Wood-Free Crating: The Future of Sustainable Shipping

Whether you’re taking your first steps toward sustainable shipping or looking to expand an existing eco-friendly packaging program, wood-free crating may be exactly what your business needs. This innovative alternative to traditional wooden crates delivers strength, efficiency, and sustainability, without the bulk, waste, or environmental impact of conventional materials.

Learn why wood-free crating like HexcelCrate™ is the future of sustainable shipping, including:

• The limitations of traditional wood crating, from excess weight to high shipping costs
• How HexcelCrate™ improves on wood crating in five key areas
• Which industries can save time, space, and money by switching to wood-free crating solutions
• Why wood-free crating integrates perfectly with other sustainable packaging

Plus, discover why more companies are making the shift to sustainable packaging, how it supports corporate responsibility goals, and how it can boost your brand reputation while reducing environmental impact. 

Problems with Traditional Wood Crating

For centuries, traditional wood crating has been the go-to solution for protecting goods during transport. But anyone who has used it knows it’s far from user-friendly. As modern businesses focus on efficiency and sustainability, the limitations of wood crating have become impossible to ignore.

First of all, they're heavy. Their weight makes them difficult for employees and customers to lift, move, and unpack—often requiring two or more workers or even a forklift. That adds unnecessary time, labor, and expense to every shipment.

The added weight means wood crating costs more to ship. The higher your shipping volume, the more you’re spending unnecessarily. And those costs compound quickly over time.

Traditional wood crating isn’t the easiest to work with either. Using this type of container can result in splinters or nail punctures, and it usually requires heavy tools to open it.

And when you’re done, disposal becomes another issue. Most wood crates can’t be recycled or safely burned because they’re treated with pesticides and chemicals to prevent decay and infestation. As a result, they often end up in landfills, contributing to environmental waste and undermining sustainability efforts.

HexcelCrate™: A Wood-Free Crating Solution

Businesses of all sizes are rethinking how they ship and protect products. That’s where HexcelCrate™, HexcelPack’s innovative wood-free crating system, comes in. Designed to outperform traditional wood crates, HexcelCrate™ offers measurable advantages in efficiency, protection, and safety.

First, it’s more efficient and cost effective, because of these reasons: 

• HexcelCrate™ is 60% lighter than wood crating, so it requires fewer workers to lift and move crates.
• The lighter weight saves businesses on shipping costs, which is significant when added up over time.
• Its improved impact resistance and shock absorption reduces returns and exchanges for damaged items.
• The protection provided by HexcelCrate™, along with its custom sizing, saves on interior cushioning, like product wrap and void fill. 

We mentioned HexcelCrate™’s outstanding impact resistance above. It also reduces vibrations that force recipients to recalibrate delicate machinery or collimate optical devices like telescopes. So, it saves time when items arrive at their destination.

Impact resistance and shock absorption are vital when shipping one-of-a-kind merchandise, whether it’s fine art, antiques, precision instruments, or musical equipment. With HexcelCrate™, you can be confident your products are securely protected throughout transit. Its lightweight yet durable paper-based construction absorbs vibration and impact, reducing the risk of damage no matter how far your items travel.

The safety of your customers and employees matters. HexcelCrate™ uses no wood at all, so there’s no need for nails or screws holding the crate together. This not only minimizes scratches to your items, it protects anyone opening the crate from scratches, splinters, or punctures.

When your packaging is safer, cleaner, and easier to handle, customer satisfaction rises. Recipients appreciate products that arrive damage-free and packaging that’s simple to open and recycle. This leads to more positive reviews, stronger business relationships, and repeat orders, helping your company achieve its growth. 

Ship Sustainably with Wood-Free Crating

Beyond its strength and efficiency, HexcelCrate™ delivers a major environmental advantage, it’s completely sustainable. As discussed earlier, traditional wooden crating presents serious disposal challenges. Burning treated wood releases harmful chemicals into the air, while sending it to landfills contributes to soil and water pollution. Neither option aligns with modern sustainability goals.

On the other hand, HexcelCrate™ is made of recycled materials and is fully recyclable itself. This is a huge advantage at a time when the planet is overrun with plastic refuse and other packaging products that pollute soil and water, making plants, animals, and even humans ill.

Sustainable crating is compliant with new regulations both in the United States and abroad, like the European Union, mandating sustainable packaging. It’s anticipated that more areas will join this movement over the next few years. Businesses that already use sustainable shipping materials will be well ahead of the curve.

There is also an increasing number of consumers who demand sustainable shipping and packaging, especially in younger demographics. Using recyclable wood-free crating that reduces dependence on scarce resources and doesn’t pollute the earth can build your brand with those shoppers. In fact, many are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging. 

Sustainable Crating Is Right for Many Industries

Sustainable HexcelCrate™ is the perfect shipping solution for multiple industries. For galleries, museums, and art sellers, HexcelCrate™ delivers museum-quality protection for framed artwork and three-dimensional pieces. It safeguards priceless items while simplifying handling and setup, no hammers, nails, or forklifts required.

High-value assets in industries like aerospace, defense, and medical devices need reliable protection, which they get from HexcelCrate™, in addition to a custom fit for special objects. Likewise manufacturers and home furnishings purveyors need superior safeguarding of their wares.

In the moving and relocation field, HexcelCrate™ is ideal for moves of any distance, whether local or cross-country. And HexcelCrate™ can be used for international moves as well, on its own or inside larger shipping containers for residential and business relocation.

Other industries that would find HexcelCrate™ advantageous include: 

• Automotive and transportation
• Astronomy and optics
• Manufacturing and industrial
• Pharmaceuticals
• Housewares and china
• Restaurant and culinary
• Small appliances
• Electronics and computers
• Gaming and entertainment equipment
• Windows and mirrors

Talk to Our Team About Ditching the Wood

Ready to say goodbye to old-fashioned wooden crating at your business? Our team can help you easily transition to wood-free crating with HexcelCrate™.

And we offer a family of sustainable packaging solutions, including HexcelWrap® product wrap, HexaFil™ void fill, and HexcelStretch™ pallet wrap for all your shipping and storage protection needs.

Get the process of ditching the wood started by requesting a conversation with our experts at HexcelPack to learn more.