Flexible intermediate bulk container

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Bigbags

A Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container, FIBC , big bag, bulk bag, or super sack is a standardized container in large dimensions for storing and transporting and storing for example sand, fertilizers , granules of plastics or other dry products. It is most often made of thick woven polyethylene or polypropylene and normally measures around 110 x 110 cm and varies in height from 100 cm up to 200 cm. It's capacity is normally around 1000 kg but the larger units can store even more. Transporting and loading is done on either pallets or by lifting it in loops. Bags are made with either one loop or four lifting loops. The single loop bag is suitable for one man operation as there is no need for a second man to put the loops on the loader hook. Emptying is made easy by a special opening in the bottom or by simply cutting it open.

[edit] History

Although there is disagreement on exactly where FIBCs were first used it is certain that they have been employed for a variety of packaging purposes since the 1940s. These forerunners of the FIBC as we know it today were manufactured from PVC rubber and generally utilised within the rubber industry for the transportation of Carbon Black to be used as a reinforcing agent in a variety of rubber products.

By the 1960s development of polypropylene, combined with advances in weaving, the bigbags as we know it today came into being and was rapidly adopted by a wide variety of oil and chemical companies to store and transport powdered and granular products.

It was during the oil crisis of the 1970s that the FIBC really came into its own for transporting huge quantities of cement to the Middle East from across Europe for the rapid expansion of the oil producing countries. At its zenith, upwards of 50,000 metric tons of cement was being shipped out on a weekly basis to feed the vast building programme.

The modern FIBC transports a growing figure of over ¼ billion tonnes of product each year and is used to handle, store and move products as varied as cereals to powdered chemicals and flour to animal feeds. With a capacity of up to 3m³ and load capability ranging from ½ a tonne to two tonnes FIBCs are highly cost effective, easily recyclable and ideal for virtually any free-flowing granule, powder, pellet or flake.