Explore Solid Bleached Sulphate (SBS) vs Folding Box Board (FBB, TMP)

Whether you are a packaging manufacturer, product-selling business, or procurement manager, virgin paperboard is your obvious choice. But it isn’t as simple as it seems because paperboard has distinct materials such as solid bleached sulphate (SBS) vs folding box board (FBB). 

Each serves distinct purposes, so you must know solid bleached sulphate (SBS) vs folding box board (FBB, TMP). Knowing this difference helps your business make smart packaging choices, protect your products, and control material costs. Read this blog to explore SBS vs FBB so that you choose the right option to elevate your business!

What is SBS?

Before exploring SBS vs FBB, let’s have a brief overview of solid bleached sulphate (SBS). Made entirely from bleached chemical pulp, SBS retains a uniform, bright white appearance from front to back. It can be single-ply or multi-ply and features tightly packed Eucalyptus fibers for maximum purity. 

What is FBB?

Talking about FBB, it is multi-ply, featuring a core of mechanical or thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP/BCTMP) layered between outer chemical pulp layers. BCTMP refers to chemithermo-mechanical pulp. This design uses less virgin chemical pulp to reduce weight and cost.

Compare Solid Bleached Sulphate (SBS) vs Folding Box Board (FBB, TMP)

Since you have explored a basic overview of SBS and FBB, now have a look at their comparative factors in the packaging board comparison. Let’s begin without any delay:

Material Composition

SBS is made of 100% bleached chemical pulp, while FBB is a multi-ply board with mechanical pulp in the core and chemical pulp on the outer layers. Due to this material composition, FBB offers an excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio and high folding strength ideal for heavy cartons and food packaging. 

Structure

In terms of structure, SBS has a dense, uniform, single- or multi-layer chemical structure with tightly packed fibers. But layers of folding box boards sandwich mechanical or thermomechanical pulp in the center with outer layers of bleached chemical pulp. 

Appearance

Solid bleached sulphate has high-purity, hygiene-grade board and an ultra-bright white appearance on both sides. It also has superior print smoothness and suitability for product packaging. While FBB has lower density and higher bulk, with an off-white/cream inner core, enhancing its stiffness. 

Both SBS and FBB can have a coated top surface (C1S), but they are fundamentally different materials. C1S specifies that only one side is coated, which applies to both paperboard types depending on manufacturing choices.

Performance 

SBS provides maximum smoothness and premium visual appeal. It has higher tear resistance and clean fold endurance, making it great for complex shapes, frequent opening/closing, and cold-chain resilience. SBS also handles cold, humid, or frozen conditions better, making it ideal for the food and pharmaceutical sectors. 

On the other hand, FBB is a low-density, high-stiffness board. It is ideal for offering superior stiffness and lightweight efficiency. It delivers a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio, giving it superior stacking strength and structural rigidity at a lower weight or thickness. 

Aesthetics and Print Quality

Since solid bleached sulphate offers an ultra-smooth, bright white surface on both sides, it ensures high color saturation, sharp graphic reproduction, and premium finishes like foil stamping and embossing. 

However, the folding box board features a smooth coated top side for good printability. But its inner core uses mechanical pulp, which has a slightly cream or off-white look, making it ideal for standard consumer packaging rather than luxury-tier visuals. 

Cost

SBS is typically more expensive due to 100% chemical pulp usage. FBB offers a 10% to 20% cost advantage and better material yield per ton because its core contains cheaper mechanical pulp, lowering shipping and logistics weight.

Sustainability

FBB combines mechanical and chemical pulps in layers, reducing total wood volume needed per ton. SBS relies entirely on virgin chemical wood fibers and renewable pulping sourcing. Also, FBB generates up to 30% lower carbon output in specialized grades because of lower energy inputs during mechanical pulping. It makes a folding box board a carbon dioxide reduction paperboard. 

Also, FBB offers a higher yield, providing 18% to 23% more sheets per ton than SBS, which lowers material mass and reduces shipping fuel emissions. 

Common Uses

SBS is commonly used for luxury cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and high-end retail packaging. Contrarily, FBB is widely used for food, chilled and frozen packaging, and general folding cartons. Let’s dive a little deeper into their applications:

Solid Bleached Sulfate (SBS) Applications

• Cosmetics and Perfumes: High-end makeup and perfume containers.
• Luxury Retail: Premium gift boxes and specialty retail items.

• Confectionery: High-end chocolate and specialty candy packaging.

• Pharmaceuticals: Clean, pure medical and supplement packaging.

• Graphics:Greeting cards and premium postcards.

Folding Box Board (FBB) Applications

• Food Packaging: Frozen, chilled, and general food containers.

• Health and Beauty: Everyday personal care items and band-aid boxes.

• Pharmaceuticals: Standard medicine and over-the-counter drug cartons.

• Confectionery: Everyday candy and dry food packaging.

• Household Goods: Cigarette packaging and light hardware boxes.

What to Choose Btw SBS vs FBB?

Until now, you have explored solid bleached sulphate (SBS) vs folding box board (FBB, TMP). If you are wondering about choosing the right paperboard, it really depends on your business needs. 

For example, if you want a luxury brand presentation and flawless print graphics, opt for SBS. But for cost-effective consumers, for good packaging that offers strong stacking rigidity, confidently choose FBB. In case you have further enquiries, contact the expert team of OXO Packaging!