No greater fire danger than cardboard, study says.

The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) has just released the results of a fire safety study that shows reusable containers are no more dangerous than their corrugated cardboard couterparts.

The study, conducted by RPA and various insurance companies, fire risk consultants and fire testing experts, showed that reusable plastic containers needed “no additional fire safety measures” than traditional corrugated cardboard containers.

“This fire study is one of several independent and in-depth studies that the RPA has conducted on areas related to reusable packaging,” says RPA president Jerry Welcome. “We are making it available to others in the industry in keeping with our mission to be a valued source of information.”

Testing for the study took place over a week at the Department of Fire Technology at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

“The results were quite striking,” said Charles J. Lancelot, Ph.D., principal consultant at CE Tech, the company that actually conducted the tests. “They confirmed that when the commodities tested, and their equivalents, are stored in standard reusable plastic containers in the typical arrays used in warehouses, stores and DCs equipped with fire suppression systems rated for Class II commodities, the RPC-stored commodities will be well within the capabilities of the installed sprinkler system. There will be no measurable risk entailed as compared with the same products stored in corrugated containers.”

To cover perishable product storage, the RPA used ground meat and lemons and tomatoes, products considered by the RPA to be the “worst case” products for meat and produce commodities, respectively. They are considered “worst case,” according to the RPA, because the fat content of the meat, citrus oil in the lemons and typical plastic clamshell packaging for the tomatoes are among the most highly-combustible materials known to be in warehouses today. After the tests, all three commodities in the reusable plastic containers received a classification that indicated a low fire risk.