Save CO2 Emissions with the Reusable Box from trans-o-flex

The express service provider trans-o-flex is launching a reusable pool for all shippers, thereby expanding its individual customer solutions. The success factors are transparent management, intelligent return logistics, cost accounting based on responsibility, and a comprehensive worry-free package that relieves both customers and recipients.

(Weinheim) Since this month, the express service trans-o-flex has been offering all customers reusable boxes that allow them to replace single-use cartons in shipping and save more than 50 percent of climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). The service is marketed under the name tof.ecobox. “Our current solution incorporates several years of development work as well as the establishment and further development of special reusable box pools for individual customers,” says trans-o-flex CEO Wolfgang P. Albeck. “In doing so, we have identified six critical factors that determine the success of such a system.”

According to Albeck, numerous attempts to establish reusable box pools have failed in the last 15 years primarily due to a lack of transparency in container logistics and inefficient return logistics. “Therefore, we have integrated the transport container itself into our shipment tracking, so that we always know where each container is located. This is not only a prerequisite for intelligent and cost-effective returns but also the basis for responsible cost accounting.” Empty boxes are taken by trans-o-flex drivers from the recipients as soon as they deliver a new shipment. To ensure that the pick-up process is accurately documented, the driver is guided through the pick-up process via their handheld scanner. The number and size of the boxes taken are recorded and acknowledged.

Joint Development of the Design

In addition to transparent management, intelligent retrieval logistics, and responsible cost accounting, three other factors determine the success or failure of a reusable box pool in distribution logistics from trans-o-flex’s perspective. “Firstly, there is the design of the boxes themselves, secondly, the type of service that the customer receives, and thirdly, the proven environmental friendliness, which is becoming increasingly important for both customers and recipients,” says Albeck. The design of the boxes was developed in collaboration with the pool operator Smart Container Loop (SCL). SCL is part of the Schoeller corporate group, which is among the shareholders of trans-o-flex, and has decades of experience in developing reusable boxes and operating box pools.

Schoeller is, among other things, the inventor and founder of IFCO Systems, the largest reusable container pool in the world and the global market leader for reusable boxes in the food sector. “To meet the different customer needs regarding packaging sizes and safety requirements, a rectangular and a conical box type were developed. The rectangular boxes are collapsible, and the conical boxes can be nested to minimize space requirements during the empty transport of the boxes. “Shippers only need to specify which box types they need in what quantities,” explains Albeck the service concept. “They will then receive the desired quantity delivered, and trans-o-flex, together with Smart Container Loop, will take care of the rest.” Customers do not have to worry about the return and cleaning or the disposal required for cartons.

Clear Environmental Advantages over Single-Use Packaging

To verify environmental friendliness, SCL examined the entire CO2 burden generated from the production of the boxes to the transport to the shipper, as well as the retrieval, cleaning, and, if necessary, repair or recycling, and compared it with the burden from single-use cardboard. The extensive study (Cradle to Grave) found: When shipping 1,000 packages with single-use cardboard, the environment is burdened with emissions of 264 kilos of CO2e (CO2 equivalents*) solely for the packaging. If the reusable system from SCL is used, the same shipping quantity results in 131 kilos of CO2e for the packaging – less than half. The durability of the reusable boxes was calculated based on 50 cycles, which, according to SCL’s experience, is clearly exceeded in practice.

Photo: © trans-o-flex