Today’s business strategies are expected to include also social, ecologic and quality aspects. IFCO has accepted the challenge and is one of the most advanced logistic service providers in this field. In the framework of its sustainability policy, the company proves that the use of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPC) supports the reduction of food waste while focusing on environmental responsibility and produce protection.
Food Waste
Recent UN and FAO statistics show alarming facts about the global food situation. About 805 million people are starving and 12% of the world is undernourished. According to estimates, the present worldwide population of 7.3 billion people will increase to approx. 9.5 billion by 2050. Feeding the global population will require a 70% increase in global food production within the next 35 years and will be one of the major challenges for the future. In view of these figures, food loss is a serious global problem. A United Nations report estimates that 30 – 50% of the world’s food is wasted. So the reduction of food waste can be part of a solution for the worldwide nutritional situation.
With regard to the European Union, every year more than 100 million tons of food are wasted, and without appropriate action this figure is supposed to increase to approx. 126 tons by the year 2020. In Germany, according to a study carried out by the University of Stuttgart, about 11 million tons of food are wasted annually, which means about 135 kg per capita.
By the end of 2015, the EU Commission is supposed to publish a new legislative proposal with the aim of reducing food waste by more than 30% until 2025. Food losses occur during harvest, storage, transport, sales, and at home, with an enormous economic impact due to wasted production and transportation costs, food disposal or re-distribution costs. In total, food loss and waste mean a yearly loss of about 750 billion USD for the global economy.
Fresh Produce is one of the categories with the highest risk of loss. In Germany, they make up for approx. 44% of all avoidable or partly avoidable food waste. Decay mainly occurs during storage and distribution, and the reasons for loss are manifold, including interruptions of the cold chain, inadequate packaging material, long storage periods, improper handling etc. Part of these problems can be overcome by using state-of-the art transport containers that are easily stackable, do not deform and permit optimal ventilation and temperature control.
The IFCO RPCs (Reusable Plastic Containers) combine these characteristics and are designed to reduce food waste. Thanks to their robust construction and modular dimensions, they are easily stackable and support heavy weights without deforming. An application-specific design enables increased ventilation, ensuring utmost freshness of the product. The effectiveness of RPCs in avoiding food waste during transport and storage has been confirmed by several investigation projects, amongst which a study carried out in 2013 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics on initiative of SIM (Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg / Foundation for Reusable Systems). According to the study, the shrinkage and loss rate is considerably lower with RPCs as compared to one-way packaging, resulting in a noticeable reduction of food waste.
Produce Protection
Adequate packaging is essential for the protection of produce during transport and storage. More and more key players among the global retail chains opt for RPCs, since they offer a series of advantages along the entire supply chain.
IFCO offers a broad range of RPC types to cover the entire range of fresh produce as well as other items like meat, eggs or bread, adapting to the specific requirements of each product. All RPC types have basic dimensions of 60 x 40 cm or 30 x 40 cm and are compatible among each other and with all standard pallets (Euro pallets, ISO pallets).
At production and pack house level, the open side and base structure of the boxes accelerates post-harvest cooling while at the same time reducing energy consumption for cooling. The speeding up of the cooling process is especially important when it comes to product protection, since post-harvest cooling delays have a larger impact on quality and shelf life than most other handling errors. An optimized airflow through
the boxes contributes to maintaining the quality and freshness of the goods all over the supply chain.
During transport and storage, the stable structure and rounded inner edges of the IFCO RPC ensure an optimal protection of the goods against squeezing, bruising or other physical damage. The significant reduction of damage to goods in transportation and storage as a result of using RPCs – in comparison with one-way packaging – has been proved by the a.m. Fraunhofer/SIM study, according to which the type of packaging has a significant influence on the damage rates. About 4% of all disposable packaging is damaged on its way to the retail outlet. For RPCs, the corresponding figure is around 0.1%. Even if the packaging is damaged, this does not necessarily mean that the product itself is affected as well. The findings of the study confirm that in the event of packaging being damaged, the percentage of products affected is considerably lower for RPCs.
Also at the POS, RPCs contribute to maintaining the freshness of fruits and vegetables, since they can be used for chilled and humidified display counters. After every use, the RPCs are cleaned according to the highest hygienic standards in order to leave them in perfect condition to be used again.
Wolfgang Orgeldinger, CEO of IFCO SYSTEMS N.V.: “All in all, the IFCO RPCs guarantee maximum freshness and quality of the goods across all stages of the supply chain.”
