Void Fill for Shipping Boxes: Paper, Air Pillows and Other Options Compared

Void Fill for Shipping Boxes: Paper, Air Pillows and Other Options Compared

A product that fits loosely inside a box will move during transit no matter how well the box itself is built, and void fill exists specifically to take up that extra space so contents don't shift, rattle or collide with the box walls. This comparison looks at paper-based fill, air pillows, and a few other common options, weighing them against movement control, fragility suitability, presentation, storage footprint and recyclability.

Why Empty Space Inside a Box Is a Packaging Problem

Even a strong, well-made box doesn't protect its contents if the product inside has room to move. Unrestrained movement during transit causes impact damage from the inside, as the product repeatedly strikes the box walls or other items with every turn, stop and bump along the route, regardless of how sturdy the outer carton is. This is worth separating from cushioning against drops: void fill's core job is restraining movement, while cushioning specifically absorbs shock from an impact. Some materials do both reasonably well; others are stronger at one than the other, which is part of why there isn't a single universal answer for every shipment. The right choice also depends on how the parcel will actually travel: a short domestic courier run with a handful of handling points is a different risk profile from a long-haul shipment passing through multiple sorting facilities, and void fill that's adequate for one may be under-specified for the other.

Paper-Based Void Fill

Crinkled kraft paper and paper pads are among the most widely used void fill materials, dispensed from rolls that crumple as they're fed into the box. Their main advantages are that they're generally recyclable through standard paper recycling streams, lightweight, low cost, and visually consistent with a brand's kraft or eco-conscious packaging look. They also compress and expand easily to fill irregular gaps around oddly shaped items.

The trade-off is that paper fill offers less structured cushioning against hard impacts compared to foam or engineered inserts, and it needs to be used in sufficient volume to actually restrict movement — underfilling is one of the most common reasons void fill fails to do its job. For moderately fragile items shipped through standard courier handling, paper void fill used generously is often a reasonable default.

Air Pillows and Inflatable Fill

Air pillows are sealed plastic pouches inflated with air, either using a dedicated inflator machine on-site or ordered pre-inflated. Their main advantage is efficiency of space: a large volume of packed pillows fills a lot of void from a very small footprint of uninflated film in storage, and the fill they provide tends to be fairly consistent from pillow to pillow.

The trade-off is largely environmental and logistical. The plastic film used generally isn't accepted in standard paper recycling streams, which matters for businesses trying to keep their packaging fully paper-based or reduce plastic use. There's also a practical risk that a pillow can rupture or slowly deflate over a longer transit, which reduces the void fill's effectiveness partway through the journey rather than at the point it was packed. Because that risk only becomes visible once the parcel is opened at the other end, it's harder to catch in routine quality checks than paper-based fill, which tends to fail more predictably by simply compacting rather than deflating unexpectedly.

Other Options: Foam, Corrugated Inserts and Honeycomb Wrap

Loose-fill foam peanuts offer effective cushioning and mould around irregular shapes easily, but they're messy to work with, prone to static cling, and generally more limited in terms of standard recycling acceptance compared to paper options. Corrugated inserts and shaped trays take more upfront design effort since they're built to a specific product's shape, but they offer structured, repeatable protection and can be reused across many shipments of the same item, which makes them a good fit for a recurring SKU rather than a one-off or highly variable product range.

Honeycomb paper wrap is a newer paper-based option that expands into a cushioned structure and offers a middle ground between the light protection of crinkled paper and the more structured cushioning of foam, while remaining a paper-based, generally more recyclable material. Choosing the right void fill works best alongside correctly sized packaging in the first place, since less empty space means less fill is needed to control movement — it's worth reviewing ecommerce packaging boxes sized closely to your typical product range before finalising a void fill strategy. In practice, many businesses end up using more than one option depending on the product line, using a structured corrugated insert for a recurring bestseller while relying on paper void fill for lower-volume or variable-sized items, rather than trying to standardise on a single material across every shipment.

Option	Movement Control	Fragility Suitability	Presentation	Recyclability
Paper void fill	Good, needs adequate volume	Moderate	Neutral to premium, kraft look	Generally recyclable as paper
Air pillows	Good, space-efficient	Moderate	Neutral, less visible	Generally not standard paper recycling
Foam peanuts	Good, moulds to shape	Good	Lower, can look messy	Generally limited
Corrugated inserts	Very good, shape-specific	Good for repeat SKUs	High, structured	Generally recyclable as paper
Honeycomb wrap	Good	Moderate to good	Good	Generally recyclable as paper

How Boxwaale Helps

Boxwaale supplies paper-based void fill and corrugated insert options for ecommerce sellers who want to reduce in-transit movement while keeping their packaging materials largely paper-based, and can suggest a combination of box size and fill based on product weight and typical shipping distance.

Frequently Asked Questions