Cardboard edge protectors for pallets

A cardboard edge protector is an angled profile placed vertically on the edges of a palletised load. It looks like a detail, but it decides how the goods arrive. Film and strapping hold the load by squeezing it, and all that force is concentrated on the edge: the strap cuts into the cardboard of the box and the film crushes the corners. The edge protector takes that pressure and spreads it along its two wings.

As well as protecting the corners, the four edge protectors act as columns: they reinforce the load vertically and improve stacking strength, which is what allows one pallet to be placed on top of another without crushing the boxes below. They are used both with stretch film and with strapping, and on tall or unstable loads horizontal edge protectors are added between layers.

Compared with a reinforced plastic edge protector, the cardboard one goes with the pallet. It is light, easy to cut and handle, and at its destination it goes into the blue recycling bin with the rest of the cardboard, without anyone having to separate or return it. That is why it is the natural choice for export and for any one-way shipment. The reinforced version makes sense for heavy loads and closed loops where the piece comes back.

An edge protector behaves like a made-to-measure product. We cut it to the exact length of your load, which is not the height of the empty pallet: if it is too short it leaves a section uncovered just where the strap bites, and if it is too long it bends and snags. The thickness is matched to the load, with no fixed tables, according to weight, type of goods and journey. There are several colours and finishes, usually natural kraft and white, and it can be custom printed with a logo or handling symbols. The most common mistakes: fitting two instead of four, choosing too thin a protector and not securing them with film or strapping.

At Fontanet Group, from Fraga (Huesca) and with a team of more than 30 years in the sector, we keep the usual sizes in stock and make the made-to-measure ones to order. Tell us what goods you are shipping, how much the pallet weighs, how tall the load is and where it is going, and our sales team will suggest size, thickness and colour.