About Paper Honeycomb

Packaging and Product Design, inspired by trees and bees
Paper honeycomb, or simply ‘Honeycomb’ as it is addressed informally, has best-in-class characteristics through the combination of superior strength and rigidity because of its unique form of hexagonal shaped cells. The strength and rigidity are paired with extreme low aerial weight per cubic metre. These functional elements make paper honeycomb an attractive alternative for designers of protective packaging or as the base material for the production of doors, acoustic walls, exhibition panels and even furniture.

In addition to these functional advantages, there is a bonus sustainability advantage. Paper is a base material with low overall environmental impact. Replacing packaging and building materials with a higher total ecological impact by paper honeycomb immediately reduces the environmental footprint of the packaging solution or product design.

Paper honeycomb offers a wide range of creative solutions and applications for many industries like automotive, construction and household appliances or for transport and logistics in general. Even visual design solutions for furniture and other breath-taking interior design items are possible. Paper honeycomb is an alternative for packaging and product design, inspired by trees and bees and available for every designer or engineer who wants to create innovative solutions.

If you want to learn more about specific fields of application, the website section with design examples and inspiration is a treasure trove for innovative designers.

Learn about the technical structure and design of paper honeycomb
In the day-to-day operations of the EMPHA members, they often meet designer, engineers and innovative purchase professionals who ask questions like:

  • What is paper honeycomb core?
  • How is paper honeycomb produced?
  • How can paper honeycomb be used in an application or design?
  • What are the industry standards for paper honeycomb?

We are happy to share our knowledge and experience and we will give you a short introduction to the secrets and magic of paper honeycomb.

The paper honeycomb core is a series of hexagonal shaped cells, nested together creating a sheet when expanded with approximately 95% open space. The basic geometry of honeycomb provides a number of unique characteristics

  • Highest strength-to-weight ratio as a sandwich core.
  • Highest stiffness-to-weight ratio as a sandwich core.
  • Predictable and uniform crushing strength under compression.
  • Processing applications in-line with low cubic input and high-volume output.
  • Low impact on environment and society, favourable impact on economy.

For the designer the honeycomb is a structural product whose unique characteristics can be used to created new products, improve existing products and solve design problems. For the industry the honeycomb creates sustainable cost savings. Paper honeycomb core is available in 3 physical forms: 

  • Continuous unexpanded honeycomb core. 
    This form is efficient and economical for large users. Shipped in continuous pallet load lengths, the coiled core is several hundreds of m2 when expanded mechanically at the point of use.
  • Slices unexpanded. 
    Certain industries require cut-to size pieces of honeycomb tailored to their application. The dimension is fit-to-use when locally expanded.
  • Pre-expanded sheets. 
    This type includes the expansion of the slices and is manufactured to the specific dimensions, length, width and height to fit the customer’s application.