Bulk material packaging — big-bag, octabins, silo trailers on SMIALA – Big-Bag Transloading & Repackaging | PHS Magnum Poland

Silo trailer — construction, discharge, types and TDT inspections

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Definition

A silo trailer is a semi-trailer fitted with a pressure tank — most often aluminium — intended for transporting bulk materials loose, discharged pneumatically or by tipping the tank, with a capacity typically from 30 to 90 m³.

In practice it is the silo trailer that closes the delivery chain: after transloading from big-bags at the terminal, the material goes into the silo trailer and travels directly to the silo at the customer’s plant, without any additional repacking along the way. We have operated a fleet of such trailers for years and we know that their apparent uniformity — they all look like a white cylinder on axles — conceals two entirely different philosophies of construction and discharge. Understanding this difference is key both when buying a trailer and when commissioning the transport of a specific material.

Big-bag (FIBC) — definition, types, applications and transport

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Definition

A big-bag (FIBC, Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container) is a flexible container for the transport and storage of bulk materials, made of woven polypropylene fabric, with a payload usually from 500 to 1500 kg, equipped with integrated loops for lifting by forklift or crane.

Over the last three decades of working with granulates in Chorula, several hundred thousand big-bags have passed through our hands. It is today the most common packaging unit in plastics logistics — and at the same time a unit whose seemingly simple construction conceals plenty of details that determine the safety and quality of the load. The word “intermediate” is no accident: a big-bag is a packaging intermediate between a 25 kg bag and bulk transport in a silo trailer. It holds as much as is hard to carry by hand, while remaining flexible enough that, once emptied, it takes up minimal space and is suitable for disposal or recycling.

Octabin — an octagonal container for granulate: construction, applications, comparison with big-bag

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Definition

An octabin (octagonal container) is a rigid octagonal container of multi-layer cardboard, set on a pallet and closed with a lid, used for the transport and storage of bulk materials — most often polymer granulates — with a payload usually from 500 to 1300 kg.

The octabin is a unit known to anyone involved in plastics export. A packaging seemingly trivial — “a cardboard octagon on a pallet” — yet in reality a well-thought-out construction that combines the advantages of rigid packaging with the economy of a palletised unit. Where the big-bag is a bag, the octabin is a box: it holds its shape, can be stacked and protects the grain from the pressure of neighbouring units. The name comes from the Latin octo — eight — and refers to the octagonal cross-section of the body.

25 kg bags for granulate — valve, FFS and polypropylene bags for packing bulk materials

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Definition

A 25 kg bag for granulate is a retail unit packaging of a standard mass of 25 kg, most often of polyethylene (PE) film or woven polypropylene (PP) fabric, used for packing, palletising and distributing granulates and other bulk materials to smaller customers. It is the last link in the plastics packaging chain: where the big-bag and the silo trailer handle the mass stream counted in tonnes, the 25 kg bag measures out a portion that a single worker can easily lift and carry.

Container and silo trailer liner — PE/LLDPE insert for safe granulate transport

Sat, 17 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Definition

A film liner (PE insert) is a single-use insert of polyethylene film — most often LLDPE — that lines the inside of a container, octabin or other means of transport and forms a clean, sealed barrier between the bulk material and the walls of the hold. Thanks to the liner, an ordinary 20’ or 40’ sea container turns into a vessel for loose granulate: the material pours directly into the film, and after delivery it is poured out in its entirety, without touching the dirty container walls.