PULLACH, Germany — IFCO, the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh foods, announced that it is inaugurating a sustainability certification initiative for its retailer customers in Europe and North America. IFCO is amongst the most sustainable logistics companies worldwide. Therefore, retailers awarded with IFCO's sustainability certificate will benefit from credible proof of their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.
IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated by its logistics concept, the IFCO SmartCycleTM, which is based on the principle of "share and reuse". All IFCO RPCs are reused over 50 times during their lifetime, and at every cycle are put through a rigorous cleaning and inspection process before being delivered for the next cycle. Damaged RPCs that cannot be repaired are 100% recycled and used for the production of new IFCO RPCs.
Several studies have proven that the use of RPCs has a meaningful contribution to the environment by leading to savings in terms of CO2 (up to 60%), energy (64%), water (80%), solid waste (up to 86%), and food product damage (up to 96%), when compared with single-use packaging.
In Europe and North America, IFCO business enabled the following savings in 2017:
- 460,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 241,000 fewer cars per year
- 8 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to over 188 million five-minute showers
- 29,500 terajoules of electricity, enough to power 15 million light bulbs for a year
- 237,000 tonnes of solid waste, equivalent to the trash produced by 171 million individuals per day
- 42,200 tonnes of food product waste, equivalent to 70 million meals
Source: IFCO
