Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) are bulk containers that are flexible instead of rigid.
Benefits
- Can be handled, transported, and stored with or without pallets because of integrated lifting loops.
- Lightweight and when empty requires a fraction of the truck and storage space of rigid packaging options.
- Customizable options to meet the needs of a wide range of products.
- Ergonomic: Designed for the products you move and the people that move them
- Up to five-color printing options exist to use FIBC bags as a branding opportunity.
Characteristics
- Made from Woven Polypropylene (WPP) which is recyclable.
- Fabric weight and their related costs vary depending on the proposed use.
- Use for a wide range of solid products.
Construction types
- U-Panel with Corner Loops
- Sewn along the side seams of the bag, starting, and ending at the same point to form a teardrop shape.
- The advantage over cross corner loops is that these tend to stay open when the bag is at rest allowing one person loading, but they do cost a little more.
- Circular with Cross Corner Loops
- Sewn onto the main body of the bag, creating an arched structure over each corner.
Baffle Bag
Baffle Bags have internal panels on each of the four corners that allow the bag to maintain a square shape when filled which provides stability and more efficient stacking and shipping.
Main Bag Fill Options
- Duffle Top which has an open top with a flap that is tied shut when filling is complete to keep materials in the bag.
- Filling Spout Top is a smaller opening that is often used with a fill tube from the source of the material. They are designed to avoid dust and other materials from getting into the bag and provide less material spilling.
- Open Top has no top so the contents of the bag are open to the outside.This is used for heavier products that are less likely to spill out of the bag.
Main Bag Discharge Options
- Closed Bottom are sealed and removal of the product occurs from the top or by slicing the bag open.
- Spout Bottom bags have a discharge spout at the bottom which allows for controlled emptying of the contents.
What goes in the bag determines more than just FABRIC weight.
- Uncoated Bags are just the raw material and is useful with larger sized contents where there is not a concern of leaking through the woven fabric.
- Coated fabric or bags are coated/laminated with polypropylene (PP) to reduce moisture intrusion or sifting of the contents.
- Liners come in Form Fit and Tube variations and are inside of the FIBC bag to keep the product safe and in place and are used for ultra fine contents.
- There are a variety of seam options related to the size of the contents. They range from Standard to Single, Double and Triple Sift options.
- Specific products are available to meet the needs for human and animal food products.
- The FIBC Warning Label is the source of truth with any FIBC Bag.
Key questions to determine which FIBC bag meets the needs of the project.
- What is going in the bag helps determine the construction and fabric to use?
- How is the bag being filled determines the location and type of bag opening?
- What is the maximum weight of the bag’s content is needed to determine the proper size and safe working load (SWL)
- SWL is the amount of load which a bag is designed to carry.
Ideal FIBC Customer Uses
- Anybody who ships solid materials - Powder, Sand, Gravel, Resin, Nuts…
- Plastic Resin Manufacturers
- Food Ingredients
- Nutritional Supplements / Vitamins
- Chemicals / Adhesive
- Building Materials
- Coal / Anthracite
- Agriculture – potatoes, pecans,
- Hemp/biomass
- Wood
- Pharmaceutical / Drugs
- Fertilizers
- Food Products (Coffee, Tea, Seasoning, Rice, Beans, Grain, Sugar, Salt)
- Landscapers / Masonry Supply (Sand / Gravel / Mulch Stone)
- Pigments / Dye
- Refractories
- Seeds / Nuts / Feed
- Hazardous Waste Material - UN Rated
