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Tag: recycling

DHL Supply Chain signs contract for sustainable battery recycling

Posted on by David Priestman

DHL Supply Chain has signed a long-term contract with Fortum Battery Recycling, a business of the Nordic energy company Fortum. The agreement covers the development and provision of customized service logistics solutions for the recycling of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. With this partnership, both companies are making an important contribution to promoting sustainable supply chains and conserving valuable resources.

Fortum Battery Recycling is the only player providing a European solution for every stage of the battery recycling value chain. The company is a pioneer in the development of processes to efficiently recover valuable raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel from used batteries with minimal waste residue, thus driving forward the circular economy in electromobility. Under the agreement, DHL Supply Chain will provide customized service logistics solutions to ensure that Fortum’s recycling processes run smoothly, safely, and efficiently.

Forward-looking service logistics solutions for battery recycling

DHL Supply Chain’s service logistics goes beyond conventional logistics services. The aim is to ensure the business success of customers by guaranteeing the functionality of products and technologies throughout their life cycle. In the field of battery recycling, this means that DHL Supply Chain is responsible for the entire spectrum of services in the logistics segment. These include the safe transportation, storage, and handling of used EV batteries, as well as timely delivery to Fortum’s recycling facilities.

“Our collaboration with Fortum underscores our commitment to providing innovative logistics solutions to meet the growing demands of e-mobility,” explains Hendrik Venter, CEO at DHL Supply Chain EMEA. “Through our expertise in service logistics and our global network, we can help Fortum expand their recycling capabilities while maintaining the highest safety and sustainability standards.”

Sustainable solutions for electromobility

For Fortum, the cooperation with DHL Supply Chain is an important step in further expanding its sustainable recycling solutions and making the market for electric vehicles even more environmentally friendly. “We are proud to be working with DHL Supply Chain to develop an efficient and sustainable logistics solution for the recycling of EV batteries,” comments Anssi Airas, Head of Business Line Battery at Fortum. “We believe that electrification of Europe is not possible without sustainable recycling of batteries taking place in Europe, for Europe. The cooperation with DHL is an essential building block for our mission to promote the circular economy and maximize resource conservation.”

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Join the Big Recycling Hunt this Recycle Week

Posted on by David Priestman

This year for Recycle Week (16-22 October), at Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP), we’re supporting WRAP’s messaging calling for a Big Recycling Hunt and focusing in on ‘missed capture’: items that are recyclable but are commonly missed. Whether it’s food waste from your staff canteen, cardboard packaging from deliveries or on-the-go plastic bottles, the cost of forgotten recycling for your facility could be more significant than you think.

With 75% of warehouse and logistics businesses facing pressure from customers to improve the sustainability of their operations, and with tougher legislation on the way for businesses in Wales, we explore how your facility can improve recycling rates and cuts costs simply by implementing efficient multi-stream systems.

Why join the hunt?

When you consider that 91% of packaging waste ends up in landfill and that in the UK alone 7 million tonnes of paper and cardboard is landfilled every year rather than being recycling correctly, the scale of the problem of ‘missed capture’ is clear. Correctly handling waste in your warehouse not only directly benefits the planet but it could save you space, time and money while increasing your business’ efficiency.

But can simply upgrading your waste management system lead to tangible results? After installing multi-stream Slim Jim ® Recycling Stations across various sites at their facilities, leading European logistics company DPD reported taking their recycling efficiency rate to over 90% and achieving 27% cost savings from not sending waste to landfill. As well as cost and productivity savings, collecting and storing waste correctly makes for a cleaner, safer and more efficient workplace.

Different solutions for different areas

When it comes to recycling solutions, one size does not fit all. If you want to implement a successful recycling system, you must consider that different areas of your facility will require different types of waste containers.

The shop floor is the beating heart of any warehouse and with tonnes of materials and goods being moved on an hourly basis it’s essential that your waste management is fit to handle high volumes and tough demands. Handling large volumes of waste in tough environments, the RCP BRUTE® range of waste containers helps your team to drive efficiency, with long-term peace of mind though a 10-year warranty. By prioritising durability, you can buy better and waste less, helping your business to protect budgets in the long run while boosting sustainability credentials by minimising the need to frequently replace poor quality products. When it comes to moving waste around your facility, the Wheeled BRUTE®’s ergonomic design helps your team to move large volumes five times more easily, while prioritising safety and comfort.

When considering the overall waste management of your facility it’s important to include the specific needs in your administrative areas, canteens and staff rooms. For these areas, the need for a system that ensures the effective separation of waste without compromising on space is key. Encourage effective separation with visible, modular solutions that allow staff to easily separate their waste into relevant recyclable streams. This will minimise the risk of costly cross-contamination, as well as help you to save money and improve your business’ green credentials. The RCP Slim Jim® Recycling Stations are discreet, space-efficient and customisable to suit each area of your facility.

Start your Big Recycling Hunt today with RCP’s free online recycling audit. Answer six simple questions about your business’ current waste management operation, and in 90 seconds you’ll have indicative cost and waste savings.

Give Warehouse IT Hardware a Second Life

Posted on by David Priestman

Green warehouse IT involves much more than a paperless office. Green IT also means, among other things, responsible handling of procurement and disposal, or ideally the recycling of used corporate hardware. The Leipheim-based company Wanzl, which recently joined the world’s largest voluntary sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact, is now working with the IT refurbisher AfB social & green IT. AfB is a multi-award-winning inclusion company where people with and without disabilities work together in the regular labour market. This promotes the social participation of people with disabilities. It specialises in the environmentally friendly and resource-conserving remanufacturing of IT hardware.

”We are very pleased to be working with AfB social & green IT,” said Andreas Starzmann, Chief Technology Officer at Wanzl. “This collaboration not only gives us a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to recycle the equipment we have decommissioned, but also an opportunity to support AfB’s work and support people with disabilities.” Nicolai Gräff, Partner Manager of AfB social & green IT, is also delighted with the new partnership: “On behalf of AfB social & green IT, we welcome Wanzl as a new partner and thank them for placing their trust in our services. By collaborating with our more than 1,600 IT partners, we are working together to advance our mission of inclusion in the labour market and environmentally friendly IT recycling.”

In modern corporate IT, large quantities of old equipment regularly accumulate – from laptops to smartphones to power supply units. It is a challenge to repurpose them professionally in accordance with the requirements of data protection and information security, and therefore involves a considerable amount of work. “Scrapping has always been something I’ve been personally opposed to and no longer fits in with today’s times. Our warehouse of old devices is constantly growing in the hope that it will be possible to put them to use again,” said Dierk Meissner, Senior Vice President Global IT at Wanzl, and adding: “Many of the devices are well suited to a second life after professional use, as they were often only replaced due to expired manufacturer warranties or to standardise infrastructure. Collaboration with AfB is the solution to this.”

Recently, the first trolleys from Wanzl, which are compliant with dangerous goods regulations, were brought to the nearest AfB branch with discarded notebooks, monitors, PCs and smartphones. The used hardware, which is usually still fully functional, is refurbished there, all data is deleted and the devices are equipped with the latest operating system and sold. This extends the useful life of a smartphone, for example, from around two to four years. Avoiding new production reduces emissions and conserves valuable resources. Devices that cannot be remarketed are properly disassembled and recycled.

Beyond this ecological contribution, used hardware at AfB is not only “green”, but also “social”. This is because it is a non-profit inclusion company. Of the approximately 650 employees, around 49 percent are severely disabled. Hence the name “AfB”: Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung (translation: work for people with disabilities). For this exceptional business model that successfully combines environmental and social sustainability, AfB was awarded the IT Business Distri Award Gold for Refurbishing & Remarketing 2023, the German SDG Award 2022 and the German Sustainability Award 2021.

Through the partnership with AfB, Wanzl is taking an important step towards contributing to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assuming its responsibility for the environment and society. AfB contributes to seven SDGs through its socio-ecological IT services. The partnership between Wanzl and AfB strengthens the impact of these SDGs and contributes, among other things, to increasing awareness of environmentally friendly recycling of IT hardware.

8000 Forklifts get new Lease of Life

Posted on by David Priestman

Extended value creation cycles, used equipment in premium quality, sustainability and circular concepts – these topics have recently attracted a great deal of attention across all industries, but for the Hamburg-based intralogistics expert STILL, customer-focused solutions and a high level of responsibility for resources have been a matter of course for 35 years. Today, with four refurbishment centres in Europe, STILL gives around 8,000 industrial trucks a new lease of life every year. And the trend is rising.

When a professionally overhauled forklift truck rolls off the yard at the STILL refurbishment centre, it can hardly be distinguished from a new truck with the naked eye. Even in the stress test you can hardly tell the difference. So it is no wonder that the market for second-hand equipment is growing strongly and that the purchase of used industrial trucks is becoming an attractive alternative for more and more companies. In addition to economic considerations, aspects of availability, but above all sustainability, responsibility for resources and reduction of one’s own CO2 footprint are increasingly playing a role. For in addition to the major topics of the day, such as alternative energy systems, recycling and circular development concepts, the remanufacturing of vehicles and thus the reuse of components and raw materials is also an important pillar of sustainable and future-proof concepts in logistics.

35 years of experience and a growing network of refurbishment centres

As early as the end of the 1980s, STILL began to overhaul used trucks based on uniform quality standards and offer them to customers as secondary market equipment. To this end, the company has built up and successively expanded its own network in Europe. In 2008, the Stuhr site near Bremen was STILL’s first refurbishment centre, followed in 2014 by another in Rokietnica, Poland, and in 2017 in Lainate near Milan. And just a few days ago, a fourth refurbishment centre opened its doors in Çerkezköy, Turkey. A total of up to 8,000 trucks are given a technical and visual overhaul each year and returned to the STILL sales organisation. Across Europe, customers can even choose from around 25,000 refurbished trucks that are of the hightest quality and available quickly – even online – at any time.

A smart alternative: custom-fit solutions thanks to used premium vehicles

The secondary market for forklift trucks and warehouse equipment has been growing continuously for years. This is partly due to the increasing supply – especially as a result of the steadily growing leasing market segment. But demand is also rising noticeably. From the customer’s perspective, this is not surprising, says Frank Müller, Senior Vice President STILL Brand Management: “From both an economic and an ecological point of view, the purchase of used and refurbished equipment makes sense for more and more of our customers. It does not always have to be a ‘new one’,” he explains. “STILL is known for offering customers individual and custom-fit solutions. And high-quality refurbished trucks are definitely part of that.” With many years of experience, sophisticated processes and carefully planned refurbishment capacities throughout Europe, STILL is also setting the pace in intralogistics in this area and is a reliable, innovative partner for its customers.

The reasons why STILL customers choose a used truck can be very different. One large target group is small and medium-sized enterprises and companies with moderate transport tasks and manageable operating times for the forklift trucks – but at the same time with high demands on quality and service. When you buy a refurbished STILL truck, you benefit not only from guaranteed manufacturer quality but also from STILL’s comprehensive and qualified service – at an attractive price and with immediate availability.

However, STILL customers with large fleets and intensive operations are also increasingly turning to used trucks as part of mixed fleets. Particularly for transport tasks that do not involve 24/7 operation, such as the loading and unloading of lorries, used trucks can be used very well. In addition to financial aspects, ecological motives play a major role here: the promotion of long value creation cycles, the conservation of precious resources and the proven reduction of one’s own CO2 footprint are high on the agenda of many companies today, if not even part of their own company “specifications”. “Mixed fleets of new and refurbished premium vehicles are a very attractive way for many of our customers to smartly combine efficiency and responsibility – entirely without compromise on one side or the other,” explains Frank Müller.

Quality and service: indispensable unique selling points even in the second-hand market

The indispensable prerequisites for successful business with used equipment are the high quality of the refurbished trucks and comprehensive service on a par with new equipment. To ensure premium quality and a high level of comparability and transparency, STILL introduced a uniform Europe-wide classification system for its used equipment back in 2003. It ranks the trucks according to the criteria of technology, warranty, appearance, age and battery condition in the categories bronze, silver and gold and defines the appropriate refurbishment in accordance with standardised processes. “For many of our secondary market prospects, the silver category is the ideal balance of high quality standard and noticeable financial savings,” Frank Müller comments on the categorisation. A truck in this classification has been fully technically tested and overhauled with original STILL parts, cleaned, visually repaired and freshly painted. Thanks to professional battery reconditioning, STILL guarantees a battery capacity of at least 70 per cent for electric vehicles in the silver category, and even 100 per cent in the gold category.

And when it comes to service, customers in the used truck segment can also rely on the usual STILL quality. The full range of the STILL service commitment also applies to used trucks – from the availability of spare parts to preventive maintenance cycles for maximum flexibility and availability.

Report Demonstrates Commitment to Climate Protection

Posted on by David Priestman

With its Sustainability Report 2022 now available, Dematic provides the latest data on its comprehensive commitment to climate protection. According to the report, Dematic has emitted 24 percent less greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to 2020. The company’s water consumption fell by 37 percent globally over the period, and total waste dropped by 7 percent. By the end of the year, 81 percent of all Dematic sites also had an ISO 14001-certified environmental management system (EMS). To this end, numerous European sites were awarded the EcoVadis Platinum seal.

“Sustainability is not just a vision, but a commitment that we actively live by. By publishing our sustainability report, we are sending a strong signal for transparency and responsibility. Our goal is for all sites to have ISO 14001 certifications by 2024,” says Bernard Biolchini, the executive vice president, EMEA, at Dematic.

Strong evidence of Dematic’s progress in terms of sustainability is the award of the EcoVadis seal to numerous European locations. “Many of our operations, such as the DACH market, the UK, Spain, Italy, and Czech Republic all received a platinum rating, which is the highest distinction from EcoVadis, placing them among the top one percent of companies in terms of sustainability,” notes Biolchini.

Additionally, Dematic has set several sustainability targets related to its supply chain, helping to ensure that over 45 percent of its most strategic suppliers also received the EcoVadis seal or equivalent certification last year. By year end 2023, all high-risk suppliers will be required to submit their sustainability data to EcoVadis or comparable sustainability evaluating organizations and by 2025, this will then apply to all of the company’s direct suppliers.

In 2022, Dematic also achieved notable improvements in other areas of environmental protection. Though business activity has been dynamic since the pandemic subsided, the company has managed to reduce the overall volume of its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, cutting them by 24 percent compared with 2020. Fittingly, the intralogistics specialist is also one of the nominees for the inaugural German Sustainability Award. The prestigious award recognizes exemplary sustainability performance in business, communities and research. “A renewed recognition of our commitment to a sustainable future,” beams Biolchini.

The intensified measures to reduce the volume of waste are also having an effect: the total volume of waste fell by 7 percent to 3,727 metric tons last year. “This success can be attributed to new processes at our production sites, as this is where the greatest potential for improvement lies,” explains Biolchini. To leverage them, Dematic regularly analyses and evaluates methods used and looks for innovative solutions to reduce waste and scrap – from traditional recycling to material recovery.

“Efficiency has always been one of the reasons for Dematic‘s success. Our customers expect us to make their processes more efficient. We place this very same demand equally on our own processes. That’s why we also continuously review our processes and identify where and how we can most effectively mitigate the impact of our operations on the environment,” says Biolchini. With this in mind, in 2019 Dematic began implementing an ISO 14001-certified environmental management system (EMS) across all of its international sites. Certified by an independent body according to strict ISO criteria, the EMS ensures continuous, systematic improvement in environmental performance. As of December 2022, the rate of suitably certified sites stands at 81 percent. The declared goal is to reach the 100- percent mark by 2024.

The subject of the sustainability report is the business activities, performance and key figures for fiscal year 2022 or January 1 to December 31, 2022.

NORD Wins EcoVadis Sustainability Certificate

Posted on by David Priestman

NORD Drivesystems was assessed by the rating agency EcoVadis and awarded the silver sustainability certificate in 2022. In the overall ranking, the North German company is in the top six percent of manufacturers in the industry assessed by EcoVadis.

“We are very proud to have received the certificate”, Jörg Niermann, Head of Marketing at NORD Drivesystems, explains. “This clearly shows that our sustainability strategy is paying off.” The company received 65 out of 100 points and thus landed on the 89th percentile rank, which is significantly above the average of companies in this industry. The drive technology manufacturer is in the range of the top one percent of companies assessed in the environment category and in the top eleven percent of the sustainable procurement category.

Economic efficiency and sustainability in harmony

NORD Drivesystems aims to reconcile economic efficiency and sustainability – both globally and locally on site. In addition to innovations and energy efficiency, the company also takes social responsibility towards its globally active employees, customers, suppliers and partners with its CSR measures. “Our Company Policy is the foundation of our activities”, Niermann says. “We act with integrity and responsibility for the environment.” The company’s sustainability strategy not only includes a considerate and resource-saving approach to nature but also the development and manufacture of energy-efficient drive systems and solutions for environmentally relevant industries, such as wind energy and waste water treatment plants, recycling and biogas plants or large transport systems where the use of the NORD products helps to significantly save energy.

Company background

With over 4,800 employees today, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS has developed, produced and sold drive technology since 1965, and is one of the leading global full-service providers in the industry. In addition to standard drives, NORD delivers application-specific concepts and solutions for special requirements such as energy-saving drives or explosion-protected systems. In the 2021 financial year, annual sales amounted to 870 million Euros. NORD has 48 subsidiaries in 36 countries and further sales partners in more than 50 countries. They provide technical support, local stocks, assembly centres and customer service. NORD develops and produces a wide range of drive solutions for more than 100 industries, gear units for torques from 10 Nm up to over 282 kNm, supplies electric motors in the power range of 0.12 kW to 1,000 kW, and supplies the required power electronics with frequency inverters of up to 160 kW. Inverter solutions are available for conventional control cabinet installations as well as for decentralised, fully integrated drive units.

AutoLoadBaler is a R(e)volution

Posted on by Keith McKinley

What to do with all the cardboard that accumulates in a supermarket every day? That’s an important question in the world of food retail. There are hundreds of cardboards of various sizes that arrive every day and must be disposed of. The immense amount of required work for this has been transformed into a simple process with the AutoLoadBaler, a r(e)volution of a baler from Strautmann Umwelttechnik.

The employees throw the cardboard into the collection cart. When it’s full, the collection cart is simply pushed into the press. The AutoLoadBaler empties the collection cart, and the baling chamber is filled automatically. After that the material is compressed with a pressing force of around 53 tonnes into a bale that can be sold directly.

After two to three days at the Rewe Wutke store, a bale weighing 400kg accrues. The bale is tied off with four wires. Even inexperienced people can strap the bale without any effort using the equipment supplied. Thanks to the convenient and safe bale ejection, the tied bale can simply be placed on a pallet for transport and transported away with a lift truck.

What sounds easy in theory also passes the practical test. At least that’s what Alexander Wutke, owner of the Rewe market Wutke in Bad Heilbrunn in Upper Bavaria, confirms: “The press is so important for us, and it makes work a lot easier.”

There are 22 employees in his store who ensure that the customer feels comfortable in the store and that they receive expert support if they have any questions or requests. They can now devote more time to this – their actual – task, since filling of the baler and time-consuming shredding and stacking of cardboard is no longer necessary. The cardboard no longer has to be re-sorted in the head office but can be handed over directly for recycling and thus fed back into the material cycle.

“We used to have to tear the boxes apart by hand, load them onto the roll containers and then throw everything into the press ourselves,” recalls store manager Michaela Markreiter. That took a lot of time and was quite exhausting. It was not uncommon for hands to be cut by razor-sharp edges.

In order to keep small cardboard boxes from falling out when they were collected, the ‘trolleys’ were wrapped in film. Often the collected cardboard also caused space problems, and everyone in food retail knows how valuable warehouse space is.

In the Bad Heilbrunn Rewe store, these efforts have been important; that’s why Wutke wanted to use the AutoLoadBaler right from the start: “I knew it would change our whole situation,” he recalls. The 36-year-old completed his training and various departments at Rewe and has found that conventional baler always requires a lot of extra work, which takes time and, of course, causes costs.

“We could hardly cope with the number of boxes that accumulate with the fruit and vegetable deliveries in the morning alone,” says Wutke. “With the AutoLoadBaler, we do not only increase the profitability of the operation, but also the satisfaction for our employees because a lot of stress is eliminated. Even a loss of staff can now be better dealt with, since some time-consuming work steps are no longer necessary.

“The AutoLoadBaler’s collection cart are easy-to-move – much better than the collection trolleys. While one collection cart is being emptied in the baler, two more are in use in the store, so there is no waiting.”

“The faster work is also reflected in the shop and that ultimately benefits the customer,” says Markreiter. All in all, she and her boss think things just look tidier in their 970 sq m supermarket and in the warehouse. A further smart detail is that the side walls of the collection cart can be used as advertising space, either for the market itself or for local companies.

The press itself is 3.05m high and requires only 4.5 sq m of floor space. Pushing the filled collection cart into the side of the baler is uncomplicated and effortless. The closed system ensures a high level of operator safety. There is a detailed briefing for the employees and once a year a service employee comes for maintenance.

“Up until now, everything has always been flawless,” says Wutke. He’s a fan of the AutoLoadBaler, his ‘baby’, as he says jokingly. “This baler is the best thing Rewe could have done for me. I can only recommend it.”

The AutoLoadBaler revolutionises the cardboard disposal process in all retail, logistics and manufacturing applications. Time-consuming filling work that previously had to be done manually is now done automatically. It is no longer the operator but the intelligent system that monitors and controls both the filling of the baler and the compaction.

Practical experience and studies show a saving in working time of up to three hours and 43.5 minutes per bale – this corresponds to an increase in productivity of over 800%. The automation results in even, stackable bales weighing more than 400kg, which can be marketed directly to the paper mills.

 

Sustainable partnership creates true recycling heroes

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Within the first 12 months of a partnership between Lyreco, Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP), and DPD, the logistics business had already boosted its recycling rate by 48% at six key sites. This significant milestone on DPD’s vision of becoming the ‘the greenest delivery service on the planet’ comes as the business analyses environmental gains against a roll-out of RCP’s Slim Jim Recycling Stations across its 84 depot locations.

To date, 20 facilities have benefited from the introduction of RCP’s effective and space-efficient recycling system, as part of a staged installation process, which will continue through 2022.

Every month, at each site it’s installed, the recycling system diverts 0.5 tonnes away from general waste disposal. On completion of the roll-out across all DPD sites, over 500 tonnes of waste every year will be diverted to the circular economy rather than going to general waste disposal.

The path to these significant improvements in recycling efficiency is thanks to a true Love Recycling Hero, Elissa Underhill, National Account Manager at international distributor Lyreco. Understanding DPD’s fierce commitment to the issue, Elissa was on the lookout for opportunities to support and partner with her client on its recycling efficiency goals. Identifying where the logistics business may not yet have been reaching its full potential, Elissa worked closely with the experts at RCP, a leading international manufacturer of waste and recycling solutions, to uncover impactful changes for DPD.

Using RCP’s free digital environmental audit tool, the team quickly highlighted the environmental and business savings that could be made. Together, DPD, RCP and Lyreco identified the most troublesome sites in terms of recycling and waste, where lack of consistent compliance with DPD’s best practice recycling procedure was causing an issue. Visits to these sites confirmed that switching to more effective recycling stations would have a big impact.

With a pilot scheme rapidly green-lit, and six tonnes of waste diverted from general waste disposal within the first months of Slim Jim Recycling Stations being introduced to the pilot sites, proof of concept was clear.

Olly Craughan, Head of Sustainability for DPD, commented: ‘’Taking a fresh look at our recycling systems with Lyreco and RCP’s support is just one example of our commitment to reducing DPD’s impact on the environment by continually reviewing our processes. Introducing Slim Jim Recycling Stations has made a tangible difference with residual waste reduced by a third on the sites where the bins have been installed and individual sites achieving recycling rates over 90% against our achieved business target of 70%.

‘’What’s more, it’s a move that makes clear financial sense. In addition to environmental savings, we’re seeing 27% cost savings of not sending waste to general waste disposal, which means we will recoup our investment within a year.’’

Ben Clibbery, End User Development at RCP, said: ”Not only is RCP helping our customer partners take control of the growing complexity they face every day in their waste management and recycling needs, but we’re incredibly proud that our innovative products are taking them one step closer to meeting their ambitious sustainability goals.

‘’This has been a great example of partnership working, with Elissa at Lyreco leading the charge to make a real difference. As a result of her tireless dedication to recycling and sustainability, we were proud to see her crowned a Glass Hero in the recent Love Recycling Heroes Awards.’’

The Love Recycling Heroes Awards celebrate the individuals championing commercial recycling and pioneering sustainable practices and processes in the workplace.  During its inaugural awards this year, the initiative received an impressive number of nominations from countless industries across Europe.

On winning Hero status, Elissa said: “Committing to sustainability is all about creating a better, safer planet and environment for everyone. Whether it’s our customers, our suppliers or our employees, together we can all make a difference to protect the planet and make it a better, safer place for future generations.

“Being recognised for this commitment is to us vitally important as collaboration and sharing these innovations with our customers, such as DPD, is integral to supporting those businesses and the market sectors in which they operate.”

As part of the Love Recycling Heroes Award, Lyreco UK won £500 to donate to its charity of choice: Leicester Children’s Hospital. DPD generously matched the donation, enabling the hospital to purchase a new feeding chair for children with congenital heart defects.

CLICK HERE to read the full case study

 

 

 

Exporta offers plastic pallet collection & recycling

Posted on by David Priestman

To support World Ocean Day on Tuesday 8th June, Exporta is demonstrating a commitment to the environment via its Eco Pallet range and free plastic pallet collection and recycling scheme.

Despite confusing and often conflicting media coverage, plastic isn’t always a terrible thing for the environment. In fact, Exporta says it can even be more beneficial than natural products when it is correctly derived from sustainable sources. It’s how we use it and what we do with it afterwards that makes the real difference.

Polypropylene is the most easily and efficiently recyclable of all plastics, with polypropylene products able to contain a higher percentage of recycled plastic. Polypropylene can also be recycled over and over again, whereas other plastics are very limited in this respect. 98% of Exporta Eco Pallets are made from recycled plastic and 100% of them can be recycled again at the end of their useful life.

If you compare this to wood, using timber as an example, this is a natural product from sustainably managed softwood forests, but its usable life is significantly shorter than that of polypropylene. Timber pallets crack and splinter, the joints loosen, and the wood can mould and rot. Once they become irreparable, the only other use of them on a commercial scale is to be broken down for biofuel, and that can happen only once.

To make it easier to understand the environmental impact levels made by the plastic pallets Exporta produces, and businesses use, it has introduced an eco-grading system.

  1. Exporta Eco pallets are made from new plastic but can be recycled at the end of their useful life.
  2. Exporta Eco Plus pallets are made with recycled plastic and can be recycled at the end of their life.
  3. Exporta Eco Max pallets offer the ultimate choice in eco-friendly plastic pallets. Made from recycled plastic, they can be repaired to extend their useful life and then recycled.
  4. Even plastic pallets eventually wear down and break, but while many recycling companies might accept plastic pallets, few, if any, offer a free collection service.

Exporta teamed up with the recycling company Plastic Expert to offer this extra incentive towards making recyclable plastic pallets an environmental milestone for 2021.

The Free Plastic Pallet Collection & Recycling Scheme is just one small part of

https://www.exportaglobal.co.uk/blog/exportas-environmental-plans-for-2021/

Exporta’s environmental agenda for 2021. It is drafted to help businesses make realistic, achievable commitments towards a more sustainable storage and logistics sector in the immediate future.

similar news

Exporta to Focus on Supporting Key Industries

 

 

Packaging firm accelerates sustainable model

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Southgate, one of Europe’s leading packaging suppliers, has revealed its focus for 2021 and beyond will be to develop and promote the idea of a circular economy – inspiring businesses on an international scale to embrace the global solution to eliminating waste.

In a circular economy, manufacturers design products to be reusable. It is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of a product is extended, creating a more sustainable world.

To accelerate the transition, Southgate has been sharing advice on what businesses can do to drive forward the sustainability movement. From encouraging companies to review their paper vs plastic usage, ensuring a healthy mix is used in the most environmentally and responsible way, to advising e-commerce businesses and consumers on what packaging is recyclable, and raising awareness of the upcoming Plastic Packaging Tax for all sectors whether that be construction, retail or manufacturing.

Craig Turner, Managing Director at Southgate Packaging, said: “The circular economy focus will become part of our Mission and Values as a business. Everything we do will feed into driving this message – new product innovations which focus on sustainability, working closer with our distributors to offer advice on the best sustainable solutions, and much more.

“We believe the future of packaging needs to focus on reducing the amount of harmful waste being put into the environment, and as a leader in our field, it is our responsibility to drive this message forward.”

The global movement of creating a more circular economy has been embraced by consumers, following the growth in e-commerce focus, which increased by 46% in 2020. In a recent survey almost 44% of consumers said that recyclable or reusable packaging are one of the most important features in their product choice. However, a study from 2018 showed that only 53.9% of packaging was recyclable.

In the past year, Southgate has launched a number of sustainable packaging products from carton sealing, paper mailers and void fill, with plans to have a suite of sustainable options for every product. To showcase its latest sustainable product line, Southgate recently launched its Sustainability E-edition brochure.

Southgate is continuing to develop its line of sustainable products, with several new products (for its distributors) currently in development.

 

 

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