Honeycomb Paper Compared With Plastic Bubble Wrap

The Core Difference

Plastic bubble wrap protects by trapping air in sealed plastic cells. Honeycomb paper protects by expanding a die cut kraft web into hexagonal cells that stretch around the product. Honeycomb is easy to stretch, softer and more flexible, and it provides cushion protection without surface scratch, which sealed plastic film under tension does not always manage on a polished surface.

Disposal And Specification

Honeycomb paper is made from kraft paper and water-based glue, so the whole carton goes into one waste stream. That matters because more and more countries have joined plastic restriction programmes, and retail packaging specifications follow that regulation rather than lead it.

What Each Format Is Better At

Honeycomb wrap is the better choice where the item must not be marked and where the shape is irregular, such as fruit, flowers, ceramics and glassware. Embossed paper bubble stays flat and suits interleaving, covering individual shipping items and acting as a deflection layer inside a carton. Many packing benches end up running both.

Kraft Paper Bubble Making Machine

Making It Rather Than Buying It

Both formats are mostly air by volume, so freight and storage are a large part of the delivered cost. That is the usual business case for producing on site: a honeycomb forming machine at 200 m per minute or a paper bubble machine winding a 1000 mm roll removes that freight from the equation.

Kraft Honeycomb Paper Forming Machine