Our first recommendation is always to re-use our coolants where they are of use. In practice they can be re-frozen and re-used many times over, provided they have not been damaged or punctured.
When they have come to the end of their life, the contents of both our gel packs and water packs are safe to be drained – just snip them with scissors and rinse down the drain. An interesting alternative for the contents of our gel packs is to mix the gel in with compost for gardening applications – the gel will help by releasing water to plants during period of drought, and then re-absorbing water during wet periods. The same raw material is often sold in garden centres under various brand names for this purpose.
The outer bag on all our coolants is 100% LDPE 4 plastic. This is fully recyclable in most major supermarkets, and by some local councils. It has been proposed by DEFRA that all local councils will be able to collect and recycle this material by 2027.
The required number of coolants can vary based on the product and the performance that is required. Advice is best given on an individual basis. Subject to appropriate insulation being used, our trials and feedback from customers show excellent results for a minimum of 24 hours up to 72+ hours. Request a copy of our product guide, which provides suggestions for the number of coolants required per box, or speak to a member of the team ([email protected], 01978 661247).
Our gel pack and water pack coolants can typically deliver anything between 24 and 72 hours of performance at below 8 degrees Celsius, whilst used in one of our insulated packaging solutions, with overall performance depending on several factors.
The main factors that influence performance would be: –
- External weather conditions – e.g. a cold winter day, or a warm summer / ambient warehouse
- Total Solution Size – larger packages tend to perform for longer due to larger overall ‘thermal mass’
- Product Size and Density – a bulk of meat or cheese will contribute to a larger overall ‘thermal mass’ within a box and therefore hold its temperature for longer compared to something like a 5ml pharmaceutical product.
- Insulation – lighter forms of insulation such as the foil are typically geared towards the 24 to 48hr performance window, whereas something bulkier such as polystyrene is typically more suited to applications between 48 to 72hrs or frozen performance.
- Number of Coolants – more coolants in a box will give longer performance. However, too many coolants can cause products within to freeze, which is desirable for all chilled goods. Our individual box solution listings provide rough guidance on the number of coolants that we recommend based on your own packaging, but we are happy to provide further guidance where required.
Example 1: – A small sized box, packed with a light product, using foil/paper-based insulation sent on a warm summer day – you can expect a maximal performance of 24 hours, and in certain instances, extra steps may need to be taken to keep the temperature within range, such as using extra coolants and/or packing and storing in cooler conditions prior to courier collection.
Example 2: – A larger sized box, packed with a dense product, using polystyrene-based insulation, sent on a cold winter day – you can expect a performance of 72+ hours.
Ultimately, whilst we test that our packaging and coolants are suitable for use, every individual application is different. If in doubt, a member of our team will be happy to advise the best packaging to achieve your required chilled performance, based on our wealth us experience in dealing with 100’s of customers across a wide spectrum of applications.
Depending on their size, deliveries will be despatched on either a pallet or parcel courier. Pallet deliveries tend to take 2-3 days, and parcel deliveries tend to take 1-2 days. Speak to a member of the team if your delivery is urgent or needed for a specific day ([email protected], 01978 661247).
