and deliveries each month, with a return rate of about 95.5%. Each is individually barcoded, and can integrate with an organization’s warehouse management system. Between 2020 and 2021, Applied Industrial Technology shifted from pallets and cardboard to reusable containers from RPP Containers for its “milk runs”— moving products from its distribution center to service centers and back. “It’s safer, cleaner, better for the environment and more cost effective,” says Tracie Longpre, vice president of supply chain. Not only are the containers reusable, but they’re more durable than cardboard boxes, so products are better protected. The containers are stackable, allowing Applied to improve truck capacity utilization. Truck placement is easy and ef cient. Additionally, the containers fold at for return from their delivery locations, enabling more ef cient backhaul. Shipping areas are kept clean without the clutter of cardboard, shrink wrap, and void ll. When receiving products from vendors, Applied also reuses any package ller and dunnage for its outbound shipments. “Rarely do we need to purchase any,” Longpre says. Eliminating waste from the start of a manufacturing operation has a tremendous impact on its environmental impact. This is where HILOS focuses.
Cardboard is “dumb, cheap, and easy,” says Mike Newman, chief executive of cer with Returnity, which designs, manufactures and implements reusable packaging and circular logistics systems. To attract users, a replacement needs to be similarly dumb, cheap, and easy, Newman adds. Even then, getting consumers to return packaging in enough quantity that using recycled materials pays off has been a struggle. Because reusable packaging is designed for durability, its production is more material- and energy-intense, Newman says. If reusable packaging isn’t returned, the additional material and energy used in making it becomes pointless. RETURNABLE PACKAGING PLAYS A ROLE Returnable packaging can be a solution for some consumer companies, however. For instance, it’s often a t for companies that rent outdoor equipment, since their customers will return the products anyway. And, some traditional retailers are starting to use it. When it comes to internal logistics,
The idea for a sustainable home furnishings company came to engineer Felix Böck after he had just given a seminar on sustainability in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a waiter threw away his chopsticks at a sushi restaurant. “Suddenly, I understood that I had to show people how a circular economy works instead of just talking about it,” Böck says. He began his startup, called ChopValue, creating coasters and cutting boards from disposed chopsticks, which are usually made of bamboo. The ChopValue team collects 350,000 chopsticks from restaurants in Vancouver each week—70 million in total across its operations to date. The chopsticks are treated with high heat and pressure at franchise microfactory locations from Liverpool to Bali to create products like shelves, desks, wall panels, and stairs. On its own, ChopValue will not make a dent in the global trash problem. But if other businesses follow suit, the e®ects could ripple. Source: Reasons to be Cheerful From a Single- Use Product to a Circular Business
like shipments moving between distribution centers and stores,
returnable packaging often can play a big role. Employees can be trained and then held accountable for how they handle packaging. Returnity’s reusable packages are used in about one million shipments
To eliminate single-use packaging in Walmart’s InHome Grocery Delivery Program, Returnity custom-designed a durable reusable bag and a collection and cleaning system that increased performance through tech integration and an enhanced customer experience.
June 2023 • Inbound Logistics 33
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