People often get confuses with the abbreviations such as GC, GT or GD used for Carton boards in Paper Industry. So to make it simple and to know the differences, we have put together in detail about them.
FBB Board can be GC1 or GC2 depending on the finish and colour on the back.
GC1
This term is used for FBB, white back is made from layers of mechanical pulp sandwiched between layers of bleached chemical pulp. The top layer is pigment coated. The white back is thicker than FBB, cream back, and can also be pigment coated. It is a medium density board with good printing properties for graphical and packaging end uses and is perfectly white both inside and out. It is also used for packaging aroma and flavour sensitive products such as chocolate, cigarettes and cosmetics.
GC2
This term is used for FBB, cream back, is made from layers of mechanical pulp sandwiched between layers of bleached chemical pulp. The top layer is pigment coated and the lower one can be uncoated bleached/unbleached.
In the same way, Duplex Board can be GD1, GD2 or GD3 depends on the volume of the layer of the recycled pulp as a back cover. It can also be white, cream or kraft at back.
GD1
This designates a coated secondary fibre board having a top layer of the wood free white layer of bleached pulp with a max. 5% mechanical pulp, grey inlay, and the layer of the recycled pulp as back cover with special volume (> 1.45 cm³/g).
GD2
This designates a coated secondary fibre board having a top layer of the wood free white layer of bleached pulp with a max. 5-30% mechanical pulp, grey inlay and layer of the recycled pulp as back cover with special volume (< 1.45 cm³/g, > 1.3 cm³/g).
GD3
This designates a coated secondary fibre board having a top layer of the wood free white layer of bleached pulp with a max. 5-30% mechanical pulp, grey inlay and layer of the recycled pulp as back cover with special volume (< 1.3 cm³/g).
GT1 or GT2 is mostly used for White lined Chipboard (WLC) or Triplex Board and is very similar to the concept of FBB GC1/GC2
GT1
GT1 is a Coated White-lined Chipboard which mainly comes with white back finishing. It is mostly used for food packaging if OBA-free and high-end blister packaging where white finishing is a requirement.
GT2
GT2 is a Coated WLC which comes with Cream back finishing. It is mainly used for blister packaging.