable for multiple use and at the same time ISPM15-compliant.”
“This is a revolution in the airfreight sector”, said Andreas Langemann of Trilatec, inventor and manufacturer of the transport system. Initial experiences with airlines have shown that 1,200 tons of weight can be saved annually - roughly equivalent to three fully-loaded jumbo jets.
“The system has a twofold advantage: On the one hand squAIR-timber provides a tremendous advantage in cost and weight for the airlines. Handling agencies also benefit from time-saving when assembling the ultramodern transport system,” Langemann said. The ground handlers are saving 15 minutes per ULD when assembling the build up.
Trilatec has started production and world-wide distribution of the new product from a site in Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, close to Frankfurt Airport.
