PAGID Racing has eliminated polyurethane foam from its motorsport brake pad packaging, cutting roughly 10 tonnes of plastic-based foam from order volume at its Essen, Germany manufacturing site between 2023 and 2025. The TMD Friction-owned brand has replaced 19 different foam sizes with a single perforated honeycomb cardboard sheet that workers tear by hand to fit each box. The outer box is now 71 percent recycled cardboard, and TMD Friction reports the switch has already met its 2030 recyclability target across its highest-volume passenger car brake pad lines.
Highlights
- 10-tonne reduction in foam filling materials between 2023 and 2025 at the Essen plant
- 19 previous foam SKUs consolidated into a single perforated honeycomb cardboard sheet
- Outer packaging now 71 percent recycled cardboard; entire package is paper-based and plastic-free
- TMD Friction targets 85 percent recyclable packaging by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040
Why Switch From Polyurethane Foam?
A single set of racing brake pads can weigh up to 6 kilograms, and TMD Friction had previously stocked 19 polyurethane foam sizes to protect them in transit. The company cites three environmental drawbacks of polyurethane foam: an energy-intensive production process, fossil-based raw materials, and the release of microplastics. The legacy system also carried operational costs — extensive storage space and time-consuming ordering and inventory tracking across the 19 SKUs.
PAGID Racing set five criteria for a replacement: environmentally friendly, low dust, cost effective, compression-resistant, and simple to handle on the line.
How the Honeycomb Cardboard Works
Engineers ruled out shredded cardboard, crinkled paper, and biodegradable packing peanuts before settling on a hexagonal-structure cardboard. Unlike corrugated board, honeycomb cardboard holds its form under compression. The Essen plant now orders one product — uniform sheets of perforated honeycomb cardboard — which workers break into smaller squares by hand to size each shipment.
“Switching from foam to honeycomb cardboard can prevent tonnes of energy-intensive production of fossil-based materials each year,” said Adrian Rodemeister, Packaging Engineer at TMD Friction. “This is a perfect example of how a small change can make a big difference when applied to large production volumes.”
How Does This Fit TMD Friction’s Sustainability Roadmap?
The packaging change sits inside the company’s broader Sustainability Roadmap 2040, which sets goals of 85 percent recyclable packaging by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040. TMD Friction reports the honeycomb switch has already cleared the 2030 mark across its highest-volume passenger car brake pad product groups.
The move follows the brand’s earlier matte black brake pad redesign, which also introduced a solvent-free, water-soluble adhesive bonding pad to backing plate. Matthew Greenman, Head of Global Motorsports at TMD Friction, framed the project as part of the company’s Kaizen culture of continuous, incremental improvement.
“At TMD Friction, we’re always looking for innovative ways to reduce our use of harmful materials without compromising braking performance or product integrity,” Greenman said. “By switching to honeycomb cardboard packaging, we have replaced ten tonnes of plastic with a fully recycled and recyclable alternative. This marks an important step in our ambition to eliminate plastic wherever possible.”
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