Cardboard octabins are the largest cardboard box in both size and weight capacity that we supply. Their strength and durability make them great for handling heavier products; some types can carry up to 1000kg! They have a sophisticated design and are often a little tricky to handle, but once you get the hang of them they can bring enormous benefits to your business.

As the name suggests octabins have eight sides making them far stronger than the traditional four sided box as their sides are less likely to buckle under extreme weight. They are constructed from a heavy duty double, triple, or sometimes even quad wall board grade for added protection. Their walls are generally stitched with metal staples. Some octabins are constructed with a built in crash lock base, whilst others have the cap and sleeve design which makes packing easier. A lid is usually fitted on top of the octabin and the boxes can be easily secured to pallets with pallet strapping.

Which products are octabins best suited for?

Their octagonal shape means they are well suited to irregular shaped items such as fresh farm produce, liquid i.e water bags, or plastic granular mouldings. Large quantities of loose, small items fit well into these boxes as they can optimise their shape. Due to their size and high weight capacity they are also ideal for e-waste or for shipping machine or engine parts. Products that don’t fit perfectly into an octabin can be secured with an eco-friendly void fill such as shredded cardboard or paper.

Products not as suitable for octabins

Technically any product could be shipped in an octabin. If your priority is protection then a heavy duty octabin or pallet box would be ideal. Due to their shape they wouldn’t be suited to packing a number of small boxes as the boxes wouldn’t fit perfectly into the sides of the octabins, causing inefficient packing. For liquid bags we would recommend a crash lock based octabin rather than the cap and sleeve design as the liquid will move around and it is more secure to have the base and walls connected.

Low Cost Cardboard Octabins

The only potential downside to cardboard octabins can be their price as they are expensive when manufactured. Even if you are able to reuse the octabins they are still an expensive investment. Luckily at Direct Cardboard Boxes we supply a range of low cost, once used cardboard octabins. These octabins are great for the environment and easy on your wallet too! Check out our full range here.