Starch Bagging: 95% Less Material Waste Thanks to the GREIF-VELOX ValvoDetect Sensor System

In automated packaging lines within the food industry, valve bags are widely used—especially for products like food-grade starch—due to their advantages in storage and handling. However, faulty bags or valve issues repeatedly cause significant disruptions in the bagging process.

A common issue: The valve sticks to the bottom of the bag and fails to open properly during bagging. As a result, the bag may only be partially bagged—or not bagged at all. This leads to product loss, dust exposure, increased cleaning effort, and ultimately a high and unnecessary amount of waste.

At GREIF-VELOX, we focus on developing solutions that are both efficient and sustainable. That’s why we created the ValvoDetect sensor system, which intervenes at two key stages in the bagging process to identify and remove defective bags from the production line:

1. The Save version detects before bagging whether the valve has opened correctly.
2. The Clean version ensures that the bag is properly positioned on the sealing sonotrodes before sealing.

Bags that do not pass the ValvoDetect check are automatically removed—preventing problems during bagging and/or palletizing. This significantly reduces the reject rate, minimizes cleaning requirements, and ensures consistent product quality.

The impact of this technology is clear in the case of our customer AKD Toftlund from Denmark. By implementing ValvoDetect and optimizing the bags used, we were able to work with their team to reduce the reject rate from up to 0.8% to just 0.04%—a 95% reduction in waste.