It has been demonstrated that the 'honeycomb packing' made of sintered PVC sheets is well wetted even at extremely low liquid velocities. For example, at a liquid superficial velocity of 0.00008 m(3)/(m(2) s) the effective surface is between 114 and 178 m(2)/m(3) depending on the particular packing design. Having high effective surface at extremely low superficial velocities, the packing operates at full counter-current flow, while other packings demand a re-circulation of the absorbent. It is shown that compared to some of the highly efficient packings, the use of the new packing leads to considerable pressure drop reduction and to an increase of the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient.