A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard.
Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box.
Folding carton
A carton is a type of packaging typically made from paperboard that is suitable for food, pharmaceuticals, hardware, and many other types of products. Folding cartons are usually combined into a tube at the manufacturer and shipped flat (knocked down) to the packager. Tray styles have a solid bottom and are often shipped as flat blanks and assembled by the packager. Some also are self-erecting. High-speed equipment is available to set up, load, and close the cartons.
Egg cartons or trays are designed to protect whole eggs while in transit. Traditionally, these have been made of molded pulp. This uses recycled newsprint which is molded into a shape which protects the eggs. More recently, egg cartons have also been made from expanded polystyrene and PET.
Cartons for liquids can be fabricated from laminates of liquid packaging board, foil, and polyethylene. Most are based on either Tetra Pak or SIG Combibloc systems. One option is to have the printed laminate supplied on a roll. The carton is cut, scored, and formed at the packager. A second option is to have the pre-assembled tubes delivered to the packaging plant for completion and filling. These are suited for aseptic processing and are used for milk, soup, juice, etc. Paperboard-based cartons are lighter compared to a similarly sized steel can, but is harder to recycle. Some open-loop recycling operations pelletize or flatten ground-up cartons for use in building materials; closed-loop recycling is possible by separating the layers before processing, though some recyclers only recycle the cardboard fibers.
Perga cartons entered production in 1932 as a leak-proof can during World War I. Jagenberg Werke AG, in Düsseldorf, Germany, patented the design. The carton had a ribbed texture and paper sleeves covered in paraffin material, which provided a seamed structure from base to lid.