“It takes around 13 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4.1000 kwh of electricity, 31.780 litres of water and four cubic metres of landfill to make just one tonne of cardboard” 1

This growing concern for resource use has led to significant increases in the development of Reusable Transit Packaging (RTP).

My initial research into sustainable transit packaging led me to several trials WRAP have been carrying out in collaboration with leading furniture suppliers. In a trial carried out with B&Q they used a returnable two-part soft polypropylene ‘carrierpac’ to protect kitchen worktops. The bespoke carrierpac is made of 40% recycled material and is fully recyclable. As well as greatly reducing the amount of packaging entering the waste stream it also significantly reduces damages and improves presentation. Several other furniture suppliers have been experiencing the benefits of similar RTP systems and with the continual improvement of RTP logistics this option promises to greatly reduce the environmental impact of transit packaging.

Reuseable transit packaging

Here at Pli we have been developing solutions for packaging our REEE chairs. Amongst other options we have been considering the feasibility of using a reusable packaging option which could potentially reduce packaging costs, better protect the chairs and act as a low emissions solution to our transit packaging. Over the next few weeks we will also be analysing the carbon footprint of our packaging to allow us to make informed decisions for continuous improvement.

1: VISY Recycling (visyrecycling.com.au)