VoidFill Packaging Ltd

PROJECT OVERVIEW: VoidFill Packaging Solutions, which set up a base on the Ludlow Eco Park in September 2018, offers environmentally-friendly and cost effective alternatives to loose fill polystyrene packaging. The latest innovation is EcoNutz – expanding paper fillers, which can interlock to provide better protection and shock absorption than other types of loose fill packaging. EcoNutz can be manufactured on site using a specially designed piece of machinery, dramatically reducing shipping and storage costs of bulky finished products that take up valuable floor space.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES: The company sought help from CREST@UCS to help identify grant funding to bring the EcoNutz machine to market, refining the production process to maximise health and safety, and improve the paper feed mechanism. Director Rob Payne says: “Our hope is to have the improved version of the machine on sale by the end of 2019, and to initially build around 100 of these machines. Our paper products are all sourced from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) origins, which means that the paper we use promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.”

PROJECT SOLUTIONS: Simon Burgess, a member of the CREST@UCS industry advisory panel, introduced VoidFill to the ‘Fab Lab’ which specialises in supporting production ideas from inception through to prototype stage, as well as facilitating a meeting between VoidFill and an international company. CREST@UCS also supported VoidFill to carry out initial product testing of EcoNutz at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology in Bridgnorth, and funded work to be carried out on initial drop tests.