The full 3R cycle not only achieves environmental savings of raw material, but also delivers bottom-line profit to Hard Disk Drive manufacturers through packaging and shipping cost reduction.

The selected material for this system had to meet these three specifications:

• Low elastomeric coefficient to yield excellent return, i.e. elasticity without plasticity to prevent permanent deformation
• Material must hold form under load in temperatures up to 140ƒF and resist cracking under load down to ñ40ƒF
• Material must be curbside recyclable with enough feedstock for massive production quantities

Only one material proved suitable: HDPE. But, with post-consumer recycled resin, quality is vital. Care was taken to secure a narrow stream of closely inspected material. In subsequent testing, it was found that only highest grade RHDPE could deliver the necessary performance, as the U-PAD™ must move up to 2.5", deflect, and return to its original shape under load.

U-PAD™ is designed initially to ship components and that can be collected locally and reused. Users are motivated to collect: where they would have paid for packaging disposal before, they can now reuse the packaging. This is made possible by the products nesting ability, which is 92% more efficient than the erect size which reduces return shipping and storage costs accordingly.

U-PAD™ is a trademark of Packaging Plus LLC.